Disclosure Day

Vampire Owl: We should also call for full disclosure of past events.

Vampire Bat: There have been no relevant events in the castle for some time.

Vampire Owl: Relevant or not, there are few things we should all know.

Vampire Bat: Dracula Castle is an open and free world.

Vampire Owl: Yet, it holds many secrets.

Vampire Bat: You can always know them in detail if you just ask Uncle Dracula.

Vampire Owl: Dr. Frankenstein has warned about not asking too much.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein is not someone we should follow.

Vampire Owl: Well, he is Frankenstein the most awarded scientist.

Vampire Bat: He has awarded too much for his fake inventions and discoveries.

[Gets a ghee podi idli and three cups of Kodaikanal tea].

What is the movie about? :: Jane Blankenship (Eve Hewson) finds herself kidnapped and tied up by strangers and she wonders how she has reached this situation of bondage. It is later revealed that her boyfriend and cybersecurity specialist named Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) had stolen top secret material from his employer, a secret United States government organization working privately, known as the Wardex Corporation. Daniel had stolen an artifact of extraterrestrial technology along with many years of documents and hard drives which have footage of extraterrestrial encounters dating to the Roswell incident which had a conspiracy theory related to the United States military recovering a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft. While many UFO proponents claimed that the Roswell debris really had an alien spacecraft, Daniel finally finds himself with proof about some of it. Daniel threatens the people form organization with the extraterrestrial device he possesses and manages to save Jane and escape.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As Daniel and Jane try to hide somewhere one would least expect them to be, they approach Sister Maura (Elizabeth Marvel), the Abbess of the Monastery of Saint Clare of the Dawn, as Jane reveals that she was part of the novitiate to become a nun, much to the surprise of Daniel. She adds that she lost her calling and not her faith, as Daniel reveals that he has information which should go to the public and should not remain hidden for long. Jane has her doubts, but trusts him on the same, and decides to leave with him to a safehouse on the very next day, even though the nuns tell her that she can stay there as much as she wants. At the same time, NBC meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) is preparing for work when a northern cardinal bird flies into her home and seems to talk to her. The incident stimulates a psychic ability in Margaret to get into people’s thoughts and also speak in languages she has never learned, with her starting with Russian and Korean, the least possible languages she could ever speak.

And what more is to happen here against all odds with twists? :: Getting late to her office while being stopped by the police, she gets directly to a live weather broadcast, and begins speaking in an unknown language, and collapsing right after delivering the words. This alerts the Wardex Corporation which listen to the same words and they send their own people posing as FBI to the hospital where she is admitted. Surprisingly, she is able to identify them as not real FBI and escape with her intuitions. Daniel and Jane reach at the safehouse arranged by the group of people who intend to reveal the truth to humanity. He explains to Jane that Wardex has been experimenting on extraterrestrial creatures who were captured in the last few years and are reverse engineering their technology – he considers himself to be among the chosen people who are to reveal the truth about human brutality on aliens. After watching the clip of Margaret speaking the extraterrestrial language, he understands it in English, surprising him. Now, both Daniel and Margaret intend to find each other to solve all of these, but the corporation has other plans.

The defence of Disclosure Day :: The movie sets up the narrative really well, and has us interested in the movie which establishes some mystery in the beginning and provides us the feeling that something big is sure to follow. The first few sequences had elevated the mood and had us ready to go through the whole thing while feeling full tension, never taking our eyes off the screen. There are some fine visuals and nice sound effects to go with the same, and the feeling of mystery is well-supported by the same, as we keep having the feeling that the paranormal is always around, and the situation created there by something extra-terrestrial uses the effects so well. There is a lot here to explore, starting from corporate opacity, journalistic integrity and whistleblowing to the spiritual side itself, with more than one method provided to look at divinity and morality while facing unexpected situations. Emily Blunt steals the show with her performance too, especially in the beginning stages. Eve Hewson does the same, and her character is in such a multiple level complication that we feel the same so well. Josh O’Connor does a fine job too.

The claws of flaw :: There are too many whistleblowers, journalists, cyber security experts, corporate executives and highly underused personal relationships leaving so many character arcs feeling rushed beyond repair. From the half point, the movie starts a certain amount of drag, with we finding more dialogues than action, and some of them just seemingly stretching the content to that run-time which was never really suitable here. There seems to be so many moments without which the movie could have done well enough, and we cannot keep ourselves from thinking that it has been over-complicated. Then there is that ending which does not really end, and keeps us wondering what it was about, and we still cannot feel that there is a chance for a sequel. The loss of strength as the movie nears the end is a nail right on the head of the alien flick which has been considering itself intellectually and morally superior. Even though we had fallen in love with the movie too early, it only takes half of its journey to decrease our love for the same – the struggle feels real from then.

How it finishes :: Disclosure Day goes on a little bit too long a journey to go through its content which is not much to elongate to its present situation, but its serious way of dealing with the subject has us interested from the first moment itself. The ups and downs of the movie are so much that we feel that the journey is through a highland-lowland combination, driving a slow-moving sedan which is not that easy to steer with roads having too many twists and turns with heavy traffic and not that width. The way in which characters are thrown in there without that much of a development reiterates the same. But that premise is so much interesting to not choose to travel in the path, as keep thinking, and also wondering about what we come across in a divergent way. One might just need to make sure that that enough time is reserved for the same, as watching it in one sitting might need more attention and patience. Then we remember that there is no overdose of anything, and we have aliens coming in as much realistic as they can, for we have alien rights mode activated as if it is about human rights. Jio Hotstar seems to have this one running well in the OTT mode.

Release date: 12 June 2026
Running time: 145 minutes
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Elizabeth Marvel

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Out of the Further

Vampire Owl: I think that they are going further into the shadow world.

Vampire Bat: No human can enter the shadow world in their original form.

Vampire Owl: I guess that it is where the astral projection comes in.

Vampire Bat: The realm has blocked all astral projections.

Vampire Owl: I have seen the northern witches do that.

Vampire Bat: It is just dark magic which creates other versions of them.

Vampire Owl: I thought the last grand sorcerer among them was dead.

Vampire Bat: The lands are now more magical than ever, blurring lines of reality.

Vampire Owl: Just what Dr. Frankenstein said in the science seminar.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein’s science is better called the Frank Illusion.

[Gets a savala vada and three cups of Darjeeling tea].

What is the movie about? :: In 1999, a woman named Ingrid (Laura Gordon) is shown as committing suicide in her bathroom, terrifying her daughter. Many years later, Gemma (Amelia Eve), the daughter who witnessed the act, as has grown up and live as a single mother to her own child, Maya (Island Austin). Gemma still remembers her childhood horror at times, but has managed to move on from her previous marriage by starting a new relationship with a local police officer, Nick (Brandon Perea). Things seem to be ready to get better for them, but then she comes across three people along the street who keeps starting at her and her daughter from the other side of the road; Lester (Joseph Lopez), Edna (Robina Beard) and Patsy (Susan Grey) are her strange new neighbours whom she doesn’t know, but that does not stop them from being creepy around. The next night, Gemma astral projects without knowing what is happening and is haunted by visions of her mother’s suicide. She also finds one of the elderly people in the vision and finds out that she brought something from what she thought as a dream to her bed.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The next day, Gemma who is a dental hygienist by profession, is scheduled to have a cleaning with Lester, the eldest of the elderly people in the neighbourhood. She is surprised to find that her portrait on the wall has gone missing and nobody knows what happened to it. Lester who does not speak a word, opens his mouth, and when she starts her work, bites Gemma’s finger, causing her to move back and hit her head on the X-ray machine – this knocks her out and her consciousness projects to the Further. Gemma wanders the clinic inside the Further before a blindfolded man ties her in a chair. A group of strange monstrous people approach her as she stares at them helplessly in bondage. Just before they brutalize her body, Gemma is saved by another elder woman identifying herself as Elise Rainer (Lin Shaye), who hands her a book and asks Gemma to find her. Using the address in the book, Gemma reaches a tattoo shop run by Clare (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), who is well-aware of astral projections and Further.

And what more is to follow here as something terrifying and unstoppable seems to be getting ready to unleash itself? :: Elise manages to possesses Clare and explains to Gemma that she is an astral projector who can travel between Further, a purgatorial realm and the material world. She adds that she is also like a courier, someone who can transport objects between the two worlds. She further reveals that the blindfolded man is planning to use Gemma to bring different evil spirits back to human world, and that the three elderly people are his acolytes who use some kind of sedatives in what seems like their oxygen cylinders to force themselves into the Further. Gemma finds herself as a bad mother as she is not able to take care of her daughter who also feels that there is something supernatural in their house. She tells Nick her situation, who offers to stay the night despite in full of doubt. Later that night, Gemma astral projects and is attacked by the blindfolded man. He forces Gemma to hold hands one of the spirits, and as she wakes up, she transports half of his body back to the real world, and the spirit with body cut in half dies, and Nick begins to believe her. But the question remains about how Gemma can manage to escape this evil.

The defence of Insidious: Out of the Further :: Instead of just traveling into The Further, we have the concept of a courier who can drag entities and things out into the real world, providing the movie with a certain amount of divergence, making sure that there is freshness and innovation. Several creative horror sequences can be seen adding to the terror, even bringing variety with the uncomfortable dental treatment moments on a chair – many closed doors, backrooms and passages add to the same and scares surely take over well. The demonic entities keep having their own identities while bringing the scares in their own way. The idea that this purgatorial world exists along with the human world without people out of heavens increases the fear factor. There is also one background tale to the main antagonist that keeps the narrative stronger. The final moments do stay strong as the unexpected happen, and defeating the terrifying antagonist would require more than just the usual skills and smartness. There is also that scene between credits which nicely add to the ending, and we can always be sure that there will be more sequels.

Positives and negatives :: We keep feeling that there was always something bigger coming out of nowhere, with twists and invincible entities. The initial feeling of unlimited fear for the other world do not exist with the same strength due to the idea being repeated multiple times. The repetition of horror can also be seen around, and we wonder if the same was necessary when the divergence was always there to be taken with new ideas added. A number of secondary characters do feel relegated, and a little more about Further would have done the movie more good too. Amelia Eve’s ability to handle the divergent horror also adds well to the movie while maintaining strength as a motherly figure as much as a daughter, both coming together very well here for her character. Brandon Perea as Nick Mendoza and Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Clare provides some fine support here and the same feels like an assurance. Lin Shaye is once again there as the core, this time coming out of nowhere to provide the same in style.

How it finishes :: Insidious: Out of the Further carries the Insidious franchise further, and considering the fact that the series of movies have come a long way with struggles in between, this is a fine addition that holds strong. These are the kind of demons and worlds which always have more to offer with better thought about sequels. The atmospheric haunted-house entry injects that kind of energy into the franchise’s expanding mythology which keeps reminding us that there will always be more to come. The movie also serves as a reminder that our dreams are not just ours, but much more. In a world which is running out of hope, one can safely say that horror is forever, and the movies of the genre needs elevation to create more and more terror out of its infinite world. Well, in the present world, there is no true genre other than world as evil keeps winning, and the righteous has no hope – let more horror come in the form of movies and reflect our world which has no real winners or survivors walking the righteous path. One would just wonder if our world is the real Further – the purgatorial other world.

Release date: 21 August 2026
Running time: 106 minutes
Directed by: Jacob Chase
Starring: Amelia Eve, Brandon Perea, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Lin Shaye

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Pinocchio Unstrung

Vampire Owl: I know this person. He wanted to be a vampire.

Vampire Bat: You mean wooden vampire dolls?

Vampire Owl: Vampires of the Woods, may be?

Vampire Bat: We are already in a castle in the woods, aren’t we?

Vampire Owl: That makes us just the Vampires of the Castle.

Vampire Bat: We have enough vampires to make the castle full.

Vampire Owl: We still do not have a strong enough army against other species.

Vampire Bat: There is a peace treaty running in the realm set towards eternity.

Vampire Owl: Well, a vampire’s eternity is longer than that of anyone else.

Vampire Bat: The realm belongs to all species, not just vampires.

[Gets a parippu vada and three cups of Yercaud tea].

What is the movie about? :: James (Cameron Bell) is a fourteen-year-old boy sent to live with his grandfather Geppetto (Richard Brake) after his parents die in a car accident, and his best friend also dies by terminal cancer. This makes the grandfather feel that he could come up with a perfect companion for James to keep forever. He introduces James to Pinocchio (Jude-Evan Lloyd), a wooden puppet whose nose keep growing as he lies, and tells him that he is his best friend and like a brother to him, but nobody should know about the puppet’s existence. He adds that once ready, he can show him as the friend who will never abandon him, but for now he should keep quiet. As Pinocchio learns about human anatomy as he sees how a male body works in a book, he wishes to become a real boy like his best friend. One day, deeper in the basement, Pinocchio finds a disfigured wooden creature who introduces herself as his Wood Mother (Emma Tate) and reminds Pinocchio that he is just a puppet and will need human organs to become a real boy like James. She reminds them that he might need to forcibly take them from humans who would not be willing to provide them to him.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Pinocchio feels that he could take them from some bad people and with the help of these human parts, he could change and become a real boy. The next day, James takes Pinocchio to school without telling his grandfather, and the puppet with his movements, tries to hide from view, but ends up causing a chain reaction which kills two people in a gymnasium. Despite his grandfather’s warnings, he also introduces him to Mia (Jessica Balmer) and Dudley (Jack Art Gray) who are shocked, but also impressed considering it as an AI Robot. They decide to learn more about it later, but James keeps asserting that it needs to be placed at home before his grandfather comes. They get the puppet to the exact place the grandfather would place it, and gets the feeling that there is something odd about the basement itself. But Pinocchio feels that he should take care of James as his best friend, and after freeing himself, decides to finish off anyone who hurt him, including the drunken driver who hit their car and the dentist who took out James’ tooth.

And what more is to come with some more horror yet to be unleashed? :: Pinocchio further decides to go after the bullies who always torment James, Trey (Toni Olabanji), Logan (Luca Marandola), Georgia (Mya Brown) and Amanda (Karolina Knight). They would have beaten up James miserably last day if it was not for Mia and he had witnessed the hate right there. Pinocchio finds all of them at the same area. First, he dislocates Georgia’s jaw when she swims in the pool and electrocutes her to death while she begged for mercy. He then proceeds to rip out a clueless Logan’s tongue and take out his eyes to provide him a painful death. He then finds Amanda in the shower and is surprised by her naked body and sexuality compared to the male human anatomy which he studied, and his confusion leaves her with the time to escape from the bathroom with an injury on her leg which slows her down, only to be caught by him who tears off her scalp with hair and wears it, shocking Trey who is impaled on his arms with the worst yet to come. Can anyone stop the puppet in time, or will he go on with the hunting mode?

The defence of Pinocchio Unstrung :: The movie has the scares working with the support of gory sequences, and is more effective as a dark fantasy with a character that brings the fear elements in a different way, justifying the twisted childhood coming back to us while traveling on another path. Richard Brake as Geppetto makes a character that we would remember for long as he possesses those multiple shades that aligns on multiple shades. Among the young ones, Jessica Balmer stands out while Cameron Bell does a fine job, and Jack Art Gray brings the humour around here. The voices are nicely added too. The final half an hour is what elevates the movie and makes the whole thing darker and twists our childhood world of Pinocchio for kids to the terror for adults. There is also some innovation and divergence related to the same. Even the murderer gets a coming-of-age tale as the original character would have had during this age. The puppet is a tragic, naive creation whose kills come from unguided understanding of love and protection as well as corrupt guidance, bringing some emotional weight too.

Positives and negatives :: The way in which our childhood characters turn them into a mode which we appreciate for the quality related to the same, and we remember that children have always been evil unless civilized, like we have already known from William Golding’s Lord of the Flies – the recent cases on news related to minor with acts of cruelty, not that far away from unexpected brutality seems to reassert the same. The killing sequences are gory, and even though some might think that it’s a little too gory, it is indeed effective. The killings are all done with innovation and gore, with Karolina Knight’s shower sequence scoring the best, and makes one wonder why she would not be a scream queen in a big horror movie, as she shows the potential. One still wonders if there could have been more of her in the movie, but among the four bully characters, she is the one who stands out, and needs a better number of movies of horror in slasher mode. One can still have a little trouble with the pacing as the horror takes some time to get going. Some people can also find the gory detail to be a little too much.

How it finishes :: The movie would continue the journey of our twisted childhood heroes becoming pure evil murderers, whether it is Popeye’s Revenge (Popeye the Sailor Man), Bambi: The Reckoning (Bambi), I Heart Willie (Mickey Mouse), Winnie-the-Pooh; Blood and Honey (Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet) or Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare (Peter Pan), and this one is a long way ahead of these movies in and out of Twisted Childhood Universe which reminds us that goodness has always been a lie in a world without hope. As horror remaining that genre which is truly part of our lives, and with all human beings being inherently evil, and this evil helping them to be successful in life, we are reminded that there is always some bigger horror out there. We remember that the people around us are more messed up than we know them, and are more evil that we think, while being good will never get us anywhere. There is no innocence in this world unless it is forced by civilization, and the lies that we see around will consume us one day, as the movie reminds us of the terrifying manipulation by these masked demonic humans all around us.

Release date: 24 July 2026
Running time: 82 minutes
Directed by: Rhys Frake-Waterfield
Starring: Richard Brake, Robert Englund, Cameron Bell, Jessica Balmer, Jude-Evan Lloyd, Karolina Knight

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Brand New Day

Vampire Owl: Even Spider-Man needs a brand-new day?

Vampire Bat: Even Superman and Supergirl are new these days.

Vampire Owl: But the actor has not changed to be brand new.

Vampire Bat: Which is why Marvel is still doing better than DC in many aspects.

Vampire Owl: You are missing the earlier Superman and Supergirl.

Vampire Bat: Everyone would miss the earlier Wonder Woman and Batman too.

Vampire Owl: I was a bigger fan of Black Adam.

Vampire Bat: The dark world of DC used to so interesting.

Vampire Owl: Just like we enjoyed the Marvel combination of humour and sentiments.

Vampire Bat: Thunderbolts worked so well with the same.

[Gets a poori masala and three cups of Ooty tea].

What is the movie about? :: A few years have passed after Doctor Strange’s spell erased his memory from the minds of everyone he loved, and Peter Parker (Tom Holland) lives in a small New York City apartment, continuing to be the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man while cooperating with the police in capturing the criminals. Peter tracks his former lover Michelle Jones-Watson a.k.a. M J (Zendaya) and former best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) who have graduated from MIT and moved back to the city. Ned who admires Spider-Man whom he remembers to have saved his life many times even developed a mobile app called “Spidey Tracker” to follow the superhuman sightings, even though he had forgotten the man under the mask completely. As he is disturbed by M J falling in love with someone else and as he keeps pushing his body to the brink of exhaustion with him capturing almost every gangster in the city, Peter finds himself with frequent headaches and discovers that his powers are starting to mutate.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Peter finds out that his senses heighten to a terrible and agonizing degree rendering it worthless, and organic webbing keeps coming off from his wrists. Things seem to get further out of control as Frank Castle a.k.a. Punisher (Jon Bernthal) almost causes collateral damage while trying to stop a stolen battle tank, and Peter just manages to stop the vehicle, only to find it driven by a person under mind control. He soon finds out that mind control keeps shifting through different people, and the dreaded villain Mac Gargan a.k.a. Scorpion (Michael Mando) is freed from Department of Damage Control (DODC) prison. The person is just not able to enter the mind of Peter and is pushed out and leaves. Peter visits Yelena Belova a.k.a. Black Widow at her bathhouse office hoping to find any leads, and she welcomes him into her pool, but asserts that it is not a job for the Thunderbolts turning into the New Avengers and dealing with big threats of a higher level.

And what more is to happen as the world seems to embrace further twists? :: Yelena further informs Parker that different DODC facilities have been attacked by someone searching for “V-Max” while wondering why he enters the bathhouse pool with her while wearing the mask and warns that he will know his identity anyway from seeing his belly button in the pool. DODC director Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman) denies any knowledge of “V-Max” and reiterates that only Spider-Man can do something about these attacks and save the world from something big which is to come, as the place holds many secrets and different evil superpowered humans and aliens. Now, not in control of the spider mutation, when the mind-controlling telepath Jean Grey (Sadie Sink) attacks another DODC facility after possessing the Scorpion, Peter loses control of his new stronger spider abilities and brutally beats Gargan, even injuring a police officer in the process, and retreats to his apartment in remorse. He seeks answers to his mutation and ways to control it, and seeks help from Bruce Banner a.k.a. Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), but with his secret identity revealed through connected minds, time keeps running out for him.

The defence of Spider-Man: Brand New Day :: The movie has Peter Parker out of that overhyped Stark-world and multiverse crossovers which has the focus on some real grief, isolation and real friendly neighbourhood level heroics and has Tom Holland evolving to come up with a highly vulnerable performance which has us rooting for him more than ever, that too with a heavy emotional attachment. Placing Jon Bernthal as the Punisher here also makes the tale get a level higher, and Mark Ruffalo as Hulk becomes another welcome addition. Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova remains too good even when she appears less, and she brings the much-needed humour to the film. The idea of organic evolution powers by mutation has its own charm here, and the feelings of loneliness and abiding sadness keep running through the movie along with regret which also stays at the core. This might be one of those movies in which we feel the most for the characters, as it remains quite a sad world with less hope for redemption, unlike the usual superhero world in which there is so much relief in the end.

Positives and negatives :: Unlike the earlier Spider-Man movies, this one is rooted in human emotions, making this one level up as the movie of the Spidey. This might be the first time when the audience would be really feeling for the main characters, especially those played by Tom Holland and Zendaya, both of them having their best superhero movie till date. Still, it is Sadie Sink as Jean Grey who steals the show, and we now have the best X-Men telepath depiction of all-time as she turns this one to someone special and more human even with grand powers. Yet, we feel that there is no true antagonist in here, and that missing can be felt between the emotions running strong. The lack of addition of romance would make one wonder, but that is rather a welcome change as Spider-Man needed to move on to evolve and become something more than that silly teenager who was often irritating in the earlier stages. The battles might not feel that big on screen compared to the usual Marvel stuff, but works very well considering the situation.

How it finishes :: Spider-Man: Brand New Day has risen the level of the tales of man-spider, reaching on par on sentiments with The Amazing Spider-Man series of movies, which had the best emotional connect among the different versions. The grand multiverse cameos now make way for simple emotions, feeding on loneliness and regret, as the true weight of loss, guilt and perseverance is reflected on the main character. With characters who live outside his movies all around him, Spider-Man is at his best when he has the least to rely on, and characters like Jean Grey, The Punisher, Black Widow and The Incredible Hulk looking for their own movies will also agree. The satisfying return to form for Spidey with heart and soul at the right place has interested right from the beginning, and whenever the big action refuses to come, it shows the richness in emotions and a perfect journey of the soul. In the end, one can say that this version has found its into our homes, and home is indeed where the heart is, and Spidey would not have to say that there is no way home ever again.

Release date: 31 July 2026
Running time: 145 minutes
Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, Michael Mando, Mark Ruffalo

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Pradhama Drishtya

Vampire Owl: I had some hope about this movie even before watching it.

Vampire Bat: Yes, the actors chosen here point to the same.

Vampire Owl: We were very close to watching this in theatre and not OTT.

Vampire Bat: Yes, but then we got vampiric sadness and decided not to go out.

Vampire Owl: I would say that sadness is a basic trait of vampire nature.

Vampire Bat: What can centuries-old vampires do other than being sad?

Vampire Owl: Watching humans do all the nonsense makes anyone sad.

Vampire Bat: They still having their civilization makes me wonder.

Vampire Owl: They would only have a few years left till extinction; I am sure.

Vampire Bat: I am checking on the time left for human extinction already.

[Gets a paneer uthappam and three cups of Sikkim tea].

What is the movie about? :: Aleena (Parvathy Thiruvothu) who had lost her husband Abraham (Asif Ali) during an operation which was executed without enough backup, opts for the same job despite a safe, desk job offered to her by the Kerala Police. As she decides to follow the path of her husband, she faces difficulties, but passes the training camp overcoming all struggles. She gets her first appointment at a police station which seems to have lesser number of troubles than one would expect, and her fellow officers CPO Sreenath (Mathew Thomas), ASI Dasan (Sidharth Bharathan) and CPO Divya (Unnimaya Prasad), with whom she becomes good friends. But their superior officer SI Xavier (Azeez Nedumangad) is more of an angry and frustrated man who is facing divorce from his wife due to his behaviour and alleged relation outside marriage. Meanwhile, the station is led by a more respectful and dignified, but often confused Circle Inspector Prathap (Vinay Forrt) who is fasting as he is getting ready to visit Sabarimala.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The four officers also struggle with their own problems, as Sreenath has his relationship in trouble due to caste and status differences, Dasan wishes to marry a teacher whom he met while on duty and Divya is hoping to finally have a child after years of marriage. A textile showroom manager Jayaprakash (Sirajudheen Nazar) who seems to be leading a normal life with his wife Shilpa (Jayashree Sivadas) is secretly targeting and robbing homes at night with the help of his partner Meera (Catherine Maria) who works at the same showroom. On a night when both Prathap and Xavier are not at the station, Dasan, Sreenath and Aleena who are on night patrol, Jayaprakash in a car tries to evade the officers, only to end up being caught and taken to a police station where Divya is almost ready to leave duty. He tells them that he was only trying to avoid getting caught for drunk driving, making them uncuff him, but when they try to check the boot space, there is a fight during which Jayaprakash gets hold of Divya’s gun and is fatally shot. This leads a situation of custody death, from which they wonder how to escape.

The defence of Pradhama Drishtiya Kuttakkar :: The central conceit works like a dream here, as the group of cops trying to cover up evidence from their own department creates even higher stakes than Drishyam, which can be considered as having a less risky journey in comparison to this one. The fear and tension are so much there, never restricted to the background. The visuals are too good and we see the same elevate the tension during key procedural moments as well as the cover-up sequences. The moments are nicely arranged and the narrative strikes gold with ease. The movie’s best moments come out of nowhere when we least expect the same. While many sequels forget to keep the same level as original, this one brought some classic thrills which never goes down in level. The fights, when present, are also shown in a realistic manner, and we see the incidents unfolding in a believable manner. The assurance of a realistic journey can be seen at all times, and the success in achieving this much of twists and thrills with the same needs to be appreciated.

Positives and negatives :: The movie can feel like a little lengthier than needed, but as soon as the inciting incident happens, the same can be forgiven. There might be the feeling that too many liberties are taken, and the reliance on luck seems to be guiding the characters so much. There are moments when one feel that Drishyam-mode is activated, as even with finding of the corpse, there are more twists to follow, as the protagonist is as much well-planned as that particular family hero who has so much in mind. It is not easy to bring twist based on a twist, but that has been achieved. The emotional side also stays strong with the movie, and we stay in support of the main characters, even though the whole thing revolves more or less around one specific female character. Despite all of these, the movie has its own dose of humour. We also see dual-faced characters here who are not uncommon in any part of the world, and they remain the reflection of the society which keeps taking in pretenders as their champions.

The performers of the soul :: Parvathy Thiruvothu as Aleena Abraham serves as the one emotional and intellectual anchor to the proceedings, and we would remember her for a full-lead performance after a very long time here. Playing a junior police officer thrown into highly complicated situation, she goes from panic to stabilizer of the situation in no time. She blends into the situation like no other, and this might be the character we would remember her the most from now on, as works in movies like Ennu Ninte Moideen and Uyare pales in comparison. Vijayaraghavan stands tall on the other side, and instead of going through an aggressive mode following the usual cliches, he moves forward as a weary investigator whose patience is far more intimidating than anger. The slow, methodical dialogue delivery and classic observation rises above the rest with ease. Vinay Forrt plays the witness to all of these very well, while Sidharth Bharathan remains a fine likable character. Mathew Thomas plays his character in a convincing manner while Unnimaya Prasad could have had more to do in proceedings. Azees Nedumangad shines again in a police role different from that remarkable Kannur Squad.

How it finishes :: Pradhama Drishtya Kuttakkar is that kind of a thriller which has a crime coverup thriller very well done. While its overstretched total run-time and reliance on convenience keep us wondering if more could have been done, the film remains consistently watchable with strength in performances. Focusing on Parvathy Thiruvothu’s restrained intensity and Vijayaraghavan’s quiet menace, it deals with institutional guilt as much as survival panic, bringing twists and thrills as it keeps moving forward. Coming out of nowhere to get to that fifty-crore mark, this one can be counted as the silent assassin on low-budget rising above those higher budget thrillers which seemingly have tried more. One thing about the later Malayalam crime thrillers is that they have remained realistic, with or without a serial killer, and there are some of those investigations which surely deserve sequels. One cannot be sure about this particular movie which seems to have come to a fine end though.

Release date: 11 September 2026
Running time: 158 minutes
Directed by: Shahad Nilambur
Starring: Parvathy Thiruvothu, Mathew Thomas, Sidharth Bharathan, Vijayaraghavan, Vinay Forrt, Unnimaya Prasad, Azees Nedumangad, Balaji Sharma, Catherine Maria, Sirajudheen Nazar, Jayashree Sivadas, Midhun Venugopal, Suparna S, Jaya Shankar, Vrindha Menon, Bibin Joseph Vettukattil, Rini K Rajan, Jayarajan Kozhikode, Anusha Aravindakshan, Kalabhavan Niyas, Nandini Gopalakrishnan, Salman Kuttikode, Dinesh Prabhakar, Lal Jose, Praveen Selvam, Shifa Badusha, R Parthiban, Asif Ali (cameo)

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Khalifa

Vampire Owl: So, this was the first release for this Onam vacation.

Vampire Bat: Yes, this might also be the most hyped movie of the time.

Vampire Owl: Well, big hype leads to some grand falls.

Vampire Bat: There have been some big falls during Onam holidays.

Vampire Owl: I remember that every superstar had their own falls.

Vampire Bat: Yes, Dulquer Salmaan and even Nivin Pauly suffered well in the past.

Vampire Owl: But this Onam belonged to Nivin Pauly.

Vampire Bat: But he has been walking a path of redemption for some time.

Vampire Owl: Well, redemptions are never complete for mortals.

Vampire Bat: Mortality is the gift for their sins, and there can be no redemption from the ultimate fall to the grave and inferno that awaits.

[Gets a ghee podi dosa and three cups of Nuwara Eliya tea].

What is the movie about? :: Samad (Sanju Sivram) returns to Kerala from Dubai, setting his feet in India after a long time, with the intention of attending the wedding of his sister. But he is taken into custody by the customs and police who seems to have launched a special operation against smuggling from the Middle East. He sees that the Senior Member of the ruling party and Party Secretary Raghavan (Shammi Thilakan) waits for him at the police station with an offer that he would find difficult to refuse. He is asked to testify against his best friend Aamir (Prithviraj Sukumaran) who has been on the wanted list of the police for sometime for not just smuggling gold, but also for murder. Raghavan’s son was among the people dead due to Aamir’s actions and he seeks retribution, but tells Samad that he will leave him out of it and everything will only be linked to Aamir. As Samad realizes that it was Aamir who gave his name to the customs, he decides to tell the story of Aamir and what he has been doing in the past.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It is revealed that Aamir is in London and as there is no treaty between India and the United Kingdom for extradition of criminals, he would remain safe abroad, away from Indian law. As Samad talks about their past, he talks about Aamir’s father Younus (Renji Panicker) who was running a moderately successful textile shop in Kozhikode as a family business along with being a full-time contractor who builds government infrastructure. They belong to a rich and influential family which had run a gold smuggling business in the past. Younus’ wife Noorjahan (Mohini) is proud of her husband who has managed to run an honest business out of nowhere after their family was accused of smuggling. With the help of his best friend Samad, Aamir marries Fiza (Malvika Sharma), a woman from a middle-class family whom his parents accept despite their own high status as they were waiting for their son to agree to a wedding for a very long time.

And what more is to happen as something awaits to unleash itself with full power? :: It is then that a wealthy businessman named Basheer (Neil Nitin Mukesh) comes into the picture with the support of the highly influential politician and party secretary Raghavan. He comes up with a deal for Younis which he rejects as the gold smuggling past is no longer with his family. They decide to get back on Younus, and has smuggled gold planted in one of his containers, which is caught by the customs officers on the information given by them. With knowledge of the gold smuggling past of the family which is known to most people of the locality, customs bring a version which works the best with the media. Now, Aamir has to get his father out, for which he needs to find that kind of a money which can be achieved only by selling most of his assets. But he decides to choose another path, the more difficult one with the help of retired smuggler Hamsa (Indrans) and almost retired smuggling kingpin Seitraj (Suresh Oberoi). They also get the support of airhostess Vyshnavi (Kyraa Vasudevan), cutoms officer Veeraswami (Pasupathi Raj) and union minister Selvam (John Vijay). But the international smugglers would not take this lightly, and bodies will fall. Who will die and who will survive?

The defence of Khalifa: The Ruler :: There is no questioning the quality of the movie with the action sequences and visuals remain top class, whether it is in India or in different locations abroad. There is a certain amount of style in the action, and the film stays stylish throughout its run. Prithviraj Sukumaran leads the stylish world of action and thrills, as the character works well for him. Neil Nitin Mukesh’s appearance in Malayalam works very well as a strong villain, and Shammi Thilakan remains that antagonist whom we will remember a lot. Malvika Sharma’s entry into Malayalam cinema is memorable, even though restricted at times due to the nature of cinema. Sanju Sivram provides some fine support as the usual friends of the hero, while Suresh Oberoi also leaves an impact. Renji Panicker’s father figure also stays strong, while Mohini back in Malayalam cinema has a role to add to her list of memorable ones. Shivajith’s villain also makes an impact while Indrans’ serious role brings out more moments that elevate the movie. Kyraa Vasudevan becomes the next important female character, and brings more charm and style in beauty.

The claws of flaw :: The movie’s three cameos by Mohanlal, Tovino Thomas and Soubin Shahir feels totally unnecessary, even though Tovino’s moments at least serve some purpose in the storyline – even if a sequel is being planned, the ending with cameos felt rather strange; with the lack of a box-office success, people are surely going to wonder further about the purpose here. The tale surely could have been better, as this seems like a movie taken out of the older movies, seemingly having something on the surface, but that feels like everything movie can do – we never get any deeper with this seemingly usual, repetitive thing. This kind of a journey would feel narrative during these times when we keep getting so much more. Going old-style during these days surely needed a stronger dramatic side and better thrills. Even with such long run-time, the characters are not developed that much. The interest in movie keeps going up and down. The vengeance in the movie also keeps losing steam.

How it finishes :: This one depends directly on the strengths of its director who is best known for Pulimurugan and leading star Prithviraj Sukumaran who commands the screen with his effortless charisma and intense action hero power. He is in control of the proceedings from the first appearance itself. With the striking visual aesthetics, a fine pan-Indian ensemble, and full-action m ode, the film delivers on its promise of being a spectacle with strong theatrical energy, even though it stays with the too old a narrative. The idea of going through familiar genre tropes and a somewhat predictable narrative arc seems to keep pulling the movie back. Still, it could have been a bigger hit if not released during the Onam season with bigger competition from the Nivin Pauly and Dulquer Salmaan movies. The makers seem to forget a major idea about Onam releases, as the timing never really suits this kind of movies – the best for the Onam season is the one that works well with the family audiences; RDX is often seen as an exception, but it was more of family action thriller with family at the core, and it was also battling against two other movies with action. Maybe another time, this movie could have been a hit, and can do well in Amazon Prime Video where it has released now too.

Release date: 20 August 2026
Running time: 159 minutes
Directed by: Vysakh
Starring: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Malvika Sharma, Shammi Thilakan, Indrans, Sanju Sivram, Kyraa Vasudevan, Anand Manmadhan, Suresh Oberoi, Renji Panicker, Sudheer Karamana, Sijoy Varghese, Joy Mathew, Mohan Sharma, Shivajith, Pasupathi Raj, Sadiq, John Vijay, Shine Varghese, Tinu Thomas Kannur, Don Michael, Master Nafash, Mohanlal (cameo), Tovino Thomas (Cameo), Soubin Shahir (cameo)

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Colony

Vampire Owl: Do you remember the last times vampires established a colony?

Vampire Bat: In the shadow world? That was an outpost to keep an eye on shadow demons.

Vampire Owl: Nobody knew about the existence of creatures of shadows then.

Vampire Bat: The northern witches had foretold the existence of such creatures.

Vampire Owl: I feel that they were the nightcrawlers, the vampire half-breeds.

Vampire Bat: The vampire half-breeds have always lived among us.

Vampire Owl: They are not allowed within the boundaries according to the laws.

Vampire Bat: You can say that we have been a little too tolerant than others.

Vampire Owl: This is exactly what Dr. Frankenstein warned Uncle Dracula about.

Vampire Bat: Dracula does not need Mr. Frankenstein’s pseudo-vampire advice ever.

[Gets a wheat porotta and three cups of Wayanad tea].

What is the movie about? :: Seo Young-cheol (Koo Kyo-hwan) warns the police that he would launch a bio-terrorist attack at the Dongwoo-ri Building, then injects himself with the supposed vaccine to the virus which he intends to unleash on the unsuspecting people who are attending a science conference there. Meanwhile, a former professor in the same field, Kwon Se-jeong (Jun Ji-hyun) who had just recently lost her job is attending a conference dealing with the same in the targeted building with her former husband Han Gyu-seong (Go Soo) who is determined to help her. Gong Seol-hee (Shin Hyun-been), a biotechnologist and current wife of Han also hopes that he could help Kwon at a time of need. Meanwhile a security guard Choi Hyun-seok (Ji Chang-wook) is also at the building with his mobility-impaired older sister, Choi Hyun-hee (Kim Shin-rok), when something seems to happen in the building with the CEO who has planned and led the event being injected with something by Seo who infiltrated the building.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It is seen that one after the other, all the nearby employees of the building and people attending the conference are infected, triggering a strange viral outbreak. Counter-terrorism team which gets the information about the bio-terrorist attack arrives in the building and tries to capture the man who is responsible for the same while expecting backup, but they end up finding only the infected with no clue of the bio-terrorist, with the building is placed under lockdown by the authorities to prevent further spread outside, thus trapping them inside. The infected quickly turns into zombie-like creatures with one bite and seems to have a collective mind having information shared from others who become the same type of infected creature without individual minds. Many civilians become trapped in the building which also hosts a shopping mall with restaurants, cinema halls and different branded stores. During their escape attempt, Gyu-sung dies saving a confused female student who becomes stuck all of a sudden.

And what more is to happen here as the bio-terrorism brings more of the infected to the scene creating further chaos? :: It is revealed that the infected possess a certain amount of advanced swarm intelligence, as they share sensory information between them like ants and would quickly evolve and get better as a group after each failed attack on humans. Using perfumes, anti-freeze and sprinklers to confuse the infected, the small group of survivors led by Kwon, decides to get to the top as instructed by the security, but ends up finding the bio-terrorist on the way, who has other plans for everyone. He is connected to each of the infected, and they all hear what he hears and sees what he sees, making it difficult for them to keep him with them in hope for a vaccine. They would need to blindfold him and none of them could talk when he is around. It is revealed that the man who caused all of these have even bigger plans, with the infection spreading all over the world, and his idea is that it only makes humans better with a shared connection and no selfish individual needs – this would be his idea of perfect humanity. Can he achieve the same or the people inside building, government, scientists or armed forces put an end to this?

The defence of Colony :: This one would forever be called a zombie movie by many people, but instead of having the mindless undead, the infected network that keeps developing has us more interested with the innovation. As the creatures communicate and coordinate tactics, as well as adapt to the human escape plans in real time we have them as smart and strong antagonists in one way or the other. With the outbreak within a sealed high building which has moments within elevator, narrow passages and parking lots has us connecting more, and with tension only increasing as time passes. Jun Ji-hyun leads the way with the performance as she stands strong as a character that we all would admire in her fight against all odds; in a supernatural movie in the dark, she would make a fine scream queen, and once again the final survivor among them all. Koo Kyo-hwan makes a fine menacing antagonist whom we all remember for how well he unleashes himself out of vengeance as much as the evil desire for the weirdest of changes – the cool determination that we see around him is very much memorable.

Positives and negatives :: The movie could have made the situation scarier for sure, as there was always scope for some unparalleled frightening scenes and situation. People transforming into part of a hive like ants have been nothing less than unlimited terror, and we see that during these moments, characters keep making some strange choices too. Despite the idea being so good, there is no further development with the same, and sometimes we feel that there is not enough thought regarding the same. Some more darkness, and people turning into something terrible and scary due to the scale rather than the looks could have also done wonders here. Ji Chang-wook as Choi Hyun-seok also has his moments, but the character could have been provided more to do in the end. Kim Shin-rok as Choi Hyun-hee also had more potential, as the skills were already there to be seen. Most of these characters do not seem to reach their best potential when we look at them. The work as the infected is quite nice, as we see how they go around and deviate from the usual zombie world.

How it finishes :: South Korean movies have been good with zombies, and we remember the same with Train to Busan and Peninsula within the chaos of horror. This one with a deviation in zombie-mode makes it interesting in the same scale, but the divergence keeps it different. We have all appreciated vampire movies with difference as the creatures kept changing in from, and this is the chance for zombies to have different forms – Warm Bodies did that long ago and World War Z had its own voice, but Resident Evil kept it moving in the exact same direction with sequel attacks. This variety and the detailed science fiction model surely works, but the characters and the emotional depth are on the struggle for sure. The predictable horror and a climax which never really elevates the movie can always try to bring it down, but one would feel that whenever there is a low, there is a journey that goes higher, and this one surely manages the whole thing well. Let us answer to the call of the zombies yet again here.

Release date: 28 August 2026
Running time: 122 minutes
Directed by: Yeon Sang-ho
Starring: Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Kim Shin-rok, Shin Hyun-been, Lee Dong-hwi, Park Ji-hwan, Kim Sung-cheol, Lee Re

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Pluto

Vampire Owl: I remember naming one of my dogs with this name.

Vampire Bat: I do not remember you having any dogs. You had a black cat.

Vampire Owl: Yes, but it lived as a dog. It barked and howled.

Vampire Bat: What did you expect? It was originally from the werewolf lands.

Vampire Owl: But when the smart cat says it is a dog, you have to listen.

Vampire Bat: Why should you? It was never even a vampire cat.

Vampire Owl: Black cats are always immortal. Ask the witches.

Vampire Bat: Even the demons do not accept them as their people.

Vampire Owl: You mean to say that black cats are not connected to the other dimensions?

Vampire Bat: Not even that much connected as Uncle Dracula on a Halloween night.

[Gets a paneer biryani and three cups of Sikkim tea].

What is the movie about? :: Vicky (Neeraj Madhav) is the representative of the new generational youth who has no job, but one cannot say that he has not tried enough – his failures are not fully due to his foolish decisions, but are also the results of circumstances. Most of his attempts at business involves his friend Jose (Subin Tarzan), but all of them fails one after the other, much to the dismay of his father Raghavan (Saheer Mohammed) who has lost too much money in the process. His brother Naveen (Nihal Nazim) is considered to be the smart, intelligent, working, money-earner of the house though as he also keeps reminding everyone that he passed his degree while his elder brother did not. Vicky’s attempts at clearing PSC also reach nowhere, making his girlfriend and veterinary doctor of nearby pet clinic, Meera (Aarsha Chandini Baiju) disappointed, as she feels that there are no more chances for him to come out strong and successful. But she continues to help her by providing cash for his attempts on each occasion.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Meera gets into a clash with Tiger Thambi (Aju Varghese), a rich gangster who breeds dogs unscientifically leading to their shorter lifespans or at least some serious diseases. He is supported by Mallan (Vineeth Thattil David) and a man of science always busy with experiments known only by title Professor (Dinesh Prabhakar). She also remains good friends with Vicky’s younger sister Jomol (Nimna Fathoomi), an eccentric and comic-obsessed girl who frequently invades his personal space to test out her costumes which ranges from Harley Quinn to a simple alien. But this is when he comes up against Pluto (Althaf Salim), a real alien whom he accidently brings home instead of Jose after being drunk on the nearby beach. Realizing the danger of exposing Pluto to authorities or media, Vicky decides to secretly keep the extraterrestrial visitor with him, as he also hopes that the alien would possess some special powers which he can use to his advantage.

And what more can happen around here with strange things waiting to come up? :: Keeping an extraterrestrial creatures hidden in his household proves near impossible with household members keeping on coming to his room, but he manages to do so in the name of studies as he has to clear his degree before all mercy chances provided by the university are finished. Thambi also comes to know about the presence of an alien after he gets an alien device left behind by Pluto. Vicky had just come out of some big trouble due to a juice marketed by him causing food poisoning to a huge number of people after it was provided as drink for the participants of a marathon race, and finds it difficult to keep the alien who only drinks alcohol as food. Pluto manages to learn Malayalam with an English-Malayalam dictionary available online as he had already studied English during an earlier contact of his people with humanity. Vicky finds out that Pluto has no real superpower that they could use, but comes to know that his ship actually could do something, but is now located at the bottom of the sea after an unexpected crash. Can both of them be of help to each other and can they survive Thambi and the government officials searching for alien?

The defence of Pluto :: A full science fiction comedy has not been part of Malayalam cinema and this innovation and attempt at variety needs to be appreciated. Leading the way, Neeraj Madhav seems to have taken over nicely from that character in the fun fest Adi Kapyare Koottamani as the clueless youth, a role that suits him very well. The combination of Neeraj Madhav and Althaf Salim provide genuine feel-good moments along with the humour. The supporting cast also works with the humour really well, from the friend played by Subin Tarzan and the Nimna Fathoomi with a cute side added here. Aju Varghese plays the antagonist with a funny side really well, and has some fine moments which we will remember for the humour from talking with spicy flavour in his mouth to being Shikkari Shambu. Aarsha Chandini Baiju also adds to the humour so well, and she once again shines in a role which does not challenge her. The chaotic final moments deliver some big laughs and fun ends well, and even leaves scope for a future sequel. The movie can be considered silly fun that has not really come to this part of the world for some time.

The claws of flaw :: The movie does not make the best use of the idea, even after so many directions where the movie could go, and there was scope for more humour and further references to aliens, superheroes and other planets instead of talking about just alcohol and exams. The premise was something with great scope, and only a part of it is taken here. The situation might not appeal to all kinds of audience, as its silliness and new generation style of innovation is not for everyone. The pace also slows down as we look at it in parts where nothing much happens – the humour is also not that effective throughout its run. As the alien does not leave scope for complex visual-effects spectacles due to the simple humorous model, the potential of the sci-fi backdrop feels not that there to be taken. After all science fiction can provide a lot of humour from within, and aliens have been providing the same in Hollywood for a long time as we remember.

How it finishes :: Malayalam movie industry has its first full-run attempt at science fiction comedy for the viewers here. As a lighthearted experiment in the form which is rarely explored in Malayalam movie industry, it deserved some appreciation when it was released, but the truth remains that I never knew such a movie released until it came to Amazon Prime Video. By placing an extraterrestrial visitor within a regular Kerala household, it keeps away from the heavy science-fiction tropes to keep the whole thing cute and feel-good, while the protagonist also relates to the new generation as well as the one before. It is surely one movie which is better than the ratings which it has received, and having such a harmless fun movie during a weekend to watch with family is just simple joy, and we should only remember to appreciate the movie makers who think differently even if its for humour. This is a kind of movie for the whole family, and the kids are also going to love the same.

Release date: 30 July 2026
Running time: 132 minutes
Directed by: Adithyan Chandrashekar
Starring: Neeraj Madhav, Althaf Salim, Aarsha Chandini Baiju, Aju Varghese, Nimna Fathoomi, Subin Tarzan, Vineeth Thattil David

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.