Tears of Kali

Three macabre and bloody tales are loosely connected by a mysterious cult which practices bizarre rituals.

The first story tells of a woman named Shakti, an ex-member of the Taylor-Erikkson cult who is now an inmate at a mental hospital. A journalist (supposedly investigating the cult) interviews Shakti, but it transpires that she has other reasons for wanting to talk to the woman...

The next story follows a violent young drug abuser who is sentenced to rehab. His doctor turns out to be a follower of Taylor-Erikkson and his methods of treatment are far from orthodox.

The final tale deals with a faith-healer who unwittingly releases an evil force from one of his group (who is terminally ill). The malign monster is seeking a new healthy host, and has got its evil eye on the healer.

The movie is obviously low budget, and the dubbing on the version I saw is pretty lousy, but Tears of Kali is original enough and has plenty of nastiness and gore to make this movie worth a viewing. It takes a while to get going, but those willing to make the effort will be rewarded by some nice death scenes which don't skimp on the red stuff.

The second story is my favourite as it manages to be quite creepy and genuinely disturbing (and it also features a scene in which which a guy has to peel off his skin!).

It may not be a wholly successful venture, but the makers of this film certainly have to be praised for trying something a bit different.

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!

"Tears of Kali" is the debut film of German writer/director Andreas Marshall. I know him from the surprisingly good 2011 neo-Giallo "Masks", but this is quite different. "Tears of Kali" is a horror anthology, and although far from flawless and often suffering from the shortage of budget, I have to award it with a couple of extra good grades. Why? Because it is genuinely macabre and unpleasant to watch, and - being a horror fanatic - you just got to appreciate that! How often do we not complain that horror movies aren't frightening enough? Well, here you have a film with the potential to truly freak you out with its eerie stories, depraved characters, and nauseating gore.

The omnibus doesn't have a real wraparound story, but all three segments are connected to a spiritual cult in India named after its founder (and über-nutcase) Eriksson. In the pre-credits opening sequence we already witness how a naked girl cuts her own eyes out in a filthy room full of dead bodies, so this isn't exactly the joyful sunshine-and-rainbows kind of cult. "Tears of Kali" comes recommended, but only to people with strong stomachs and nerves.

In the first story, a suspiciously behaving reporter receives permission to interview a former cult-member at the sanitarium, and it naturally goes quite wrong. In the second story, a troubled young man needs to see a psychiatrist to help him deal with his drug abuse and rage attacks. The shrink is a disciple of the Eriksson cult, though, and his methods turn out rather barbaric. In the third and last story, a fraudulent healer and his faithful wife/assistant actually succeed in exorcising a demon from the mind of a female patient (and Eriksson pupil) for once, but the demon is now loose in the healer's basement and looking for a host. Segment #2 is my absolute favorite, because of the psychopathic shrink and the deeply uncomfortable atmosphere in this story.

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.