Indian Horror Mystery ‘Kaali Khuhi’ Fails to Deliver on the Scares

Alice Oscura – Featured Writer

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

Kaali Khuhi is a horror mystery drama directed by Terrie Samundra. The plot of the film revolves around the story of a 10-year-old girl, Shivangi (Riva Arora), who tries to save her family from the restless ghost who resides in a village in Punjab.

It is clear from the start that there is a mounting tension between Shivangi’s parents. Shivangi’s father, Darshan (Satyadeep Misra) informs them that his mother is ill and they need to go to take care of her. Shivangi’s mother is not pleased because it is hinted that she does not get along with her mother-in-law. Immediately upon their arrival the atmosphere shifts because the village seems to be constantly shrouded in mist, and Shivangi’s relatives act very suspicious especially about her grandmother’s condition.

Now here’s where the movie begins the suffer. There is a major lack of plot and character development which causes us to not be able to connect with the lead characters in the way that we should, especially when you begin to realise what the underlying message is about – female infanticide. This is a very weighty issue that has dated back centuries in India where it is believed that to have a baby that is a girl is either bad luck or just too problematic, especially in a culture where the bride’s family is the one that has to come up with dowry (which basically puts a great financial burden unto the bride’s family). Shivangi represented the breakthrough of the new generation. Her grandmother was never happy that Shivangi’s mother broke a long-standing tradition by having a girl instead.

As a form of retribution, it is depicted that the village begins to suffer from a curse and many people begin getting ill, including Shivangi’s mother. When the horrible history is finally revealed it is anti-climatic and lacking the impact that it should have because the movie is just not scary enough. Where it succeeds in atmosphere and tension of that waiting-with-bated-breath-to-see-what’s-lurking-in-the-mist, it fails to properly execute that scare factor.

However, the acting is not that bad especially with the patchy script that they are given. It really wasn’t that entertaining for me and I was disappointed that the movie wasn’t powerful enough to educate the audience on the issue of female infanticide, which still occurs in the more uncivilised regions of India even today.

You can skip this one guys. If you want to see a good Indian horror on Netflix try the miniseries Ghoul or Stree instead.

Alice’s Score: 3 out of 10

For my review of Hindi thriller Game Over you can click here. And for more than 100 horror film reviews and lists you can check out our horror section here.

 Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump.

I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. You can find me as Dark Alice Reviews on Facebook, my Instagram is alice_oscura and my Twitter handle is @lise_veliz2. For more on me you can click here.