MovieChat Forums > Rituals Discussion > Killer's Motivation

Killer's Motivation

posted 15 years ago by jjk50
12 replies | jump to latest

I understand the killer wanted revenge for his botched operation, but why kill these men? It was 30 years before so they couldn't have had anything to do with it. If it was revenge against any doctors how did he know they were doctors?

[–] ConnerysToupee 15 years ago

My guess is that he heard them talking around the campfire or during their hike. He seemed to be following them. He obviously had a hate for all doctors after what happened to him in the army.

[–] glaeken777 14 years ago

Initially he was following them out of curiosity. When the doctors all get drunk and dance around the campfire mocking malpractice victims, he snapped.

[–] Squonkamatic 14 years ago

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***
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There is also a good argument to be made that the Creeper wanted to die and made a game out of seeing if this group had it in them to finish the job that the Japs began in WW2. If you watch the ending again Hal Holbrook shakes his head as if to say NO DON'T MAKE ME DO IT as Matthew stumbles into the cabin. He wouldn't have killed him if Matthew hadn't forced his hand.

And guys, remember to use SPOILER WARNINGS when discussing important plot points. A lot of people have never seen this movie and deserve to be just as shocked, confused, disturbed, and intrigued as you were.

[–] paguy27 10 years ago

If they haven't seen the movie they shouldn't go on the IMDB message board specifically for that movie. Their own dumb fault.

[–] ethermusic1981 10 years ago

Wrong, paguy27.

[–] viewer-1230 10 years ago

What you said make total sense. I just saw this film for the first time in many, many years and sort of came to that conclusion in the end. If these guys had been just plumbers or something else I am sure they would of been just fine.;)

[–] tristanmassing-856-195821 10 years ago

I think when the topic is "Killer's motivation" it's OK to give spoilers of that film. You'd be pretty stupid to read this forum thread if you hadn't watched the movie. hahahahah

[–] kgwrote-854-104240 9 years ago

What I wonder was why did he pull off his dogtags and hold them out to Harry.
As if he wanted him to take it.

And what was that weird carved stick Harry was carrying around.

The story Marty tells may be relevant although it is hard to hear --how to get a chimpanzee to salute--mentions breaking the legs of a dog--four legs, four dead.

Ultimately the story to me is about doctors who violated their oath-their sense of duty--every one of them was corrupt in some way--Harry too, but in his case the motivation was guilt about his father. He refused to pull the plug on patients no matter what-possibly because of some guilt over his father.

Harry ends up directly killing more people than the stalker. If Harry had not paused to burn his wound he may have been able to help Mitzi.

[–] Shocky303 9 years ago

The weird stick? That was a crude mockup of "rod of Asclepius", a widely-used symbol of medicine and doctors, which has a snake entwined on a staff

[–] AlbertTheFlasher 9 years ago

"What I wonder was why did he pull off his dogtags and hold them out to Harry."

My guess is that was the killer's way of congratulating Harry for being the bravest and toughest soldier throughout the war that the killer waged on the doctors.

"It's not that tough being a film cricket."

[–] Veritas_Lux_Mea 9 years ago

What I wonder was why did he pull off his dogtags and hold them out to Harry. As if he wanted him to take it.

Because when a soldier is killed in battle they remove the dog tags for identification purposes. Notice the "stalker" is wearing his uniform. He was holding them out because he knew Harry was going to kill him and seemed to want Harry to kill him. So, handing him his tags was his way of saying he knew what was coming and he wanted it. He does not fight with Harry or struggle when he enters the cabin. He just pulls off his tags as a way of saying "Finish me." His issue with doctors was they kept him alive when he likely felt in his condition he would have been better off dead.

Harry, the doctor in the group known for keeping people alive even if they were vegetables, is forced to learn to allow people to die over the course of the film. Something he has a real problem with because he was not there for his father and so his insistence on keeping people alive comes from his failure to help his father. The whole story works around him having to overcome these feelings.

At the end of the film...

When Mitzi is killed Harry must relive the feelings of letting his father die in that he knew his father was sick and dying but did not go to him and did not help him. He hears Mitzi pleading to help him, to save him, but ignores his pleas until it is too late...the same thing that happened with his father. He then is asked to grant the "stalker" his death and he does when he shoots him. Obviously, this is the final act that shows how much Harry has changed over the course of the story.

[–] Steamboy 9 years ago

I think the killer hated doctors but, more importantly, he was also very much deranged.

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