A Past That Refuses to Die

Read Time:5 Minute, 19 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
The Ritual House
–

Genre: Horror, Supernatural, Psychological Thriller
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 35m
Director(s): Crystal J. Huang
Writer(s): Donna Spangler
Cast: Donna Spangler, Crystal J. Huang, Lauren Francesca, Brandon Lill, Anna Yousin, Curt Clendenin, Shawn C. Phillips
Where to Watch: The film will have its World Premiere on October 24, 2025, at The Chabot Theatre in the Bay Area. It will launch on Tubi on October 24, with additional digital and VOD platform releases — including Roku and Fandango at Home — to follow later in October.

RAVING REVIEW: There’s a familiar chill to THE RITUAL HOUSE, one that stems not from originality but from the unease of watching people unravel inside a home that clearly doesn’t want them there. Directed by Crystal J. Huang, the film walks a narrow line between ghost story and low-budget supernatural mystery, managing to deliver a few eerie moments even when its script can’t quite sustain the weight of its own ideas. While not the disaster, it’s a rough, uneven entry into indie horror — the kind of film that works best late at night with the lights off and expectations low.

Donna Spangler stars as Donna Winters, a woman crushed by debt and grief after the sudden death of her father. Inheriting his home, she and her best friend Ling (played by Huang herself) turn it into a short-term rental in an effort to salvage what remains of her finances. Unfortunately, THE RITUAL HOUSE doesn’t stay on that idea long enough. As soon as the guests arrive — including an influencer played by Lauren Francesca and a rugged handyman type in Brandon Lill — the film quickly trades dread for full-on haunting.

There’s no denying that the production has ambition. Huang tries to elevate the material through atmosphere rather than effects. She leans heavily on dimly lit hallways, practical fog, and color grading that gives the home a sickly, candle-burnt hue. These choices work to a point, creating a sense of claustrophobia and decay that echoes the story’s themes of inheritance and corruption. The problem is that the tension rarely escalates; the scares arrive in predictable pulses, telegraphed by the same wide-eyed reaction shots that have haunted low-budget horror for decades.

Spangler gives a surprisingly earnest performance. Her line delivery occasionally struggles, but she carries the emotional throughline with sincerity. There’s an unpolished vulnerability to her portrayal that sells the character’s descent into panic. Huang, playing the more grounded and skeptical counterpart, complements that energy — though her dual role as actor and director sometimes divides her focus. Francesca, who could easily have been a caricature, actually provides much-needed levity, while the supporting cast keeps things functional, if unremarkable.

The biggest limitation is the pacing. Even at under 100 minutes, THE RITUAL HOUSE feels longer than it should. Scenes stick around past their point of impact, editing choices flatten the momentum, and the dialogue occasionally slips into awkward exposition. The film’s most intriguing narrative — the idea of generational debt and the moral cost of turning grief into profit — fades once the haunting takes over. Had Huang and Spangler leaned harder into that concept, it could have given the story a sharper identity beyond its supernatural trappings.

Thematically, THE RITUAL HOUSE flirts with ideas about complicity and control — about how the past binds those who inherit it. Donna isn’t just fighting ghosts; she’s fighting the weight of her father’s decisions and the literal curse embedded in her home. There’s something tragic in how she and Ling respond differently to the same terror: one consumed by guilt, the other by survival. The film hints at these contrasts but never fully dives into them, preferring to let the supernatural take center stage.

What ultimately keeps THE RITUAL HOUSE from collapsing is its sincerity. It doesn’t wink at the audience or hide behind irony. It believes in its ghosts, even if they’re not always scary. There’s a sense that both Huang and Spangler care about the genre — they just don’t yet have the resources or precision to elevate the material to the level of its inspirations. The film blends psychological tension with supernatural motifs, aiming for slow dread.

If judged purely as an independent effort, it’s commendable. The direction is competent, the performances sincere, and the ideas occasionally cut through the clutter. But as a piece of horror storytelling, it’s simply too derivative to stand out in a crowded October release slate. The promotional claim that it’s a “chilling and immersive experience for genre fans” isn’t entirely false, but it oversells the intensity.

For casual horror fans, it’s a background watch with moments of tension. For enthusiasts of indie filmmaking, it’s a reminder of how much heart and ambition can exist even in flawed execution. For everyone else, THE RITUAL HOUSE is neither the worst stay nor one you’ll remember checking into.

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[photo courtesy of ITN DISTRIBUTION, BOONIE PUBLISHING & PRODUCTIONS]

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