While the genre as a whole became prominent in 1999 with The Blair Witch Project, found-footage style films exploded in the decade after and carried on into the 2010s with countless efforts produced in the style every year. Spreading to the world at large, various countries chipped in with efforts to show the influence of the style being produced wherever it was possible. While India has produced several movies previously, S.S. Jishnu Dev ends up providing us with the first effort from the Tamil industry with “Amanuda.”
“Amanuda” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
A haunted forest is situated on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, known as Bhoothavanam. It's considered a cursed land because of the brutal spirit which dwells in it. The demon is the soul of a British man and an Antichrist worshiper. He lived in a castle inside the forest which was part of the nearby village. After his death, villagers happened to see the ghost of the British man so they avoided their visits to the temple in the nearby forest. Those who avoided the ghost stories and entered into the forest were no more. The situation becomes much worse when parapsychology students Abdul (Aans Rahim J) and Subramani (Sreejith) enter the forest to detect the presence of ghosts that leads to unexpected twists.
There's quite a lot to like with “Amanuda.” Among its most impressive qualities is Harikrishnan .R.G.'s screenplay that provides plenty of engaging work to tie in the necessary found-footage requirements. The usual setup with the genre is given here with the team setting out into the forest to investigate the location legend of a ghostly-spirit wandering through the nearby forest. Recalling the stories from their elders about who he was, how he died and the influence he has on the locals with all the disappearances is a great framework. This backstory creates both a logical setup for the group to investigate and enough to keep the viewer in suspense during their trek through the forest. As the group goes deeper into the wilderness and they start to experience several dark and strange occurrences around them, this early build-up work helps to create quite an imposing vibe on the rest of the film.
With this setup firmly in place, Dev sets out to deliver some pretty enjoyable chills and scares. Upon their discovery of the strange box adorned with Satanic paraphernalia and a skull decorated with similar markings, the evidence to prove their suspicions about the nature of the forest are rather nicely realized. Given that many of the later scenes run on far longer than necessary while featuring unearthly grunting or breathing and the dark nature of the forest surrounding them constantly, there's a chilling atmosphere that gives way to the action found in the second half where the group is confronted by supernatural entities. Filmed mostly in darkness with only sporadic bursts of light coming from lit candles, this section is immensely atmospheric with the inhuman noises and flash visions of something out in the darkness with them. With several jump-scares and a great finale, there's a lot to really enjoy with the film.
There are a few issues with “Amanuda.” The main factor holding it back is the general lack of action present in the first half. The structure found here favors the build-up of events rather than getting anything shown on-screen. With the majority of the scenes revolving around retelling the events that happened to others as they trek through the forest, it can easily feel monotonous and repetitive that everything looks the same. With the action not really starting until the hour mark, that can quickly bring about boredom for some who are expecting something far swifter pacing. There's also the other issue with the darkness in the final half obscuring pretty much the entire screen. Even though there's some fantastic atmosphere present here the inability to make out exactly what's happening can be slightly frustrating despite the scares it delivers.
Featuring plenty of impressive setups and a great atmosphere throughout here without too many detrimental issues, “Amanuda” has given the Tamil industry a great first start for their potential found-footage path to carry onward. The film is definitely worthwhile for found-footage fans, viewers who want to check out this type of genre effort from the area or just generally curious, while only those who aren't into the style or this type of indie production will find fault here.
