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Rites of Passage

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5.2/10 • 51

2012-04-241h 35m

Thriller

Sex, drugs, and an ancient ritual... anthropology 101 is a killer!

Anthropology students and their professor experience terror when they visit a sacred burial ground.

Directors
W. Peter Iliff
Editors
Glenn Garland

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Wes Bentley

    Wes Bentley

    Benny

  2. Kate Maberly

    Kate Maberly

    Dani

  3. Ryan Donowho

    Ryan Donowho

    Nathan

  4. Travis Van Winkle

    Travis Van Winkle

    Hart

  5. Briana Evigan

    Briana Evigan

    Penelope

  6. Christian Slater

    Christian Slater

    Delgado

  7. Stephen Dorff

    Stephen Dorff

    Professor Nash

  8. Carly Schroeder

    Carly Schroeder

    Carly

  9. Ashley Grace

    Ashley Grace

    Sandee

Reviews1

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Wuchak Avatar

Wuchak

Dec 18, 2023

6/10

When college partiers in SoCal experiment with Chumash drug rites A ‘hip’ anthropology professor (Stephen Dorff) and his party-obsessed students spend the weekend at a mostly unoccupied ranch on the Pacific shore to take part in a Chumash jimsonweed ceremony. Unfortunately for them, the drug-addled brother of one of the students (Wes Bentley) lives on the ranch and wants a fantasy Chumash wife. Worse, there’s a psychotic crystal meth cook lurking nearby (Christian Slater). “Rites of Passage” (2012) is a dynamic cabin-in-the-woods flick written & directed by one of the scriptwriters of “Point Break" from 21 years earlier. The ‘cabin’ in this case just happens to be a house on the coast of California on a vacant greenhouse farm in the Santa Barbara area. The production cost $2.5 million, which is certainly enough to make a competent movie of this sort. Briana Evigan stands out on the female front as Penelope. Most of the rest of the ladies are attractive, but they could all stand to eat cheeseburgers for a week or two, if you know what I mean. For those who know Kate Maberly (Dani) from the outstanding “Secret Garden” (1993), it’s interesting to see her as an adult. If you can handle the hedonistic spirit, the first half is compelling and amusing. For instance, one of the blondes is a Christian, which of course conflicts with the libertinism of the others. There’s also an entertaining sock monkey that seems to talk. Elsewhere, both Bentley and Slater are effective in their off-kilter roles, but the energetic second half loses its mojo along with the viewer’s attention. It needed tightened-up by editing out at least 12 minutes. The movie runs 1 hour, 42 minutes, and was shot in November, 2010, by the coast in Santa Barbara, California. GRADE: B-/C+

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  • Rites of Passage poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$2,500,000.00
Revenue
--
Keywords
drug abuseritualanthropologistindian burial groundburial ground