Horror story with a South African spirit
Movie review: Tokoloshe – The Calling Director: Richard Green
Cast: Shezi Sibongiseni, Arish Sirkissoon, Angela Balkovic, Rubendra Govender, Sanjay Laljeeth, Neerusha Oogorah, Roel Twijnstra, Lwandile Xaba and Lloyd Grant O’Connor Rating: 3/5
THE word tokoloshe is synonymous with an evil spirit – a short, stumpy figure with bulging red eyes that wreaks havoc wherever it goes.
That is the image that is embedded in my mind. The tokoloshe is reminiscent of childhood stories, but does this mythical creature exist?
I recently attended the film’s premiere in Durban – out of curiosity and to support local talent.
The audience is introduced to the character Thembi, who seems to live a normal life, but something sinister lurks.
Meanwhile, Arish, a writer, takes his wife Angela and adopted daughter Ntombi to an abandoned mansion to complete his novel.
Weird things start to happen at the mansion, which is linked to past events and murders.
Ntombi escapes, but her foster parents die in the clutches of the evil spirit.
Thembi plays an important role in the mysteries unfolding at the haunted mansion.
She goes back there to face her inner demons with the guidance of Dr Richard, from whom she is seeking professional help.
But Dr Richard has his own hidden motives.
Will the tokoloshe calling Thembi lead to her demise? Or will she be able to save herself?
The LX Seth production has all the elements of a good horror movie.
It uses a non-linear narrative approach – it does not follow a chronological order.
Different ideas are juxtaposed, and explosive images are thrown in for dramatic effect.
The actors had an on-screen presence but I found the characters to be one-dimensional – more attention to detail was required in the script.
I found myself searching for answers at the end of the film.
The confusion arose from thinking
Ntombi and Thembi were the same person when they are two completely different characters.
At times I felt the film was carried by eerie sound effects, which were unnecessary.
Nevertheless, I have to commend the production team and cast who pulled off the project on a low budget.
I was impressed by the special effects. A lot of risk-taking from LX Seth and David Green in the horror movie genre.
LX Seth is obviously a filmmaker, who wants to transcend boundaries in the industry. How many horror films do we actually see in our local film industry? Kudos to all.
The film will release later this month at local cinemas.
Govender is a qualified and trained professional in the performing arts. She is an award-winning theatre actress, comedienne, writer, radio personality, educator, compère and director of Saiartma Productions. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter, @samartsai, and on her Facebook page as Samantha Govender