Vadakkan

I enjoy bad horror movies. Especially ones that try. Here is a movie that pretends to try, but really does nothing.

This movie fails at every step. It fails to make it's characters interesting, it fails the make the plot engaging, it fails to create the atmosphere it intends to, and most importantly it is hard to make sense of.

Was the investigation thrilling? No.

Was there any sign of decent acting? No.

Is the screenplay good? No.

Is there good camera work? Yes.

Is there good music? Although even the music failed to create any real excitement, it did have some good aspects and could have been more impactful if the scenes made sense.

Would not recommend.

I'm honestly surprised by the high ratings for Vadakkan (2025). Many people keep praising it as a "good attempt," but I don't see it that way. It feels like the filmmakers simply tried to imitate Hollywood-style horror by mixing found footage elements with some bits of our culture. There's nothing wrong with experimenting, but this felt more like copying than creating something original. Instead of trying to replicate Western horror tropes, they should have focused on building a horror experience rooted in our own rich traditions and storytelling. That would have made a much stronger impact.

Meh/10 for me.

Theyyam is a vibrant and ancient ritual, and this movie had a great opportunity to showcase it respectfully. While the cast performed well and the acting was impressive, the overall execution of the film fell short of expectations. Given the strong concept and the presence of a talented actor like Kishor, I was hoping for a more impactful and thoughtful portrayal. Unfortunately, the movie didn't quite live up to its potential. The narrative felt disconnected at times, and the depth of the cultural elements could have been explored more meaningfully. With better storytelling and direction, this could have been a truly memorable film.

Don't rely on user ratings and reviews; the movie was too boring to hold the audience's attention. Better avoid it. By the end, you're not scared-you're just relieved it's over. A horror film where the only thing that dies is the audience's patience. The film boasts dim lighting, endless walking scenes, and dialogue so slow, a meditative journey into absolutely nothing. Watching this film was like opening a horror novel and finding a user manual inside.

Vadakkan is less a horror film and more a cautionary tale about what happens when ambition isn't matched by execution. Watch it only if you're conducting sleep experiments.

The first sign of trouble is the audio editing and dubbing. There's no depth and the entire audio is distractingly distanced from what's on the screen. You can just imagine the actors dubbing in the studio with the mics entirely in their mouths. Even basics like the voice of someone behind another being lower is just missed.

The screenplay is disjointed.. and not in a well scripted horror movie edge-of-seat disjointed kind of way but in a incompetent kind of way. There are so many plot holes from scene to scene and the direction is lacking. The background of the plot and story is inconsistent and there's no resolution for the audience at the end when it could easily have been good with just basic homework.

The actors are competent, the cinematography is great and the background score, except for the first entirely out-of-place song, is decent.

It looks like a basic good concept of story was established, decent actors were cast and then everything else just crashed into a school play run by the 5th standard history teacher. Rewatching any one episode of the 20 year old series Supernatural, would've been entirely so much more satisfying.