On October 8th, 2019, Ritual will be the second film we screen as a part of our Muslim Horror Film Festival: Halaloween.

This film festival aims to explore a couple of questions: What scares Muslim audiences? How do horror movies conceived for a Muslim public transform the familiar tropes that Hollywood and Hammer horror taught us? How do Muslim directors of horror movies use the genre to ask probing questions about gender and family tensions, social injustice and political oppression, demographic change and social unrest? Are horror movies halal (permissible in Islamic law)? Why so many jinn - and where are the Muslim zombies?

Join us at 9:00 PM at the Michigan Theater on October 8th, and every Tuesday of October for a free screening of a Muslim horror film. All Screenings are free, open to the public, and will include English subtitles. Screenings are first come-first served. For more information on our festival, why we're running it, and the other films we are screening, please visit: ii.umich.edu/islamicstudies/news-events/events/films.html

Film Description:
October 8: Ritual (dir. Joko Anwar; Indonesia, 2012): A master class in cinematography and editing for horror movies. The first half of the movie is essentially silent, as the protagonist regains consciousness in a shallow grave, learns the gruesome fate of his wife, and flees an unknown enemy through the pristine Indonesian forest. Who is he? What is the meaning of the mysterious and violent ritual he seems doomed to repeat? The ending only doubles down on the mystery; this is Lost for horror fans, but taut, beautifully paced, gorgeous and well-acted. The violence is horrific, but mostly off-screen. Fridged women; fridged families; sinister home movies. Smile for the camera! In English.