" 4 stars...one of the best independent features of 2007.” - Tim Gross, BastardsOfHorror.com 9 LIVES OF MARA Synopsis What lies in the darkness where the lines of madness and malevolence intersect? Twelve-year-old Robin is in turmoil following the death of his mother. As his distant father throws himself into work, Robin must prematurely become the man of the house, a parentified child caring for his younger sister. This is when she appears, an amorous intruder threatening to invade his home and bewitch his dad. This darkly sexual and mysterious woman appears hell-bent on becoming the children’s stepmother—something young Robin refuses to accept. Just the smell of her perfume is enough to turn the fragile boy’s stomach. Who is this creature? What is she? His answers lie in the darker shade of the supernatural. After devouring the ancient tome on the history of witchcraft, the Malleus Maleficarum, Robin begins to notice his stepmother Maria’s strange habits are in terrifying alignment with those of a witch. His fear for both himself and his family overwhelms him as he becomes dangerously obsessed with destroying this pernicious threat. Encouraging him all the way is his best friend Larry, a foul-mouthed Iago to Robin’s Othello. Larry’s always on hand with a scary comic book or urban legend to further goad Robin in his murderous beliefs. But there is far more to both Larry and Maria than meets the eye. Thus begins Robin’s inextricable path toward insanity and murder. In the end, we must decide if Robin’s troubled mind fabricated a monster, or is there something far more sinister afoot just beyond our thin veil of reality…. Indian
director Balaji K. Kumar’s first feature, 9 Lives of Mara,
comfortably stands in a genre all its own—one best described as
Fairytale Noir. Using innovative visual techniques amid haunting characters,
Kumar keeps us thinking long after the lights come up with this slick
and haunting Oedipal tale with Lovecraftian elements. |