Five city doctors reunite to go backpacking in the Canadian wilderness when someone interrupts the incessant work-related bickering by stealing their boots while they stopped at a river to rest. While the search for the boots comes up empty, DJ sets out to a local dam to see if he can find help as he is the only one to bring an extra pair of shoes, something he implored to his fellow hikers to do as well falling on deaf ears. While they wait, Harry (Hal Holbrook) and the others try to amuse themselves when a bee hive is tossed at them causing the four to tumble down a hill and into the river. This kills one of the doctors shocking the remaining three into the realization that perhaps these are no mere coincidences and that someone is out to get them. With tempers high and the travel slow and painful due to the lack of boots the doctors attempt to follow DJ's path to the dam. More traps await as the victims continue to pile up without any clue or reason to why it's happening.
I really would like to give this and even higher rating but sadly the degraded copy that I watched from Mill Creek's drive-in collection was poorly lit and edited severely. "The Creeper" as my copy was called, though I saw the trailer for this years ago as "Rituals", was the 89-minute edited version which sadly resembles the type of cut you would see on television. The scenes filmed at night were virtually impossible to make out especially during the climax. However, this is not the fault of the film itself which is a creepy thriller that will have you hooked to the end. Hal Holbrook does an excellent job as the jaded doctor and Korean war vet that is constantly banging heads with Mitzi while keeping the three of them alive. My one complaint is that you really don't sympathize with any of the doctors as none of the characters are really that likable. I saw myself as more of an observer rather than someone invested in hoping these doctors survive. I consider this Canadian "Deliverance" above average as far as the city folk versus the backwoods locals genre started by the aforementioned film. If you are interested in these types of survival flicks than let me also recommend the superior "Southern Comfort" set in the swamps of Louisiana.
I really would like to give this and even higher rating but sadly the degraded copy that I watched from Mill Creek's drive-in collection was poorly lit and edited severely. "The Creeper" as my copy was called, though I saw the trailer for this years ago as "Rituals", was the 89-minute edited version which sadly resembles the type of cut you would see on television. The scenes filmed at night were virtually impossible to make out especially during the climax. However, this is not the fault of the film itself which is a creepy thriller that will have you hooked to the end. Hal Holbrook does an excellent job as the jaded doctor and Korean war vet that is constantly banging heads with Mitzi while keeping the three of them alive. My one complaint is that you really don't sympathize with any of the doctors as none of the characters are really that likable. I saw myself as more of an observer rather than someone invested in hoping these doctors survive. I consider this Canadian "Deliverance" above average as far as the city folk versus the backwoods locals genre started by the aforementioned film. If you are interested in these types of survival flicks than let me also recommend the superior "Southern Comfort" set in the swamps of Louisiana.