Tears of Kali

one of the best low budget movies from Germany! is this is the dark side of new age? if you believe in esoteric, please don't watch this movie! it blows all your positive fantasies away. this movie shows that beyond the peaceful façade of spiritual soul searching lies a world of extreme transgressions and terror. i hope there will be a 35 mm copy soon! Andreas Marschall's first film is just the beginning of a new area, making movies with a few euros! i'm waiting for the second hit!

This episode movie uses demons, meditation and a strange sect as its vehicle for the ultimate traumatic horror movie: the whole atmosphere of this film is extremely frightening though you never believe the esoteric background that is supposed to be there! The people doing the movie obviously never had real contact to the Baghwan ideology. But who cares? I don't think John Wayne ever was a professional cowboy nor was Louis De Funes a french Policeman. Anyway, there are some professional actors in this flick doing their best, some horror movie buffs just playing actors. Good old German Matthieu Carriere plays a spiritual healer in the last episode. Attention: The special effects are not for those with weak stomachs: eyelids are cut off, a guy skins himself alive and there goes your breakfast! If you are into splatter and gore but to old to take Fulci seriously – give these young film makers a try.

Unfortunately, the R1 DVD of "Tears of Kali" is dubbed in English with no subtitle option. It was hard to fully immerse myself in the creepiness of the film considering that the dub job is one of the most hideous these ears have ever heard. I would love to revisit this in the future with English subs. The movie has a fair share of sick gore, but more interesting to me is that it has a unique and more familiar take on cults than most horrors (especially 70s exploitation) do. It works sort of like an anthology horror in that it consists of three shorts that take place in present time. The catch is that each features characters who were once connected to the Taylor-Erikkson cult in India in the 80s. Very original and creepy movie, but damn that dub job!

Three horror stories based on members of a transgressive Hindu cult that return home but changed in some way. In the first story our former cult member is now in an insane asylum and is visited by a reported who wants to find out about what went on at the cult. Somewhat slow going as story is told in flashbacks while the two sit on chairs and face each other. Reporter is particularly interested in what lead to the death of the participants. What seemed rather boring suddenly turns very exciting with a surprising twist in the story. Things get quite bloody.

Second story has a violent young criminal visiting a psychiatrist for mandatory therapy. The patient seems to have some type of agenda but the psychiatrist is up to the task. Again, things slow down a bit and get weird. Then there's a strange twist in the story that is very well written and surprising.

Final story deals with spiritual healer who claims to be able to remove the persons illness from them with his hands. One of the patients is a former cult member, so the successful healing gets more complicated. Again, we are surprised by a twist. Has a pretty gory scene in there.

There some nice female full frontal nudity as well as male full frontal nudity for some reason. I found the stories to be very well written and the director succeeds entirely in setting up each story with its surprising twist and the gory aftermath.

Note: review of the German DVD.

The main drawback with 'Tears of Kali' is its obviously low budget. Despite its best efforts, the film occasionally ends up just looking cheap and comical. Having said that, however, the blood and gore FX are done *exceptionally* well. And, in the end, the cheap 'home video' feel of the film doesn't matter because it works well on other levels. A series of interconnected story lines is used very effectively to build up an intriguingly incomplete picture of the origins and activities of the occult group at the centre of the movie. The idea of this group, and the stories, rumours, and legends that surround them, is what really appealed to me about the film. It's an idea which struck me as similar to Clive Barker's 'Hellraiser' concept, insofar as the mythology surrounding it is powerful enough to be extended in any of a number of ways, possibly across different media (films, comics, novels, etc). Not that I'm advocating the production of 'Tears of Kali' sequels, accompanying graphic novels, and tie-in action figures! Let's face it, most of the Hellraiser sequels are worthless (unless viewed solely for cheese-value). Just because an idea has the scope and potency to be extended doesn't mean it should be extended (except in the viewer's imagination). The only point I want to make is that the central concept of 'Tears of Kali' lends the movie an extremely powerful edge, and this overcomes the otherwise cheap 'home video' atmosphere.