Review: Wrath of Souls

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Wrath of Souls (aka Aiyai: Wrathful Souls; Aiyai: A Wrathful Soul)
Directed by Ilanthirayan Alan Arumugam
GVKM Elephant Pictures; Aiyai; YSA Screen Media
83 minutes, 2020 / 2021
www.aiyaifeaturefilm.com/
https://phoenixworldent.com/films/wrath-of-souls-featured/
www.facebook.com/aiyaifeaturefilm

It seems in the last decade, Australia – in this case, Brisbane, Queensland – has been bursting with genre releases, I am happy to say. Like their European counterparts, they tend to go for the pure silliness of the likes of SheBorg (2016) to the dark and moody Rage (2020). This spookfest is closer to the latter, with artistic hauntings and a tone of dread.

For those interested, the term Aiyai is a Tamil word for a woman, or any variety of birds, especially pigeons (thank you Google), both of which come into play here.

Kabir Singh

Like Dellemorte Dellamore/Cemetery Man (1994), we are introduced to Kiran (Kabir Singh) briefly in a prologue after something mysterious has occurred, and then the film is in flashback bode until the storyline catches up. He has just obtained a position at an old graveyard/chapel/funeral parlor, where it is his job to maintain and clean, including the crematorium. Joyful start, right? His co-worker and office manager, Darren (William Wensley) is a total Aussie cliché; I half expected his floppy hat to have corks hanging from it. Also, there is something off about him, naturally, as well as the parlor director Albert Fischer (Richard Huggett). There is also burly and extremely sour landscape maintenance man, Michael (Craig Ingram, who grumpily steals every scene in which he appears and is underused).

Through a series of flashbacks, Kiran worked in an East Indian restaurant. He has some violent confrontations with a pimp (ex-AFL-er and ranked barefoot water skier Ozzie Devrish) and his lackey (Marco Sinigaglia) when Kiran helped the pimp’s abused drug dealer, Sarah (Pennyanne Lace) whom the pimp is demanding to bring more money. These clashes lead to the cemetery position. Lots of quick edits project the dire situations and the violent turns of events. Of course, this is all background to what is yet to come in the following acts.

Pennyanne Lace

In fact, once all the background information is presented and we have an idea of the troublesome spirit that is Kiran, the second act starts in spooky earnest when he begins his mortuary job. Shadows swirl, gray ash and messes mysteriously materialize, and the dissonant background soundtrack begins. And this viewer’s attention is grabbed.

This isn’t your run of the mill poltergeist that merely moves chairs flinging across the floor and slamming some small cabinets; rather, this one is hell-bent on flinging and fighting, death and destruction. You know, the fun kind. We see some quick glimpses of the beastie. It also has a hold on Kiran, possessing him and turning him into a nearly werewolf-ish creature. This is not the usual Catholic-based possession, I’m happy to say (hasn’t that been done to – er – death?). That is part of what makes this so interesting. As it is not European-based, again Catholic, there are better chances of being caught by surprise due to it being a step away from the familiar. This reminds me more of The Changing of Ben Moore (2015), than, say, The Exorcist (1973).

Tahlia Jade Holt

While wilding Kiran settles up with old adversaries, he’s being cared for by his overly protective student girlfriend, Sara (Tahlia Jade Holt) and muscle-strapped roommate Felix (Vinod Mohana Sundaram), and is wanted for questioning for murders by a police duo, led by Detective Blake (Vicky Loughrey).

The interesting question for me for part of this is as follows: is the wraith out to avenge Kiran’s trials and tribulations, or is it seeking revenge of some kind of its own? With all the stories tying up by the third act, the answer is quite clear and not all that expected, despite clues given throughout the story.

I am not going to lie: the ending actually pissed me off a little bit, but despite that, for a debut feature, Arumugam shows he knows his way around a story, and how to shoot it. That the film has won over a dozen festival awards attests to that. The cinematography is superb, with changing angles, a sense of both metaphorical and physical darkness, and the camera is used in both even-handed and occasionally jarring ways. Plus, there is some nice use of the increasingly ever-present drone shots.

William Wensley and Singh

The effects are effective. There isn’t a huge body count as it is not a slasher kind of story, but much more personal. Not a ton of blood and almost no gore per se, but enjoyable deaths nonetheless.

Despite this being a directorial introduction, Arumugam has assembled an accomplished and dedicated cast that holds up to scrutiny. There is not a weak spot to be seen, which is rare for both this budget and the director’s industry influence.

The film was reportedly shot for US$3 million and employs the use of purposefully jerky edits that work, along with the occasional jump scares. But mostly it is the feeling of dread that runs through that makes this beyond just an ordinary ghost story. Arumugam has two films in the works, and I am looking forward to them.

The film has recently been released in North America on Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, InDemand (Comcast and Cox), Microsoft Store, Vudu, YouTube Rentals and Hoopla.