Horror movies in Tamil have been, for the most part, weak, uninvolving ghost stories. Recent entries like Sivi and Yaavarum Nalam have bestowed legitimacy and respect on the genre but even those were more creepy than scary or horrific and relied on time-tested plotlines. Arundhathi, dubbed from Telugu, is a no-holds-barred horror flick that stands out from the crowd. Grandly mounted and unapologetically bloody, it is a visceral, thrilling film.

Arundhathi(Anushka), who is engaged to be married, travels to Gandharvakottai from Chenai when her grandfather falls and injures himself. Troubled by eerie happenings that all seem to have their source at a dilapidated palace there, she learns of her ancestor Arundhathi(Anushka). Arundhati, the queen at the palace, had banished her relative Pasupathi(Sonu Sood) after his atrocities. When Pasupathi returned as a much more powerful and evil man, she had locked him up in a special room inside the palace. Pasupathi's spirit is now itching to get out and take revenge on present-day Arundhathi.

Arundhathi's screenplay takes a rather simple tale of revenge and reincarnation and spins an engrossing film out of it. There are no distractions like romance or comedy and so the movie is relentlessly paced with no let-up once the action starts. If the initial portions are held up by suspense about why things are happening, the flashback is held up by the strength in the characterization of Anushka and Sonu Sood and the third act is held up by Anushka's desperation to escape. The pace flags a bit as she tries to get her hands on what will end it all but the climax is terrific.

The film boils down to a fight between good and evil with Anushka, the queen, representing good and Sonu Sood being the evil incarnate. Almost everyone else is a bystander; more like collateral damage in the war between good and evil. The film works because these representations of good and evil are solid - both in characterization and in performance. The queen is strong and powerful while her enemy is pure evil and after gaining powers, becomes more than an equal match for her. These aspects of their characters have been well brought out. Anushka is fantastic in the role. She looks regal and every inch a queen and is fiery during her encounters with Sonu Sood. Sonu Sood oozes evil and looks quite scary. Equal credit goes to the dubbing artists for them. Anushka's commanding voice and Sonu Sood's drawling voice(particularly when he says Bommayee...) suit them perfectly and elevate the effectiveness of their characters. Shayaji Shinde is impressive as the Muslim who helps her and is able to bring sincerity to even corny lines like the one that proves the existence of spirits by comparing them to emotions like pain.

The film doesn't back away from blood or violence and really earns its 'A' certificate. The deaths that happen are quite gory and there are some grisly images on screen, like in the sequences with the Aghoras. Blood figures prominently in the climax and flows freely in several sequences and Sonu Sood's character has been designed, both in looks and acts, to be really depraved. But none of it feels gratuitous. On the contrary, the violence serves to give the movie maturity and seriousness inspite of the storyline about spirits and reincarnation.

As befits the theme and story, the movie possesses a lot of special effects. It is not as accomplished as it is ambitious and some of the shots, like the first shot of the Gandharvakoattai estate, looks quite amateurish. There are also a lot of sequences copied from foreign films(like the dance in the room of drums, from House of Flying Daggers) but not done quite as well. But many of the effects at the palace, like the decay, give the film a lot of grandeur. The music is a bit loud and goes for sound rather than quiet eeriness. But the Jakkammaa... song that plays in the background during the flashback is very effective.