| Director | James Bogle |
|---|---|
| Producer | David Hannay Charles Hannah |
| Writer | Ian Coughlan |
| Starring | Zoe Carides Tom Jennings Eric Oldfield Natalie McCurry Steve Dodd |
| Music | Peter Westheimer |
| Cinematography | Stephen F. Windon |
| Editing | Andrew Arestides |
| Studio | David Hannay Productions |
| Distributor | CBS-Fox (video) |
| Released | 1988 |
| Runtime | 88 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | A$600,000 (est.) |
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.
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,[1] 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.[2] It was the last of four low-budget films made by executive producer Tom Broadbridge and producer David Hannay for the video market,[3] and produced via David Hannay Productions.[4]
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.[5][4]
Kadaicha was filmed on location in Sydney, Australia,[5][6] on a budget of an estimated A$600,000.[3]
The title derives from the device used in the film, called "kadaicha stone".[1] 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.[7][8][9]
Release
Some sources suggest that it was originally intended for cinematic release,[10] but Kadaicha was released on video in 1988,[3] 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.[5]
The film was distributed internationally by Broadstar Entertainment Corporation.[4]
It was released on DVD in October 2017 by Umbrella Entertainment in Australia,[11] and as part of a box set titled All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror by Severin Films in 2021.[12]
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".[11] 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.[13] At least two reviewers noted its borrowing from the 1982 American horror film directed by Tobe Hooper, Poltergeist.[10][11]
References
- ^ "Kadaicha (1988)". Moria - The Science Fiction. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ^ "Interview with James Bogle", Signet, 7 October 1998
- ^ David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p295-296
- ^ "Kadaicha". Screen Australia. The Screen Guide. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ^ Lyons, Kevin (25 August 2025). "Kadaicha". The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television. Archived 23 March 2026 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ^ Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford University Press, 1996, p95
- ^ "Kurdaitcha". Museum of Vancouver. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ^ Musharbash, Yasmine (1 January 2014). "Here be Kurdaitcha: Towards an Ethnography of the Monstrous in the Margins of a Central Australian Aboriginal Town". Places and Spaces of Monstrosity, edited by Craig Douglas and Rosalea Monacella. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ^ "'Kurdaitcha'". SA Museum. 1 January 1912. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ^ "Review: Kadaicha (1988) – The B-Movie Film Vault". The B-Movie Film Vault. 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ^ Bechaz, Kevin (8 October 2017). "Umbrella Entertainment: KADAICHA & INNOCENT PREY". cinematic randomness. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ^ "All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror Vol. 1 [15-Disc Blu-ray Box Set]". Severin Films. 22 March 2026. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ^ "Kadaicha: a forgettable teen horror flick from the late 1980s – Under Southern Eyes". Under Southern Eyes – A personal journal of film and documentary reviews. 26 August 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2026.