Tears of Kali

Plot synopsis:
In India of the 70s and 80s, various sects were founded to meditation and self-help. One of this sects is the so-called Taylor-Eriksson-group, which exorcise the "dark part of the human souls" with the help of radical experiments. All members had taken the vow of silence and its nearly impossible to get informations about the group's pracitces, after the sects are disbanded.
The film is an anthology that connects three independent German horror short films, using the mysterious cult of this sect as a wrap-around story. During the film, the dark secrets of the sect are become known. The three chapters of the movie are named after motives from the Hinduism and are about the former members of the Taylor-Eriksson-group.
=== Chapter 1: Shakti ===
The journalist Tansu Yilmaz is visiting a psychiatry in Berlin to get more informations of Elisabeth Steinberg, a former member of the sect. Steinberg is suspected for the complicity in the mysterious dead of her guru Sarmafan. Supposedly, she should instigated an communard from his sect to murder the guru. Yilmaz is engage her in a lot of contradictions and finds out the truth. Beginning as an interview, it follows a nightmarish struggle of life or death.
=== Chapter 2: Devi ===
Dr. Steiner should help the hooligan Robin Borg, who is trying to escape from the therapeutic approaches by Steiner. Because of the honesty and aggressiveness of Robin, the doctor is mocking his patient. Finally, Steiner taken the first sentence of Robin in the conversation, "I want to get out of my skin!", literally, and force him to shedding his skin using hypnosis.
=== Chapter 3: Kali ===
The healer Edgar, medicate the patient Mira in a group therapy. She seems to be afflicted by a mysterious disease since her stay in India. Actually Edgar can heal her, but afterwards, a dark force creeps through the old villa, where the therapies take place. Miras "disease" consequently was a being from an otherworldly dimension, which is need a new host...

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
Bloody low-budget German horrorworth a watch..
Three macabre and bloody tales are loosely connected by a mysterious cult which practices bizarre rituals.The first story tells of a woman named Shakti, an ex-member of the Taylor-Erikkson cult who is now an inmate at a mental hospital.
A journalist (supposedly investigating the cult) interviews Shakti, but it transpires that she has other reasons for wanting to talk to the woman...The next story follows a violent young drug abuser who is sentenced to rehab.
His doctor turns out to be a follower of Taylor-Erikkson and his methods of treatment are far from orthodox.The final tale deals with a faith-healer who unwittingly releases an evil force from one of his group (who is terminally ill).
The malign monster is seeking a new healthy host, and has got its evil eye on the healer.The movie is obviously low budget, and the dubbing on the version I saw is pretty lousy, but Tears of Kali is original enough and has plenty of nastiness and gore to make this movie worth a viewing.
It takes a while to get going, but those willing to make the effort will be rewarded by some nice death scenes which don't skimp on the red stuff.The second story is my favourite as it manages to be quite creepy and genuinely disturbing (and it also features a scene in which which a guy has to peel off his skin!).It may not be a wholly successful venture, but the makers of this film certainly have to be praised for trying something a bit different..
This terrorizer has a big cast of good actors (as an example:Peter Martell as a European guru has a strong presence), excellent direction, nice production design, a very good soundtrack and a lot of heavy gore sfx like Italian horror movies in the eighties.
Three horror stories based on members of a transgressive Hindu cult that return home but changed in some way.
Things get quite bloody.Second story has a violent young criminal visiting a psychiatrist for mandatory therapy.
Then there's a strange twist in the story that is very well written and surprising.Final story deals with spiritual healer who claims to be able to remove the persons illness from them with his hands.
I found the stories to be very well written and the director succeeds entirely in setting up each story with its surprising twist and the gory aftermath.Note: review of the German DVD..
one of the best low budget movies from Germany!
Andreas Marschall's first film is just the beginning of a new area, making movies with a few euros!
Was put off by the amount of gore but creepy low budget anthology horror..
TEARS OF KALI centers around the fictional India-based Taylor-Erikkson cult group during the 80's.
Only a few of the performances are pretty damn chilling (the "doctor" in the second segment, and the "client" in the third readily come to mind...) and notable.
The gore FX are very well done for a low-budget film, with some graphic scenes which reminds us of ol Italian horror movies of the eighties.
The movie is obviously low budget, n some of the acting is pretty lousy, but Tears of Kali is original enough and has plenty of nastiness and gore to make this movie worth a viewing.
If you are into splatter and gore, give these young film makers a try.Somebody shud make a movie on the other cult involving the cult of The Noida serial murders (also Nithari serial murders, Nithari Kand)..
Tears of Kali is not at all a slightly flawed masterpiece, but it doesn't completely suck, either.On the low budget and cheesy end, aspects of the film play like a stereotypical Uwe Boll flick; it's difficult to not cynically think of this as another German tax shelter film.
Stylistically and atmospherically, Tears of Kali occupies a weird middle ground between recent microbudget schlock like Insaniac (2002), The Crucifier (2005) and The Bonesetter (2003), and a major studio, high-budget horror film.
If you watch it expecting microbudget schlock, as I did after seeing the DVD title screen sequence (like most films, I purposefully avoided knowing much about the film before I popped it into my DVD player), you'll be impressed with the level of professionalism exhibited.
But if you've only watched major studio, high-budget horror, it's entirely understandable that you'd come to the conclusion that this is one of the worst films ever.
The bottom line, then, is that you should probably only watch Tears of Kali after you've watched at least a dozen or so microbudget films.
That way the technical clunkiness, the relative incoherence of much of the story, and the numerous other problems with the script, performances, direction, editing and so on won't be such culture shock, and you'll be able to better appreciate what Tears of Kali does get right.The premise of the film and even many ways in which the story is developed are impressive.
I'm a fan of "anthology" films as well as television shows like The Twilight Zone, The Hitchhiker and Tales from the Crypt, so the fact that the script is broken up into three separate but related stories along with bookended segments worked well for me.
Writer/director Andreas Marschall even weaves in a fair amount of sophisticated, nuanced threads, thematically and more literally, allowing viewers to interlock the stories more with the bookended segments in their heads as they watch.However, Marschall errs on one serious front--the "show, don't tell" rule.
Far too much of the film consists of people talking about interesting events that we do not get to see.
The first story after the opening bookend is especially guilty of this, and it doesn't help that the story being told is fairly complex and kinda gobbledy-gooky (it hinges, as does the whole film, on a maybe ridiculous but fun mixture of mystic, new-agey psychology, cults and a couple ideas from Indian religions), and it doesn't help that the story being told has lots of characters, most of whom have odd names (and the film doesn't have the greatest English dubbing job, and the DVD has no subtitles).Surely the show-don't-tell violation was chosen to keep the budget down.
Even with the bookends, Marschall only needed four settings, most limited to just a couple rooms, and he avoided having to hire lots of extras, having to work his way through complicated logistical issues of location shooting and so on.
While that's a good excuse for limiting the film, it's not a good enough excuse to violate the "show don't tell" rule in the way that it's violated here, because it seriously hurts the film.Horror fans who enjoy gore and special effects will also find enough to like here, as long as they're not the kind of gorehound who gets wrapped up in arguments about what film is the goriest.
Quite a few scenes are a bit brutal and difficult to watch, and especially compared to most microbudget films, the effects and make-up are extremely impressive.
Each story hinges on some twist of character or another that results in a good, suspenseful and visceral extended sequence.
In terms of visceralness, the bookended sequences reminded me a bit of the Nix-cult scenes in Lord of Illusions (1995), but unfortunately they're not shot, acted or constructed quite as well.In any event, if you're a horror fanatic to the extent that you're a completist--that is, you try to see every horror film ever made--there's plenty to enjoy in Tears of Kali as long as you're generously forgiving.
By definition, though, you must be generously forgiving of horror in general to be that kind of fan (otherwise you wouldn't subject yourself to all of those schlocky films, and that's pretty undeniably a large number of films).
If you can the positives to fare like The Christmas Season Massacre (2001) or Silo Killer (2002), then you'll find plenty of positives in Tears of Kali, too.
Unfortunately, the R1 DVD of "Tears of Kali" is dubbed in English with no subtitle option.
The movie has a fair share of sick gore, but more interesting to me is that it has a unique and more familiar take on cults than most horrors (especially 70s exploitation) do.
It works sort of like an anthology horror in that it consists of three shorts that take place in present time.
Very original and creepy movie, but damn that dub job!.
This movie has its ups and downs, but to me the good stuff in this movie very much outweighs the bads...What's not so good about the movie are indeed sometimes the dialogue, the sounds, the lighting(am I the only one who noticed the way the sets were lighted was amateur, and the acting....What is very good are the highly original storyline, the very intense atmosphere, the gore factor which is very high, and the effects which are done supremely.So, definitely worth watching, or maybe even a must-see for all you horror and gore fans.....
The main drawback with 'Tears of Kali' is its obviously low budget.
Despite its best efforts, the film occasionally ends up just looking cheap and comical.
And, in the end, the cheap 'home video' feel of the film doesn't matter because it works well on other levels.
A series of interconnected story lines is used very effectively to build up an intriguingly incomplete picture of the origins and activities of the occult group at the centre of the movie.
The idea of this group, and the stories, rumours, and legends that surround them, is what really appealed to me about the film.
The only point I want to make is that the central concept of 'Tears of Kali' lends the movie an extremely powerful edge, and this overcomes the otherwise cheap 'home video' atmosphere..
This episode movie uses demons, meditation and a strange sect as its vehicle for the ultimate traumatic horror movie: the whole atmosphere of this film is extremely frightening though you never believe the esoteric background that is supposed to be there!
Anyway, there are some professional actors in this flick doing their best, some horror movie buffs just playing actors.
If you are into splatter and gore but to old to take Fulci seriously  give these young film makers a try..
OK, if you like cheap splatter, you will love this movie, but if you like good stories and good actors - don't watch this.
The overall quality of this movie lacks of the supposable very low budget.
The Mother takes on the frightening form of Kali Mata to destroy our inner demons, and to terrify our egos.
Kali represents the force of destruction for the purpose of new growth and life both mundane and spiritual in the universe.
It's very outrageous to me that people who know nothing of India or it's divinity can just take one of our beloved Goddesses and use her like a cheap prostitute to make some low-budget, talentless horror film.
It's very clear to me that the person who wrote this movie must have a very serious self-deluding ego, and serious inner-demons to see Kali as so horrible and terrible.
Kali Maa is an ancient Mother, not to be trifled with for the sake of entertainment, let's just hope that in her endless compassion and mercy that she does not take on wrathful form to those involved with this movie.The audacity that Westerners have in using religions like my own, or the religions of the Caribbean Islands such as Santeria, and Vodou which are actually very positive, and other such religions to twist and exaggerate misunderstood elements that the Western mind cannot comprehend, is totally ridiculous.
It's clear that there is no respect for what people live, breathe and believe in when it comes to these kind of flicks.Kali Maa in reality is a caring and compassionate mother, whom we shed tears at her beautiful feet in devotion and love for.
And I am happy that my Mother takes on wrathful form sometimes to protect her devotees from themselves and from outside forces.Many Praises to the REAL Kali Maa, who has shown MANY the path of God and realization..
This movie was kind of interesting...I had to watch it for a college class about India, however the synopsis tells you this movie is about one thing when it doesn't really contain much cold, hard information on those details.
Even right at the very beginning, you want to look away because the gore is pretty intense.
Only watch this movie if you want to see some cool gore, because the plot is thin and will make you sad that you wasted time listening to it.
I've seen rumors on other websites about this movie being based on true events, however you can not find any information about it online...so basically this movie was a waste of time to watch..
Good Low-Budget-Production.
The plot is real horrific, the atmosphere really depressive, unusual for a low-budget production like that, and at least, for a German production.
A little bit of Indian spirituality, mystic thriller and slasher movie mixed together.
It could be perfect, but at unfortunately some things were a little bit disappointing, what don't inevitably have to be typically for low-budget movies:1.) The cast sometimes is not more than average.
Some of them do a good, or a very good job, but some are acting like the actors of crappy German court-shows!
It caused by the set ( big halls as in the hospital or with the esoterically group ) and sometimes the strange dialects of the actors!But all in all, it is an interesting movie, worth to watch it, far beyond the commercially movies, which are often more terrible..
I know it is low budget, but anyway: the actors behave like playing in a soap, the dialogues are absolutely crappy and the last time I have seen such odd pictures was at a trash nite at some youth video festival ten years ago.
But at least one good thing: the first three minutes of the movie were quiet interesting and looked okay - and the score was really worth listening to.
The DVD cover promised a lot, but that is by far the best this film has to offer....
A "reporter" with a hidden agenda manages to get the "inner demon" of Elizabeth (Jandris Irena-Heliana) released in the first segment with almost deadly consequences.The demon attack, and the bizarre suicide, barely compensated for the low budget look of the film.I have never seen anger management therapy the way this cult practices it.
Interesting And Original Splatter-Film....
I had initially heard of TEARS OF KALI a while back and it sounded like something I'd be into, but with all the films I have coming in on a regular basis, it kinda fell off my radar.
TEARS OF KALI is a strange, gory, sometimes downright creepy film which is somewhat constrained by it's obviously low budget - but is still an entertaining and worthwhile watch.TEARS OF KALI centers around the fictional India-based Taylor-Erikkson cult group, that practices meditation and other rituals in the pursuit of facing and banishing the individual's "inner demons" - but apparently these techniques work either all too well or not well enough (depending on your viewpoint...) as dark forces are not only exorcised, but also unleashed upon hapless victims.The film is told "anthology-style", with a short but memorable and "eye-opening" intro sequence, and then proceeding into the three stories that make up the bulk of the film.The first (SHAKTI) is about a journalist who visits one of the cult-members who is being held at a mental hospital.
The journalist goes in under cover of wanting to research the Taylor-Erikkson cult, but we find that her true motives may hit a little closer to home.
We find that the treating doctor in question is actually a Taylor-Erikkson "alumni", and his rehabilitation methods are far from the norm...The closing story (KALI) revolves around a quack "faith-healer" and his assistant who perform "miracles" for a fee.
When the healer unwittingly helps one of his clients and actually expels a force which had been possessing her, the demon is now free to roam and looking for a new host...I gotta say I really enjoyed TEARS OF KALI.
In fact, a few of the performances are pretty damn chilling (the "doctor" in the second segment, and the "client" in the third readily come to mind...) and notable.
The gore FX are very well done for a low-budget film, with some graphic scenes of eyelid-removal-via-cuticle-scissors, a pencil-in-the-throat-suicide, some decent (but irritatingly "shaky") self-flaying, and a few other goodies thrown in for good measure.
Not as rough as some of the more "extreme" gore films out there, but definitely stronger than your average horror fare.
There are plenty of scenes of genuine atmosphere and tension, the likes of which I haven't come across in a while.
Although flawed in some fundamental ways, I still think TEARS OF KALI will appeal to most "underground" horror viewers - some scenes may prove too much for the more mainstream viewer.
If you disengage your brain while watching a movie, then you should probably skip this entirely.With that said:The movie is an anthology of three stories based on the after-effects of a form of experimental group "therapy" done in the 80s based on the archetypes of the Hindu religion.
This movie is an example of how good storytelling and well written characters are far more important than flashy FX or style.
"Tears of Kali" is, despite the title, a German German-language film from 2004 and this one runs for 105 minutes approximately.
He is featured prominently in the third and final chapter here, which is also the longest from the entire film and it fits well that it is named Kali, so maybe you could say that it is in the center of it all.
I was never thrilled by one of the three chapters and the film does look amateurish at times.