Following up on the success of his previous film “Vazhiye,” director Nirmal Baby Varghese and his Casablanca Film Factory provide yet another twist-laden genre effort for the Malayalam scene. Eschewing the found-footage format of the previous film, this traditional and straightforward effort shows the teams' growth and skillset evolve to the forefront with a second thrilling and enjoyable feature under their belts.
Taking a road trip together, friends Albin (Jeffin Joseph), Pooja (Arya Krishnan), Arjun (Varun Ravindran), Martin (Nibin Stany), Shyam (Shyam Salash), and Sreedha (Lasya Balakrishnan) get stranded in the middle of the forest while on their way to a vacation home. Still managing to make it to their destination, they decide to relax and have their originally scheduled fun and partying only to eventually stumble upon a strange cave located on the property they were initially unaware of. Deciding to explore the cave, they are soon inundated with a series of strange incidents with a malevolent force inside the cave and must stop it to leave the area.
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Overall, “Dreadful Chapter” is an intriguing and enjoyable indie effort. One of the strongest points here is writer/director Varghese's 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 Albin and the rest of the group out to the house early on with minimal stalling to then 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 as 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, “Dreadful” 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. Also, 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 Sreedha being terrified of something inside the cave but unable to explain it, while that the group is 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 entity living inside which brings about some thrilling stalking and slashing in the final half. 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 “Dreadful Chapters.” 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 its really only in the final twenty minutes that anything major happens. Not having a lot of action is another note for a low-budget production 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.
With plenty of solid work about it and not too many drawbacks, “Dreadful Chapters” is an overall enjoyable enough indie title that's really only got those limitations imposed upon it to serve as drawbacks. Give it a shot if you're a fan of this type of genre effort or have enjoyed their previous work.
