Kadaicha (known Stones of Death in the U.S.) is a 1988 Australian horror film directed by James Bogle and produced by David Hannay. It was released on video.
Contents
Plot
A series of unexplained of teenage murders occurs in an exclusive residential development. It is discovered that the development has been constructed on top of an old Aboriginal burial ground.
Cast
Zoe Carides as Gail Sorensen
Eric Oldfield as Alex Sorensen
Tom Jennings as Matt Taylor
Natalie McCurry as Tracy Hocking
Kerry McKay as Shane
Fiona Gauntlett as Fizz Dryden
Bruce Hughes as Tony Pirrello
Steve Dodd as Billinudgel
Deborah Kennedy as Mrs Millhouse
Sean Scully as Mr Fitzgerald
John Paramor as Detective Rose
Nicholas Ryan as Franky Boland
Rhoda Roberts as Lisa
Sara Dakin as Deb Hartley
Harry Cripps as Jeff Cross
Terry Markwell as Gloria
Nicholas Flanagan as Constable Todd
Don Chapman as Sergeant Hanley
Alan Lovell as Constable O’Bersky
Anthony Ackroyd as Constable Pritchard
Production
Kadaicha was directed by James Bogle, in his feature film debut, for producer David Hannay, who was producing low-budget commercial films at the time. There was an interest in Aboriginal themes during the late 1980s. It was the last of four low-budget films made by executive producer Tom Broadbridge and producer David Hannay for the video market, and produced via David Hannay Productions.
Charles Hannah co-produced the film, which was based on a screenplay by Ian Coughlan. Cinematography was by Stephen F. Windon, and Andrew Aristedes edited the film. The original score was composed by Peter Westheimer.
Kadaicha was filmed on location in Sydney, Australia, on a budget of an estimated A$600,000.
The title derives from the device used in the film, called "kadaicha stone". The word is a variant spelling of "kurdaitcha", which in the lore of some Aboriginal peoples in central Australia was a kind of magic man or evil being who killed people.
Release
Some sources suggest that it was originally intended for cinematic release, but Kadaicha was released on video in 1988, in the United States under the title Stones of Death, and in the Netherlands as Death Stone – Kadaicha. Other European countries gave it similar titles in translation.
The film was distributed internationally by Broadstar Entertainment Corporation.
It was released on DVD in October 2017 by Umbrella Entertainment in Australia, and as part of a box set titled All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror by Severin Films in 2021.
Reception
The film received mixed reviews on its re-release. Kevin Bechaz gave it 3 out of 5 stars, calling it enjoyable for what it is – "genre cinema at its most obscure". Another reviewer called it "a forgettable teen horror flick", but liked its "message about the consequences of greed and self-interest, and how innocent lives can be lost as a result", and for its exposure of the "lack of respect for Aboriginal lore and sacred territory, the history of past conflicts between white colonialists and Aboriginal people. At least two reviewers noted its borrowing from the 1982 American horror film directed by Tobe Hooper, Poltergeist.