Review of Rites of Passage

A disillusioned modern man is haunted by memories of a previous life as a primitive caveman (played by writer/director Richard Stanley) who existed in a past hostile world. The caveman walks across a harsh landscape, hunts animals for food, battles savage apes, scales a deep cliff, and gets mauled by a vicious fanged hairy humanoid beast. This early Super 8 short by Stanley shows both his characteristic bleak worldview and remarkable talent for striking visuals. Shots of the verdant, yet desolate jungle landscape, a fog-shrouded forest, the bright skyline, and especially an amazing image of the caveman climbing a steep and dangerous precipice silhouetted by the piercing sunlight are all uniformly breathtaking. Greg Copeland's rather rough and grainy, but still fairly polished cinematography boasts a few nice gliding tracking shots and a wealth of exquisitely composed visuals. The moody, rhythmic, syncopated score likewise does the trick. Worth a look for fans of Stanley's always stylish and impressive work.