Rites of Spring (2011)
Review by Jude Felton
The art of the movie poster, or accompanying Blu-ray/DVD
artwork, is becoming something of a lost art. A lot of this has to do with the
fact that most artwork is now not art at all. There are exceptions of course,
some filmmakers and companies still do put a little effort into this area of
the movie, and quite often the results can be stunning. Director, Padraig
Reynolds’ movie Rites of Spring is one such film that I was drawn to purely by
its striking artwork. It has that wonderful dirty 70’s feel to it; the sense of
foreboding is there for all to see.
However, just as we are told not to judge a book by its
cover, the same can be said about movies. Rites of Spring doesn’t live up to
the artwork, but it is not for lack of trying.
The simplistic version of the plot is that the film
follows two story arcs, which eventually converge on each other. The first is
concerned with the abduction of, primarily, young girls for sacrificial
purposes, and the second being a kidnapping plot of the daughter of a wealthy
family. Sounds simple enough, especially when I tell you the kidnappers (which
include the rather excellent AJ Bowen) decide to hole up in the stomping ground
of those doing the sacrifices. If that had been the case I would have been more
than a happy man.
The main problem here is that by the time the credits
roll, at roughly 76 minutes, there has been so much crammed into this film that
is felt a little thin. The latter stages do pick up in the intensity stakes
with the inclusion of a brutish killer who is known as Wormface, but I really
would have liked to have seen a little more depth to the film. There are so
many film influences here, ranging from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the
13th, Bereavement, Children of the Corn, even The Wicker Man. I
could go on and list untold more. This results in a distinct lack of focus in
the film, which incidentally does look good and is put together well.
This lack of focus on the plot though, does rub off on
the script and leaves the cast with fairly bland performances. Even the
aforementioned AJ Bowen seems to be coasting through the film, without all that
much to do.
The inclusion latter on of Wormface was a stroke of
class; he’s a relentless beast and I would not have complained if the focus had
been about him. As it stands, I do like the ideas behind Rites of Spring and
some parts are nicely executed, but when you feel like you are being rushed
through a movie it takes away a good amount of the overall effect.
As a feature length debut though, Padraig Reynolds has
shown a lot of promise here. With a little fine tuning on the script this could
have been far more engaging. Let’s see a little more flesh on the bones, before
you start to strip it away.
Rites of Spring was released on July 27th theatrically and on VOD and On Demand.
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