Ritual of Death (1990)

Perfect cast and a good story

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

At first I was starting to wonder if there was anything to this. It starts out rather slow with some crazy hallucination stuff happening. We get what seems to be a paper thin story line mixed with some atrocious dubbing, crappy acting, weird editing cuts, and poor lighting on all what seems like poor VHS quality film. This usually isn't a problem of mine as long as something actually happens to draw me in. It finally manages to kick into gear, with a naked couple who bath in goats blood. Our lead character munches on some raw goat meat and his face starts to melt off. All of this is based around the cast of this play who manage to steal a sacred text and change it, unleashing a curse. There is also some old man who goes by Mr. Parker who is in several of the hallucination scenes. We find out he is actually a ghost wanting to return to life and is planning on possessing or main man to do so. He then completely loses it and that's when the fun starts. Eventually the gore does come, and its pretty good stuff, apparently this thing was going to be given and X rating here in the States so the company that released it on VHS "Complete Entertainment" did the smart thing and just put it out unrated. It was the second of two horror features directed by Brazilian porn director Fauzi Mansur, the other being "Satanic Attraction" (1989), I would love to eventually see that film if or when it ever comes available.

Brazilian horror/exploitation films are most famous for the unique visions of director/actor Jose "Coffin Joe" Marin (firstly), and perhaps also the whacked-out 80's soap opera/sexploitation flicks known as "pornochachada" (a very distant second). Well, it turns out the Brazilians also made quite a few cheapo gory horror flicks back in that decade known for cheapo gory horror flicks, the 1980's. This is one of them.The plot (wait a minute--gotta stop rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically) involves some kind of ritual human sacrifice performed for both Egyptian and South American gods. Some dimwitted theater students steal an ancient book of these rites in order to put them on as a play (they couldn't have just done "The Music Man"?). Naturally,the dark Egyptian/Latin American gods are not pleased, and all breaks loose--in the most confusing and cheap-jack way imaginable.The only thing that really sets this apart from a ultra-cheap Americam horror film of this era is that it manages to be even more inept and certainly more non-sensical. The incredibly wooden acting is matched by the even more wooden English dubbing. And speaking of wood, the luscious "pornochchada" princess Vanessa Alves shows up in a role that consists entirely of her splashing around naked in a bloody bathtub with a severed goat's head (perhaps a waste of her talents, I'm not sure). Anyway, she's the closest thing to a name actor in this.None of this is to say, movies like this don't have their low-rent charms. The ones here are just even more low-rent than usual.

The story of Fauzi Mansur's "Ritual of Death" concerns a teenager named Brad,who starts having some weird hallucinations about ancient Egyptian/Indian Satanic rituals.It all has to do something with some sort of a devilish book.Brad enjoys eating raw and bloody goat liver and there is a bloody bath of Brazilian babe with a severed goat head.Brad becomes possessed by an ancient spirit and goes on a bloody killing spree.Cheesy Brazilian slasher flick with lots of gore and naked female flesh.The acting is terrible and the characters are incredibly dumb,but if you are in the mood for some graphic grue "Ritual of Death" will satisfy your bloodthirst.7 goat heads out of 10.

saw last night and even though it evoked a mood of unknown horror it appeared mudled story wise to keep a continous attention on it for me. i liked the ritual scenes of ancient native brazilians and the semi naked gorgeous brazil women running around trying to escape the murderer but it is not enough to recommend. if anyone knows where to get older movies from FAUZI MANSUR (the director) please let me know.