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"The true story that inspired The Exorcist." That's the tagline for and Dan Stevens' new horror film that hits theaters this Friday, but if its Rotten Tomatoes score is any indication of things, it seems the movie itself is in need of an exorcism. Debuting to a brutal 0% score, The Ritual is being blasted by critics for being "cheaply made" and not accomplishing "much of anything."

"If you've ever wondered what a painfully boring, generic exorcism narrative filmed in the style of The Office would be like, The Ritual is the answer," says Joseph Robinson from Fish Jelly Films. Man, that's tough. Directed by David Midell, Mark Hanson from Slate Magazine notes that the film is "a special kind of hell," while Jacob Oller from AV Club adds:

"Eventually, The Ritual just becomes a bad possession movie that's not pulling off its hokey scares, rather than a bad possession movie unable to fulfill its more down-to-earth ambitions."

Starring Pacino as Father Theophilus Riesinger and Stevens as Father Joseph Steiger, The Ritual follows two priests – one questioning his faith (Stevens) and one reckoning with a troubled past (Pacino) – who must put aside their differences to save a possessed young woman through a difficult and dangerous series of exorcisms. It's based on the real-life exorcism of Emma Schmidt which occurred in 1928, and remains one of the most documented cases of demonic possession in American history. Along with the 1949 exorcism of Ronald Edwin Hunkeler, it helped inspire The Exorcist, which to this day remains the benchmark for possession films.

Also starring Ashley Greene, Abigail Cowen, Patricia Heaton, and Patrick Fabian, Brian Orndorf from Blu-ray.com says "there's no suspense to be found" in The Ritual, which he also notes is "cheaply made and isn't concerned with creating a fear factor as it slowly reheats scenes from subgenre classics." Honestly, that seems to be the consensus these days with a lot of possession flicks that try and match The Exorcist's success, but end up being nothing more than pale imitations instead.

"It's painful to write it, but The Ritual will go down as one of the worst movies in both Al Pacino's and Dan Stevens' respective careers," says Shawn Van Horn from Collider. "The Ritual delivers a nearly unwatchable experience that is a simmering stew of every horror trope that could exist," adds Giovanni Lago from Next Best Picture. It's sad, really, as the trailer (seen above) showed so much promise, but alas, Jack Martin from Film Feeder says:

"It is not scary, nor is it interesting in any definable way, leaving it one of the most boring exorcism movies in a long while, which is saying something given how this is already a subgenre that's generic to a fault."

If you want to subject yourself to 98 minutes of apparent hell this weekend, you can check out The Ritual when it hits theaters on June 6 from XYZ Films. However, in the words of critic Billie Walker from Little White Lies, be prepared for a movie that "fails to scare, entertain or convert."

Source: Rotten Tomatoes