When five doctors go into the woods today, they're in for a big surprise in the grisly Canadian survival thriller RITUALS, on Blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing.

Five doctors – laconic Harry (Hal Holbrook, THE FOG), crass Mitzi (ROLLING THUNDER's Lawrence Dane, who also produced), family man Abel (Ken James, CITY ON FIRE), brash DJ (Gary Reineke, POWER PLAY) and his burnt-out brother Martin (Robin Gammell, MURDER BY PHONE) – observe their annual tradition of a shared vacation; this time taking a hike along the river crossing the Cauldron of the Moon, a massive woodland depression that the Indians believe to be the point where the moon bumped into the Earth. Dropped by helicopter for the six day trek, the party is fractious enough due to their diverting life paths and attitudes towards middle age and their futures; however, a series of pranks escalating from stolen boots and a beehive thrown into the camp to debilitating underwater bear traps have them suspecting that either one of them has snapped or that they are all paying for a mistake made by one of them.

While the story inevitably draws comparison to DELIVERANCE, the Canadian horror film RITUALS is an entirely different animal set against the backdrop of backwoods horrors with an atmosphere more akin to JUST BEFORE DAWN or THE FINAL TERROR but with no interest in making its very flawed human characters into mere body count fodder. As one character observes, they are drawn "deeper and deeper into some kind of demonic ritual," by someone or something with each wondering if it is some sort of karmic comeuppance for a specific mistake professionally or personally; ultimately, in spite of the specific nature of the threat, it seems as if the flip and cynical attitudes with which they have come to view the act of curing the sick has damned them in more ways than one. The physical and psychological wear of enduring the elements is well-performed by an exceptional ensemble cast against the a backdrop that would be idyllic if it did not leave the characters and viewers felling exposed and vulnerable is all the more unnerving with the interjections of sudden violence – including some understated but grisly gore effects by Carl Fullerton (THE HUNGER) – or disquieting clues left behind by their tormentor for them to put together his motive. Screenwriter Ian Sutherland would later write HIGHPOINT for director Peter Carter who had been an assistant director when Dane appeared in the TV series R.C.M.P. and later cast him in the film THE ROWDYMAN.

Released theatrically by Aquarius Releasing as THE CREEPER in a version ten minutes shy of the original running time, RITUALS was more widely available under its original title on VHS from Embassy Home Entertainment; however, the print reflected the film's television edit which was shown on CBS which ran roughly a minute shorter than THE CREEPER. The uncut version was only available on the hard-to-find Canadian Astral tape, an Australian cassette from Seven Keys, and a Greek release from Cinehollywood. While THE CREEPER version appeared on budget DVD from the likes of Mill Creek, X-Rated in Germany put out the first uncut DVD in 2006 but the non-anamorphic letterboxed transfer was poor and German subtitles could not be removed. Code Red's 2011 DVD featured an improved anamorphic transfer but stories about the film's elements being partially ruined in the lab appeared to be true with the dark night scenes of the latter half of the film only slightly better than the old tape sources. Scorpion Releasing's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen transfer was a composite of multiple sources and it is perhaps the best that the film is going to look. The image is cleaner and brighter but no one source utilized is immaculate with flaws running the gamut from faint scratches to chemical staining to deeper scratches. The climactic night scenes are still very dark but we can at least see what is going on and the "creeper's" make-up is easier to assess and makes an impact. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono audio track is more consistently clean, drawing attention not only to some throwaway dialogue but also the scoring of Hagood Hardy (ANNE OF GREEN GABLES). Optional SDH subtitles are also provided.