A pretty spooky and terrifying psychological/thriller that focuses more on simple elements like creepy noises, supernatural sudden movement of objects and suspense build up. There is not one drop of blood in this movie and is a one man show and requires a lot of patience with a very limited budget but man this was effective and was kind of similar to The House Of The Devil, Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project because it felt very experimental but while not as scary as Paranormal Activity it's up there with The House Of The Devil and The Blair Witch Project. This reminded me of some simplistic but chilling 1970's satanic/thriller and it just looked very retro and I think it could of done wonders if it had a much higher budget and talent but as it is it was decent. I thought the house was the perfect, haunting atmosphere and gave me shivers up my spine, they should use that house more often for horror flicks! Overall I thought that this was a good effort to freak people out because it definitely freaked me out and I watched it during the day, I can't imagine watching it alone in a big empty house at night. Even though it didn't answer all of my questions in the end I still think it was a pretty good ending because I really didn't see it coming and I overall liked the effort put out here. Recommended if you want a good and trippy spook.
6 Reviews
If you liked Paranormal Activity, you will like this movie
cazinca8 March 2010
I highly recommend this movie to any Paranormal Activity fans. Although it is not shot in self-documentary style like Paranormal Activity, you will notice the similarity. And don't get me wrong, this movie is not the same story as Paranormal Activity by any means. The ending in The Ceremony, in my opinion, is actually much better than Paranormal Activity, but the different storyline allows it.
Don't let the title fool you. This is not a gory Satan worship movie. It is eerie and suspenseful, and does have the occasional, loud startling event to keep you on edge. But, based on my memory, I don't think there is a single drop of blood in this movie.
I have seen a number of movies in this genre and this one feels fresh. There are no annoying girls running around screaming and tripping over tree branches. The actions (and inactions) of the main character aggravated me at times, but that's the way it goes with most movies. He actually does a pretty good job making the film work. The main character plays a recent college grad who is halfway moved out of the house he and his roommate lived in during college. This half empty house provides a great setting for The Ceremony.
Don't let the title fool you. This is not a gory Satan worship movie. It is eerie and suspenseful, and does have the occasional, loud startling event to keep you on edge. But, based on my memory, I don't think there is a single drop of blood in this movie.
I have seen a number of movies in this genre and this one feels fresh. There are no annoying girls running around screaming and tripping over tree branches. The actions (and inactions) of the main character aggravated me at times, but that's the way it goes with most movies. He actually does a pretty good job making the film work. The main character plays a recent college grad who is halfway moved out of the house he and his roommate lived in during college. This half empty house provides a great setting for The Ceremony.
Surprisingly good...
loveleighgirl8 March 2012
I just watched this on Netflix. It had been in my queue forever and decided to finally watch it. Very enjoyable, even if a bit predictable. We all know when you deal with the Devil, you usually end up getting screwed. They don't call him The Prince of Lies for nothing. But the way this whole story played out was good. The movie relies most on music and good cinematography for its suspense. The main character says very few words, but uses great facial expressions to convey his growing terror. As the film goes on, my curiosity grew trying to figure out how he was going to figure out what to do, and figure out who or what got him into this situation.
Much Better Than Paranormal Activity
samkan20 May 2010
The timing and pacing are what makes this film exceptional. There are just enough slow panning and still shots done just right to, if nothing else, allow CEREMONY to legitimately come in at feature length (in contrast, the padding in PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was obvious). Make no mistake about it, this is an art school project taking what has been learned of camera angles, background music, timing, lighting and sounds. Its also a very good art school project that is very, very scary. CEREMONY could serve as an excellent examination of "what scares us". The makers deserve some kudos and some form of release. Again, its skill and wisdom that make good films, not money.
Spectacular one-man indie creepshow
bob_meg25 April 2011
Out of all the hundreds of thrillers I've seen in my lifetime, I can't recall seeing one as uniquely terrifying and innovative as "The Ceremony." Though there are a handful of people listed in the cast, it's really just Scott Seegmiller. He plays Eric Peterson, a slightly smug over-achieving college senior who, on the eve of his graduation, finds a bizarre old book in the middle of four or five lit candles on the floor of his admittedly sumptuous rental house. He's sharing the place with several of his friends. They're renting it from a professor who's currently in Korea doing research for a large corporation. As Eric is in the throes of cleaning the place and packing up, he gets a call from the landlord, who informs him Eric has won a prestigious position with his firm and needs to complete some admission activities before flying to Korea to join him.
But Eric can't quite shake the old volume and weird tableaux. It's all about Satan and devil worship, see, and is filled with eerily alluring chants and incantations. He decides to write about it for his admission paper and contacts an academic who translates some of the text for him.
As daylight fades and night falls, strange things begin to happen in the house. Lights, TVs, stereos, all go on and off randomly. Shadowy apparitions appear in the corners of the dark rooms. Bizarre screams and laughter echo here and there. Vague shapes run in and out of rooms, never lingering long enough to be identified. Eventually, the doors all jam shut, the lights go out...and then the real fun begins.
To fully appreciate how effective this movie is, you have to remember how low its budget is, and how it really is a one man show by actor Seegmiller. His initial scenes are stiff and his line readings are hokey, but as the action gets moving he settles into a very believable downward spiral of bewilderment, entrancement, terror, and panic.
For all its sparseness, "The Ceremony" does not look like a cheaply made film (its budget was $155k...not a paltry sum in this league anymore). It is beautifully shot in anamorphic widescreen by Robert Toth. His framing alone of stationary objects in the house is disorienting and chilling. It features some truly unnerving art direction by Elizabeth Cook (cardboard cut-outs of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and a freaky group of likenesses of Eric and his friends grace the house). Eric Giordano's original score is ominous and not overblown in its effectiveness.
By all means, turn the lights off for this one. You'll swear someone's in *your* house.
But Eric can't quite shake the old volume and weird tableaux. It's all about Satan and devil worship, see, and is filled with eerily alluring chants and incantations. He decides to write about it for his admission paper and contacts an academic who translates some of the text for him.
As daylight fades and night falls, strange things begin to happen in the house. Lights, TVs, stereos, all go on and off randomly. Shadowy apparitions appear in the corners of the dark rooms. Bizarre screams and laughter echo here and there. Vague shapes run in and out of rooms, never lingering long enough to be identified. Eventually, the doors all jam shut, the lights go out...and then the real fun begins.
To fully appreciate how effective this movie is, you have to remember how low its budget is, and how it really is a one man show by actor Seegmiller. His initial scenes are stiff and his line readings are hokey, but as the action gets moving he settles into a very believable downward spiral of bewilderment, entrancement, terror, and panic.
For all its sparseness, "The Ceremony" does not look like a cheaply made film (its budget was $155k...not a paltry sum in this league anymore). It is beautifully shot in anamorphic widescreen by Robert Toth. His framing alone of stationary objects in the house is disorienting and chilling. It features some truly unnerving art direction by Elizabeth Cook (cardboard cut-outs of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and a freaky group of likenesses of Eric and his friends grace the house). Eric Giordano's original score is ominous and not overblown in its effectiveness.
By all means, turn the lights off for this one. You'll swear someone's in *your* house.
This could be spoiler information but it would seem that the movie itself was spoiler enough (sigh).
kellycpp21 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I would be hard pressed to categorize this product as perhaps the participants would have liked.
I was completely unperturbed by the activity in The Ceremony. It seemed like something interesting could develop in several scenes and the narrative did seem to be construed to add interesting elements but nothing significant ever seemed to take place.
Nothing was unnerving unless a quick flash of a disappearing human form, the sudden turning on of lights/stereo, the movement of a glass off the end of a table (Woo! Hoo!), a sitting human form from time to time augmented by non-English commentary supplanted by subtitles or the piling up of room contents through no fault of the main character qualifies.
The main gist of the artistic dimension of this piece did seem to be the stash of stock shots which were admittedly well done almost to the point of trying to demonstrate competency on some semester-ending project.
Even the main character several times was caught taking little naps (perhaps waiting for something substantial to happen) much like I was often tempted to follow in kind throughout most of the movie.
My only sense of angst was worrying about this guy not getting his term paper done to qualify for the job offer or wondering how he would get the place cleaned up to get his deposit back (horrors!). Since I was totally placid throughout most of the movie, it would be hard to categorize this as "horror" and, as I have attempted to convey, this mostly seemed like cinematic school work for some unspecified instructor.
The only twist was the "capture" of the main character's family at the end for which he seemed unable to sufficiently react given the severe implied outcome. This was like a punch line on a joke taking way too long to unfold.
So I christen this as homework. Give 'em a B ... graded on a curve.
I was completely unperturbed by the activity in The Ceremony. It seemed like something interesting could develop in several scenes and the narrative did seem to be construed to add interesting elements but nothing significant ever seemed to take place.
Nothing was unnerving unless a quick flash of a disappearing human form, the sudden turning on of lights/stereo, the movement of a glass off the end of a table (Woo! Hoo!), a sitting human form from time to time augmented by non-English commentary supplanted by subtitles or the piling up of room contents through no fault of the main character qualifies.
The main gist of the artistic dimension of this piece did seem to be the stash of stock shots which were admittedly well done almost to the point of trying to demonstrate competency on some semester-ending project.
Even the main character several times was caught taking little naps (perhaps waiting for something substantial to happen) much like I was often tempted to follow in kind throughout most of the movie.
My only sense of angst was worrying about this guy not getting his term paper done to qualify for the job offer or wondering how he would get the place cleaned up to get his deposit back (horrors!). Since I was totally placid throughout most of the movie, it would be hard to categorize this as "horror" and, as I have attempted to convey, this mostly seemed like cinematic school work for some unspecified instructor.
The only twist was the "capture" of the main character's family at the end for which he seemed unable to sufficiently react given the severe implied outcome. This was like a punch line on a joke taking way too long to unfold.
So I christen this as homework. Give 'em a B ... graded on a curve.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
