Ludo (2015)

Best movie of this year hands down!

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

First the positives: I actually sat through it all. Yes indeed I did, I kid you not. And while you may laugh at that notion, wait until the movie starts and the amateurish nature takes over. Now maybe you have a soft spot for that and there would be nothing wrong with that. It's just a shame, that instead of relishing in certain aspects, the movie tries to be something it can not be. Budget wise, story wise and anything to do with wise/wisdom at all.There is blood, there is almost nudity (though you could argue that there is a lot of skin shown for a movie from India) and there is horror. Though the horror aspect may come from a different place that you think. The make up isn't that bad though and the wicked, if completely mental ending almost is a saving grace. Then again, I'm not sure many will make it until then ... pun intended

I am fan of the foreign horror genre, so needless to say i was excited to view this film. Foreign horror films often contain more in depth mythos and psychological scares than the mainstream films. The idea of this film was very interesting yet failed to deliver. The pacing was too slow and scattered and despite the typical gore, Ludo failed to grip me. The scenes combined with the soundtrack felt solely for shock value ( a la Martyrs sans story line). The first act was, albeit too long, supposed to flesh out the characters. Which it did. It gave the viewer a sense of the environment and what is culturally accepted and not. Then, it switched from being a 'slow-burn'into a music video that bombards your ears with industrial type beats and seizure inducing lights. From here you are magically whisked away to a non-nonsensical time shifting quick explanation of the cursed game complete with gore and not much else. To say more is really irrelevant. Many will disagree, but if you are curious in viewing this, it really wouldn't hurt skipping some scenes and just skimming through the rest to arrive at a flat ending.

I personally love watching horror movies of all types, especially if they are foreign movies. With that being said, I don't think Ludo is a film for everyone. I thought this movie was going to be about zombies when I quickly skimmed through the summary and all I could remember was "shopping mall" and "gruesome".The film starts off with a couple of teenagers trying to get laid. They wound up in a shopping mall when they couldn't find a hotel room for the night. As the couples' begin to get into the good stuff, an old man and woman come out of no where. They get the teens to play an evil board game with them. That's when things get really crazy. I'm not going to say what exactly happens but that the film goes into more depth of the origins of the evil board game.OK, so the concept of the film was interesting and the acting wasn't too bad. There were some scenes that I thought were pretty cool/creepy. The story started off pretty simple and then it just felt like it was trying to do TOO much. As the movie progresses, it focuses entirely on the evil game that I just kind of forgot about the teens. The special effects were pretty good in my opinion but it was also too much for me. Overall I enjoyed it as a late night horror movie to watch but I'd only watch it once. The story could have been so much better. It's a different feel of horror and that's what I liked about it. So in the end...I like it and I don't like it.

I am a huge fan of Q. Huge is an understatement but Ludo did not meet even 20% of my expectation. When I found Ludo was on Netflix I was elated and I spent my Thanksgiving afternoon glued to the screen. I have never felt so disappointed. Rii is as usual amazing but whoever did her voice for the movie ( I assume it was meant to be a Sakchunni - Bengali married woman's spirit) sounded ridiculous, raspy and horrendous. The four main characters are shallow and by shallow I mean not an ounce of depth. I grew up in Kolkata and I can vouch for the fact that we don't use so much of swear words in our daily vocabulary. I Know impressionable men and women feel that using swear words would be cool but it was a bit of an overkill. Tilottama Shome as the Shaman could have been explored much much more. I was left with a palate of bile after the movie. It could have been so so much better had some of the background story been omitted and stress put on the present day scenario of the Shaman's existence. Over all, I think it is a mess.