Rituals (1977) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The boots were stolen by Matthew Crowley, the war veteran who stalks them throughout the film. He hides the boots in the abandoned cabin along with other World War II memorabilia. The theft forces the doctors to stay in the wilderness longer than planned, making them vulnerable to his attacks. Matthew's motive stems from a botched surgery performed by one of the surgeons that left him disfigured.

• boots stolen
• Matthew Crowley
• cabin
• memorabilia

Matthew Crowley is the one stalking the surgeons. He is a disfigured war veteran whose face was damaged in what appears to be a botched surgical procedure. He methodically hunts them down, leaving ominous signs like the severed deer head and ultimately killing Abel, D.J., and Mitzi. His older brother Jesse, the hermit, tries to warn Harry to leave, revealing the family connection.

Foreshadowing: The severed deer head with the snake mimicking a caduceus serves as an early warning that a medically-related threat targets them.

• Matthew Crowley
• stalker
• veteran
• disfigured

Matthew targets the surgeons because one of them performed a botched surgery on him, leaving him disfigured. When Harry finds D.J. at the dam, he discovers an overexposed X-ray and hospital discharge papers for Matthew Crowley, confirming this connection. The entire ordeal is Matthew's act of revenge for the medical error that destroyed his appearance and presumably his life.

• Matthew Crowley
• X-ray
• revenge
• surgery
• disfigured

Harry mercy kills D.J. because he finds him tortured and nailed to a chair at the abandoned dam. D.J. has been severely brutalized by Matthew and is clearly suffering immense pain with no hope of survival. Harry makes the compassionate choice to end D.J.'s torment rather than leave him to die slowly.

• mercy killing
• D.J.
• dam
• torture

The severed deer head hanging at the campsite, with a snake coiled around its spinal cord mimicking a caduceus (the medical symbol), is Matthew's warning to the surgeons. It signals that he knows their identities as doctors and that he is targeting them specifically. The symbolic use of the caduceus makes clear the attack is connected to their medical profession.

• deer head
• snake
• caduceus
• medical symbol
• omen

The WWII medal is planted by Matthew to frame Martin or create confusion about the stalker's identity. When the group discovers the medal pinned to Martin, Harry initially suspects a veteran is hunting them. However, the medal is actually one of Matthew's own memorabilia from his days as a soldier, not something belonging to Martin.

Foreshadowing: This discovery is part of Matthew's psychological warfare, attempting to mislead the survivors about his true identity.

• World War II medal
• Martin
• veteran
• decoy

Jesse is Matthew Crowley's older brother, living as a hermit in the abandoned cabin. When Harry discovers the cabin, Jesse warns him to leave, saying 'You have to go. My brother is coming.' This warning comes too late, as Matthew arrives shortly after and attacks Harry. Jesse's knowledge of Matthew's plans confirms the familial connection between the stalker and the veterans.

• Jesse
• hermit
• brother
• Matthew
• cabin
• warning

Martin dies from his injuries after stepping on a bear trap that breaks his leg. The group struggles to carry him, and by the time they reach the dam, he has died from the combination of his injuries and exposure. Mitzi is killed when Matthew attacks the cabin - she cries out for help as Matthew attempts to burn Harry alive, and she is overtaken by the fire. Harry survives by shooting Matthew and cauterizing his own wound.

• Mitzi
• Martin
• death
• bear trap
• fire

Harry cauterizes his own leg wound after Matthew severs an artery while stabbing through the cabin walls. With Mitzi unable to help and Matthew preparing to burn the cabin down, Harry uses a heated piece of metal to seal the artery and stop the bleeding. This desperate act demonstrates his medical training and will to survive, though it leaves him weakened for the final confrontation.

• cauterize
• leg wound
• artery
• medical training
• survival

Abel's severed head being impaled on a stake is Matthew's gruesome display of one of his kills. This confirms that the shadowy figure who pushed Abel over the incline during the bee trap incident was Matthew. The shocking visual reinforces the personal and violent nature of his vendetta against the group, showing he is physically present and actively hunting them.

Foreshadowing: This confirms the stalker has been among them since the second day, actively killing members one by one.

• Abel
• severed head
• stake
• kill
• display

The surgeons suspect the stalker is avenging a botched surgery because of the increasingly medical nature of his threats - the caduceus-like deer head, the targeting of medical professionals, and finally the X-ray and hospital papers found with D.J. that directly link Matthew Crowley to a past medical procedure. Harry specifically makes this connection when he discovers the paperwork at the dam.

• surgical error
• revenge
• botched surgery
• X-ray
• Matthew Crowley