Welcome to another installment of Letterboxd Map! This week, well, I hope you don’t scare too easily. We’re on the hunt for a ghost as we head to Tanzania where we find… Obambo (2022).
Title: Obambo
Director: Freddy Feruzi
Released: June 5, 2022 (Premiere – Tanzania)
Runtime: 1 hour 24 minutes
Available to stream on: Tubi
Tama, an investigative journalist, and Zabron, a self-proclaimed ghost hunter, have teamed up in order to try to discover and defeat the evil entity responsible for multiple deaths.
Before they enter the home in-front of them, Tama gives Zabron a bit of backstory on the history of the entity. Despite what he’s hearing, Zabron remains cool as a cucumber.
But can he keep his cool once they come face-to-face with the Obambo?
It isn’t very often that you’re able to say you’ve watched a Tanzanian horror movie.
While it might not be particularly memorable, Obambo (2022) was an interesting watch.
There are three different storylines, Tama and Zabron, the current family living in the house with the Obambo, and the group of treasure hunters. Unfortunately, none of them come together in a cohesive manner.
Sure, there is some overlap with the Tama/Zabron and family storylines but they don’t fit together at all with the treasure hunters. In fact, the treasure hunters are the ones that feel the most out of place, especially since we seem to abandon all other storylines in favor of them in the final act.
Is that to say that it was all bad with Obambo (2022) though?
Not at all.
For being a small, low-budget horror film originating from a country with a rather small film footprint, the production value is pretty impressive.
The lighting and score help build an eerie atmosphere that lures you in during the first act. So much so that I was willing to look past the acting.
I really enjoyed the makeup and costumes used on the Obambo. And I also appreciated how jump scares were limited and used effectively, rather than using them as a crutch throughout.
What starts out as a strong atmospheric horror slowly loses its footing and winds up an unfocused mixed bag as it stumbles across the finish line.
Though since it clocks in at under 90-minutes, I’d say Obambo (2022) definitely deserves at least one viewing.
If you’ve seen Obambo (2022), what did you think of it?
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