Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Kadaicha Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 27, 2022

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as a part of All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror.

All the Haunts Be Ours advertises itself as "the most comprehensive collection of its kind", which may initially beg the question as to "kind of what?". But the release also comes with a front cover sobriquet proclaiming it "a compendium of folk horror", which may then beg the next obvious question as to what exactly "folk horror" is. In that regard, this set begins with a fascinating and diverse documentary which has its own subtitle referencing folk horror, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, which provides a veritable glut of clips from international films which director (and this entire set's guiding light) Kier-La Janisse has assembled to help define the genre, but perhaps the best answer is to simply echo a certain Supreme Court Justice named Potter Stewart who was trying to decide a case involving supposed pornography, and who famously opined, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description, and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it. . ."

It's fitting that this film shares a disc with The Dreaming in the All the Haunts Be Ours set, since Kaidacha echoes at least some of the same ideas and even images as The Dreaming does, all the more interesting perhaps since both were Australian outings with 1998 production years, though The Dreaming evidently had a much tonier premiere at Cannes, whereas Kadaicha was evidently a straight to video affair. Kadaicha also hews much more closely to then au courant "slasher" films, albeit with more of a supernatural bent which is at least somewhat in tune with some elements that The Dreaming offers.

The film that may really come to mind when watching Kadaicha, however, is not its "disc mate" in this set, but rather Poltergeist, since this film utilizes the same "housing development built on an ancient burial ground" gambit, albeit in this instance within the context of Aborigines and Australia. While there is therefore a bit more of what might be termed "cultural color" here (including another soundtrack like The Dreaming's featuring almost spooky effects from didgederoos), this is a much more rote enterprise that even its director admits was made with an eye toward commercial returns, and not some delusion of producing a great work of Art.

Kadaicha Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kadaicha is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 720p transfer in 1.37:1. Severin's insert booklet states that this was "mastered from the only surviving broadcast quality video master", which some might joke is damning with faint praise. This has a number of anomalies which I'm sure were part of the video workflow, including close knit parallel vertical lines which recur throughout the presentation which can be spotted in several of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. Colors are reasonable but not incredibly vivid, something that may deprive the horror fan of some visceral gore effects. There's some odd, almost electrical looking, damage that blights the presentation at admittedly brief moments, where an odd looking blemish will erupt and then recede.

Kadaicha Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kadaicha features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track which is in considerably better shape than the video side of things, but which still evidences easily discernable background hiss. Dialogue and a rather effective score still make it through the gauntlet of time and tide pretty well, all things considered, and there are no issues with regard to dropouts. Optional English subtitles are available.

Kadaicha Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director James Bogle, Moderated by Veteran Film Journalist Michael Helms (Fatal Visions)


• The Final Girl of Kadaicha (HD; 13:08) is an audio interview with actress Zoe Carides conducted by film historian Jarret Gahan.


• Composing Kadaicha (HD; 17:34) is an audio interview with composer Peter Westheimer conducted by film historian Jarret Gahan.


• Behind the Scenes of Kadaicha (HD; 7:05) is a brief backstage piece showing some goofy goings on.


• Trailer (SD; 2:04)

Kadaicha Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kadaicha probably unapologetically emphasizes the "horror" side of "folk horror", and in fact the Aboriginal "content" is probably for convenience sake, in a way. This features one of the least pleasing presentations in the set, though audio is better and the supplements quite interesting, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.