Director: Richard Green
Writer: Richard Green, Arish Sirkissoon (Screenplay)
Starring: Angela Balkovic, Rubendra Govender, Sanjay Laljith, Lloyd Grant O’Connor, Neerusha Oogorah, Shezi Sibongiseni
Plot: A successful writer goes to an abandoned hotel with his wife and adopted daughter to finish his much anticipated follow-up book when strange things start to occur. At the same time, a high school teacher is forced to deal with her gruesome past which is linked to the same hotel.
Tagline – The Fear is Real
Runtime: 1 Horu 15 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Tokoloshe: The Calling starts as a young lady Thembi (Sibongiseni) finds herself having visions of a time a family Arish (Sirkissoon), Angelina (Balkovic) and Ntombi (Xaba) went to stay at a suspect haunted hotel, where everyone else went missing or died in the walls.
Dr Richards (O’Connor) looks to help Thembi understand these visions, taking her to the hotel to learn about the dark powers within the walls.
Thoughts on Tokoloshe: The Calling
Thoughts – Tokoloshe: The Calling is a horror film that is looking to borrow heavily from The Shinning, with a twist into Zulu beliefs. It is told in a flashbacks form, which will give the story a disconnect, leaving us wanting to get more from either side. The flashback side of things does have most of the horror side of the film, with the creepy hotel of residents, but it does end up just being running away without going anywhere. When it comes to her person telling the story, it feels like we are expecting a final sequence that is meant to go somewhere, only for the film to fall flat on not giving us enough behind what they are searching for. The other thing that isn’t made clear, is whether this is in fact a sequel to ‘The Tokoloshe’ or not, I feel it isn’t, but why would you use the same name. we can’t fault the performances, as everyone involved does the best they can with what they have to work with.
Final Thoughts – Tokoloshe: The Calling is a horror that lacks any punch, falling flatter than it should have.