Review of Tumbbad

I have to say, that old grandmother was more horrifying than just about any movie monster you can think of, and I'm including Godzilla and Freddie Kruger in that statement. That was one ugly make-up job. The demon Hastar was no slouch either, but I did have to laugh the first time it defecated gold coins out it's butt. That was just a bit too outlandish. The film appears to be a cautionary tale about what greed does to a person, and as sins of the father are passed down to the son, the avarice has the tendency to perpetuate itself through the ages. The story is told in three chapters set about fifteen years apart, beginning around 1918 in the Western India village of Tumbbad, from which the movie takes it's name. It takes a doll made out of dough to summon the creature Hastar, which also has the tendency to distract it long enough to gather up the gold coins it produces. Multiple dolls suggest the distraction will last longer thereby allowing additional time to collect more gold coins, but instead, the surplus dolls summon an equal number of surplus demons. Another outcome of unintended consequences. I've seen over a dozen films out of India but this was the first true horror picture from that country. It was quite original in execution, with spectacular if terrifying imagery that's bound to cause nightmares for the more timid.