By: Lotti Pharriss Knowles
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 10/25/2025 – Any time I meet someone who’s made a movie, I heartily congratulate them. I know first-hand how difficult it is to create and complete a feature film, especially at the independent level, and I strive to support those scrappy cinematic efforts whenever possible.
Unfortunately, I’m struggling to mount any defense of the new indie hor
ror The Ritual House. The film follows Donna (Donna Spangler, also the screenwriter), who has inherited her father’s home – and the mountain of debt that goes with it. Her best friend Ling (Crystal J. Huang, the film’s director) offers to loan her the money to cover the debt, if Donna agrees to a business partnership in renting out the house to tenants. Spooky occurrences begin even before the renters arrive, then bloody mayhem ensues once they do. (Not a great Airbnb business model, but that’s the least of this film’s troubles.)
Huang and Spangler have clearly been inspired by other horror films, both American and Asian, and they’ve dutifully tried to create a chilling ambience and hit all the beats required to generate scares. However, the end result is too amateurish to effectively frighten audiences – or to hold their interest for long, and I predict most people will turn it off within the first few minutes. The writing and acting are stilted, the cinematography is flat, the lighting is too bright…the list goes on, and I needn’t elaborate further.
I wish I could praise any aspect of The Ritual House, and I’d love to be able to champion a female filmmaking team, especially in the genre space. The kindest thing I can do is to end my review here, congratulate them on making a movie, and wish them better luck next time.
The Ritual House is now streaming on Tubi; additional VOD platforms to be announced.
