Until recently I had never heard of the late British film maker Michael J Murphy but I splashed out on Indicator's blu-ray box set "Magic, Myth & Mutilation", a collection of micro budget horror and fantasy movies shot on 16mm. As it is currently the month of April I thought that The Rte of Spring would be an apt start. It is essentially a poor man's Wicker Man clone but set in rural England and Edward Woodward's policeman is replaced by a young virginal priest (James Renyard). Throw in a bit of "The Most Dangerous Game" plus a bit of sexual demonic possession. I came into this with low expectations and although I would not call this a good movie it is not terrible either. Overall I found the acting to be reasonable, some of the rural accents are quite laughable (I live in the rural West) but at least the token American character was played by an American (Timur Kocak). Another reviewer complains about the "horrible music" but I thought it quite suitable, I also liked the cheap but gory special effects, such as a maggot infested decapitated head. There were two options on my blu-ray disc, I went for the 90 minute 2K restored version, it did feel stretched at times. The other option is a re-edited 81 minute version, sadly not restored but I imagine that the pacing would be better, I will probably opt for this in future. I love both low budget and British horror so am looking forward to delving deeper into the director's filmography, rather than put me off Rites has wetted my appetite!
