Dreadful Chapters

Nirmal Baby Varghese's Dreadful Chapters is a Malayalam indie horror film that blends psychological terror with supernatural elements. Set in a secluded forest, the film follows a group of friends who stumble upon an eerie cave that unravels a series of chilling events. While the movie showcases an intriguing premise and commendable atmosphere, it does come with some rough edges.

The story starts with six friends on a road trip that takes a dark turn when they get stranded near a vacation home. The discovery of an ancient cave nearby serves as a turning point, introducing a lurking supernatural force that feeds on their fears. The film attempts to craft a slow-burning horror narrative, focusing on tension rather than outright jumpscares.

One of the strengths of Dreadful Chapters is its ability to capture camaraderie among the friends, making their eventual descent into horror more impactful. The mystery surrounding the cave is also well-structured, keeping viewers engaged as the story unfolds. However, certain plot points feel underdeveloped, and some character decisions lack logic, which may take away from the immersive experience.

Despite its flaws, Dreadful Chapters is a notable attempt at atmospheric horror within the Malayalam indie space. It shines in its eerie setup and genuine effort to tell a unique horror story, though some technical shortcomings and pacing issues hold it back.

Dreadful Chapters is an independent Malayalam horror film directed by Nirmal Baby Varghese. With a story centered around a group of friends who venture into an unfamiliar, eerie environment, the film builds on the classic horror trope of the unknown lurking in the darkness. While the movie has its imperfections, it succeeds in crafting a chilling atmosphere that lingers beyond the final frame.

The biggest strength of Dreadful Chapters is its ambition. The film attempts to explore psychological horror in an experimental way, earning it recognition at various indie film festivals. The performances, particularly from Jeffin Joseph and Arya Krishnan, feel organic, and the interactions between the friends make their predicament feel more grounded.

Despite its limitations, Dreadful Chapters is an intriguing indie horror film that brings something different to the genre, especially in Malayalam cinema. While it may not be a flawless experience, it showcases the potential of indie filmmaking in crafting suspenseful horror with limited resources.

Love mind bending movies that make you think, and I must say this is one of the better ones I have seen lately and I am glad that I did.

The writing and story was top notch, kept us guessing, and intriguing. I never had any issue with the acting and it drew me in very well.

It's not a traditional horror movie. Believe me it's not. At least not anything like any films I have seen.

Kudos and props for originality, and also being able to tell a well told story. I do hope that this team makes more films, and they have more stories up their sleeves to tell.

It has also love the kinds of movies that show young people and how they behave, including how men act around each other. It makes for great fun.

Taking a road trip together, a group of friends arrive at a vacation home in the middle of the forest and decide to start partying and having fun, but when they discover a strange cave nearby the group is soon inundated with a series of strange incidents with a malevolent force inside the cave and must stop it to leave the area.

Overall, this one is an intriguing and enjoyable indie effort. One of the strongest points here is the rather fun setup that provides a multitude of excuses for the group to engage in their shenanigans. Taking the ever-popular storyline of a group of friends heading out for a weekend of fun and partying only to come across an unsuspecting terror instead, this wisely gets the group out to the house early on with minimal stalling to engage in their planned fun. The requisite partying, drinking, and having laughs together paints everyone as a genuinely likable friend group that enjoys hanging out with each other that's incredibly rare to see in such fare as the usual arguing and yelling is absent from the beginning. The discovery and exploration of the cave that they find nearby is an equally intriguing setup that serves to be the igniting factor for the terrors to come as their blissful ignorance of the near non-existent safety precautions brings them into contact with the strangeness of the cave. With this in place, the film moves into a rather intriguing amount of supernatural flair demonstrating the evil inside the cave. The discovery and initial exploration of the cave are fine enough, taking the group through the tight corridors and spacious clearings while the dimly-lit surroundings the deeper they descend add immensely to the tension of the location. Once they leave, the strange acts that unfold are quite fun with the one group member being terrified of something inside the cave but unable to explain it, the group being unable to leave makes the rest of the action somewhat intriguing with the escalating need to discover what's going on. That causes the group to stumble into the evil influence living inside that brings about some thrilling stalking and slashing in the final half as not only the action inside the cave but a solid flashback reveals the true nature of what's gone on before it which adds nicely to the film as a whole. All told, these come together for a lot to like here. That said, there are some minor drawbacks in place for this one. The main detriment featured is the all-too-obvious indie-level budget featured that's on display quite frequently and may not be for everyone. With a small cast, limited locations, no real spectacle-grabbing effects, and a generally scaled-down production, the film falls right in line with standard low-budget genre fare. Opting more for characterization and story is a very common trait for films without much in the way of budget and while there's a means of getting around that it's still pretty apparent. This ties into the other issue where the stilted pacing leaves a lot of the running time devoid of any action. It's great that they arrive so early, but it's only in the final twenty minutes that anything major happens. Not having a lot of action is another note for a low-budget effort as the lack of budget for action leaves more time for the film to rely on dialog like this so it can be a problematic factor for some out there.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.

The imagery was quite vivid and untamed. It was unsettling to me. Thus, I did enjoy it!

That sounds frightfully real.

Most likely one of the better teen horror films released recently. An utterly captivating suspense film. I haven't leaped out of my seat a couple of times in far too long.

This film is amazing. Additionally, I must say that your editing is excellent. Fantastic, distinctive style. All of the music selections you included are excellent as well. I'm eagerly awaiting its sequel because the climax was excellent.

"Quite the unique independent horror movie."

"Good ending and nice build up to the plentiful scares."