Rites of Spring (2011)

A ransom scheme turns into a nightmare for a group of kidnappers who become victims of a horrifying secret that must be paid every spring.

Director:

Padraig Reynolds

Writer:

Padraig Reynolds

Stars:

AJ Bowen, Anessa Ramsey, Sonny Marinelli

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
AJ Bowen	...	Ben Geringer
Anessa Ramsey	...	Rachel Adams
Sonny Marinelli	...	Paul Nolan
Katherine Randolph	...	Amy
James Bartz	...	Ryan Hayden
Shanna Forrestall	...	Gillian Hayden
Andrew Breland	...	Tommy Geringer
Hannah Bryan	...	Alyssa Miller
Sarah Pachelli	...	Jessica
Skylar Burke	...	Kelly Hayden (as Skylar Page Burke)
Marco St. John	...	The Stranger
Jocelyn Amos	...	Newscaster
Grady Champion	...	Bartender
Edward Saint Pe'	...	Weatherman
Victoria Massey	...	Store Clerk

Storyline

This movie is about Rachel and her friend who are taken by someone while in a car park while changing a tire. They wake up in a strange barn tied up and frightened. They know that things are going to get worse. The reason why they are abducted becomes clear as there is a horrible secret in the town where girls have gone missing each Spring for many years, and this year is no different. Meanwhile a group of kidnappers are plotting to take the child of a prominent business man and his wife. They take the child and go to a farm where they wait to get their ransom. The two groups collide when Rachel escapes but is chased by a stranger wearing a mask of some sort. She runs to the farm where the kidnappers are and all hell breaks loose.

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Plot Keywords:

murder of a nude woman | nudity | female nudity | child gagged | spring | 

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Taglines:

Fear has a season

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Screamworks Records [Sweden]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 October 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Os Ritos da Primavera

Filming Locations:

Jackson, Mississippi, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ghostrider Entertainment,Vigilante Ent,White Rock Lake Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

At around 1:02 when the characters are running around the woods, the scene very obviously goes from midnight, to early dawn, back to midnight between shots.

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Crazy Credits

There's a scene after the end credits.

User Reviews

Dodgy low rent gore flick

I'm not sure what the worst thing is about this low budget horror yarn, the script or the directing. The script, I think, although the direction is pretty poor and uninteresting. The problem with RITES OF SPRING is that it's all so predictable, and it has less going on than even the likes of a WRONG TURN sequel.

The story tells of a kidnapping gone wrong, as a group of kidnappers attempt to take a rich man's daughter in return for a big ransom. A second storyline sees a couple of young women kidnapped by a creepy old farmer, where they are to become lunch for something terrible living in the basement. Eventually the two plot strands combine in the most predictable way imaginable.

There's very little going on here and nothing we haven't seen before. The shocks and twists are very well telegraphed and of the type we've seen countless times. The characters are thinly drawn and the performances completely forgettable. All this has going for it is some half-decent make-up and some okay gore effects, but that's hardly a reason to keep you going; this is barely watchable.