User Reviews

Malayalam horror film specialist A. Vincent's 'Srikrishna Parunthu' is a messy but grand tragic opus of a tantrik (shaman)'s fall from grace and the subsequent destruction it wreaks upon him and his clan. Seductive yakshis, forbidden passions, demons, black magic, the works.

Unlike most horror film-makers in India. Vincent seriously tells his stories, not relying on obnoxious comedy or jump scares to sell the movies. There is an almost operatic edge to the manner in which the tantrik (played by Mohanlal) reaches heights of greatness, but his succumbing to his baser instincts leads to his downfall.

Vincent also made the intriguing Vayanadan Thampan (1978), in which a young Kamalahaasan plays a vampiric warlock who manages to live across centuries by seducing maidens and drinking their blood.

P.V.Thambis' novel on Keralas' folklore and religious mysticism was a rage when it came out in the early eighties and as a young lad then i remember people excitedly sharing the news of the book turning into cinema with stalwarts like Vincent master and P.Bhaskaran at the helm.With an immensely popular Mohan Lal , not yet a superstar, in the lead the movie was bound to be a money spinner.We children were terrified and my cousin sisters screamed at the sight of the Yakshis and monsters and were equally enthralled by the magic and mantras performed by Lalettan.It was a low budget affair and today one would laugh at the 'special effects' and bgm intended to scare you off. Yet the two and hour footage is populated by malayalam cinemas highly respected performers starting with Mohan Lal and followed by Jagathy Sreekumar.Jagannatha Varma.Balan K Nair, Oduvil Unnikrishnan..the list goes on.The soundtrack by the epic duo K.Raghavan-P.Bhaskaran ,is immortal.