Author Archives: Dr. Tennyson

Killer Whale

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Vampire Owl: I remember talking to the Vampire Whale last night.

Vampire Bat: There is no Vampire Whale among us. It could only be a fake vampire.

Vampire Owl: Why not? I have already checked the teeth. The fangs are fine.

Vampire Bat: Everyone with fangs is not a vampire, or even a werewolf.

Vampire Owl: So, it was a Demon Whale or a resurrected shadow demon?

Vampire Bat: Couldn’t it have just been a usual creature of the ocean?

Vampire Owl: This could have been better known if Aquaman became a vampire.

Vampire Bat: He could no longer breath underwater if he became a vampire.

Vampire Owl: Oh right! Vampires were never really water resistant.

Vampire Bat: You have never really listened to the study classes, which becomes a problem now.

[Gets a plate of nachos and three cups of Korean tea].

What is the movie about? :: Maddie (Virginia Gardner), an aspiring musician, is very close to making an impact, and also in taking the next step with her long-time crush Chad (Isaac Crawley), as he feels that the happiest moments of her life are just a few days away. But as Chad tries to protect Maddie from a robbery, he is run over by one of the robbers, and she also losses most her hearing ability to the continuous gunshots. This begins a life of melancholy for her, as she stops playing music and keeps to herself at home for most of her time, with no entry for friends into her life. Her best friend Trish Stevens (Mel Jarnson) who is a PhD student studying gene editing and a social media influencer who attracts a huge fan following visits her after a year to make her feel better. She surprises her with a luxury vacation to Thailand in the Andaman Sea, as she uses her influence with her fans of exclusive social media content to find a perfect place where they could have fun and forget the gruesome past, with her own exotic journeys already making an impact.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Trish also finds a new interest in another tourist named Josh (Mitchell Hope), and they together visit a local attraction featuring a captive orca. Disapproving of keeping the creatures in captivity, but finds out that orca had already killed someone who had fallen into its pool. The park management decides to get rid of the orca on the same night by just flushing it into the sea, where it is not known to attack humans. The next morning, the three decide to explore a secluded lagoon which locals consider to be haunted and therefore not explored by curious tourists. But soon, Josh and Trish riding a jet ski are ambushed by the same orca who kills Josh while Trish manages to swim and reach Maddie’s inflatable boat. The two are forced to swim on to a rock and with injuries on their leg, are forced to stay there with nothing other than bikinis on their bodies and a torch. They try to signal to a distance with the torch, but with no result, as time passes. They try to survive against all odds and at the same time share a few secrets with each other, but it remains to be seen about how long they can do the same.

The defence of Killer Whale :: The movie’s premise is more interesting than the usual movies featuring danger from underneath the sea, as the main character is already set, and the possibilities of the orca is also being talked about. There is also a message in support of these mammals to be taken out of captivity to their original habitats. The idea that years of captivity and mistreatment can make animals more of a monster is asserted here, and supported by the protagonist. There is that scene when the two girls are moving in the inflatable boat, and the orca is moving underneath them, as they look in terror. Then there is orca moving around them as they take shelter on a rock surrounded by water. We also have both protagonists swimming in full strength as if their lives depend on their quick movement through water, and those are all tense moments, as much as their search for anything useful. The survival skills are nicely put into test here, and we see them fighting nature’s predator as much as their own emotions, with this becoming another movie of fighting against all odds.

Positives and negatives :: One cannot stop noticing that the whale could have looked better as the creature features and the effects of the sea often looked cheap, seemingly due to a low budget, but that does not make us feel the danger to be that far away or of lesser strength. People can feel that this is another shark movie, and just ended quickly without adding some extra strength, but considering the fact that this is film of different dimensions, the same can indeed be forgotten. The movie also has us sympathetic to the whale, and makes us wonder about what humans to do to each other as much as to the creatures of nature. There are multiple shots of the main characters surrounded by the orca from above and underneath, all of them making one feel the danger of the situation. The camera shots also keep us close to the characters, and we also go through that journey with them with what they see as much as what the creature see of them from underneath the sea. Then there are some beautiful shots of their world in the end at sea and out of it, which facilitates an ending that looks well.

The performers of the soul :: The movie focus on two characters, played by Virginia Gardner as Maddie and Mel Jarnson as Trish Stevens, with others and their performances being less relevant, even though we would remember Isaac Crawley and Mitchell Hope more than others. The movie perfectly moves towards a female-sisterhood-survival movie in that manner. Virginia comes up with a charming and emotional work, as we see her character move through emotions, from that romantic happy beginning to chaos, while she tries to survive. Mel Jarnson also handles the emotions incredibly well, with guilt and attempt for hope gaining on her. She remains stunning out there as she was perfect in Witchboard, but this time having an influencer and social media powerhouse running right through her character. This is where beauty comes also with performances, and the two on the rock is a sight to behold not just with those looks, but also with the emotional performances. There is no artificiality here, as they strive through their characters’ toughest times for survival as much feelings.

How it finishes :: If you have watched The Shallows and 47 Meters Down, this can be felt as a repetition, but this one also has that emotional side, and the weight of the past, which makes the world of two best friends different around here. In between, there are some beautiful moments, as the emotions surely have more than one side. If you like creature thrillers with a touch of deviation, but never losing the survival mode, this would be entertaining. If you are expecting a big budget classic with realistic orca behaviour with terrifying high budget world on the level of grand shark attacks, this might lag behind at times. The movie is available of Lionsgate Play which would come as an addition with the usual Airtel unlimited recharges, and therefore is an easy watch, in the form of a never-boring survival adventure with hidden human emotions that power through, while compassion, remorse, guilt and forgiveness remains themes to look out for, even though not always coming to the front in a direct manner. You know if you like the survival mode, like in Survive, Oxygen, Meander, Nowhere, Crawl etc.

Release date: 6th March 2026
Running time: 89 minutes
Directed by: Jo-Anne Brechin
Starring: Virginia Gardner, Mel Jarnson, Mitchell Hope, Isaac Crawley, Ron Smuck, Aliandra Calabrese, Mia Grunwalkd, Shinji Ikefuji, Scott James

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vash 2

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Vampire Owl: This would feel like a strange way to watch a sequel.

Vampire Bat: We are watching the second part of a Gujarati film which we watched in Hindi.

Vampire Owl: It would not have been too strange if the story was not somewhat changed.

Vampire Bat: Well, it seems that Bollywood takes liberties with everything except Drishyam.

Vampire Owl: Bollywood should have wanted the same in that case too, but not allowed.

Vampire Bat: Bollywood just takes out of the best out of its essence multiple times.

Vampire Owl: Thanks to the OTTs, we still have other choices.

Vampire Bat: The choices that we make never really matter.

Vampire Owl: It matters for us.

Vampire Bat: Just what matters for immortal matters.

[Gets a pina colada and three cups of sweet tea].

What is the movie about? :: Atharva (Hitu Kanodia) has gone past the terrifying incidents which he had to face under the influence of a man practicing black magic, but the feeling never really leaves him as his daughter Aarya (Janki Bodiwala) still remains under a dark influence – even after twelve years, goes on with her life with a smile on her face, as she grows up and her body changes, but nothing else does. As she does nothing else than that particular smile, this would be more or less like a paralysis. It keeps reminding him of that supernatural grip which remains even after he had imprisoned and tortured the man responsible for her state. He hopes for a better situation and continues to care for her, but knows that future is bleak. It is during the same time that ten schoolgirls jump from the top of a school together, despite the pleas of the headmistress, teachers and security, telling them that an uncle told them to do so, and they have no option but to obey his orders without questioning.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: This leaves the headmistress Rashmika (Monal Gajjar) scarred, while parents of all students including the remaining ones as well as the police storm into the school compound while it becomes nation-wide news. But very soon, more chaos unleashes as the girls ask for one man to be found, and warns that there would be some bigger terror to be unleashed. Soon, several other girls who had food in the same canteen behave violently and manages to break out of the school campus, attacking strangers including children, destroying property, and setting vehicles and buildings on fire. Stopping the girls seem to bring more trouble as they keep attacking everyone and also themselves if restricted. Some of the parents manage to come in and try to take their children home, but the girls are not ready to leave with them, and ask for the particular man to be found before next wave of evil is unleashed. The police have no clue about what is happening, as things seem to be outside their payroll, and some of them also gets injured in the process.

And what more is to follow here as evil keeps finding its way of nowhere? :: Atharva who finds out about the situation from news, gets to the school, and declares him to be the one who has the man whom they search and can solve this particular problem. These strange incidents are revealed to be the result of certain mind control charm orchestrated by Rajnath (Hiten Kumar), the younger brother of the black magician whom Atharva had captured. Unlike his imprisoned brother, Rajnath is more after control and seeks to establish his own power through chaos that nobody can ever imagine. He considers his brother to be better than him, as he lacks one special spell which could lead to his way towards world domination. He seeks to find his brother and learn it from him, making him complete. Atharva finds the man in the canteen, as he had hidden himself before pretending to be a worried parent of one of the girls and coming straight to view. Now, the question remains if Atharva can end this evil once and all, and whether his own daughter can finally get better.

The defence of Vash Level 2 :: This is one movie that gains momentum early itself, and that scene of jumping from the top of school is further complemented by similar scenes, as this one feels more zombie-like, and with the realization that evil never ends even if goodness has a limit. The performances of Hitu Kanodia and Hiten Kumar are very much convincing, and we can see that they never really try to overdo this either, as the work is stable and even in a fantasy situation, there are enough realistic moments to keep a balance. The clash between morality and selfishness can also be seen in between. If you have enjoyed Stree, Munjya, Thamma and other folk-tale horror, you would want to keep the eyes for the full-horror experience here, as the local mode of fear also has its say in a world of The Conjuring and its unlimited membership camapign in horror. After all, black magic and witchcraft go a long way back here too, and there has been more terrifying tales ready to inspire horror-makers as long as one would feel the need for the same.

Positives and negatives :: The movie can be considered to be moving smoothly towards that classic ending, and it also leaves the viewers with the relief that evil has been nicely vanquished, and even without that grand a spectacle, there is a fine resolution that we are going to remember. There is no loss of strength for this movie in between either, and the pace is maintained well. Janki Bodiwala is restricted to a nothing role, and that is depressing because she was the strongest point of the franchise, and most people would have the same opinion about her work. Her place on the posters would make one feel like she would have a big role to play, but that never really happens here. If a comparison to the earlier movie is made, I would have to say that this one does not manage to come up with that much of a strength. The movie could have had that knock-out experience which could make it the sequel that thrives on the first; maybe the Bollywood version would have too much of it, but we would have to wait for the same. After all, mind control has no limits.

How it finishes :: Most of us have only watched the Bollywood version, Shaitaan, which was not this much dark in comparison, and we are quickly made to realize that the proceedings and ending of that particular movie was different from the Gujarati original. The movie beginning without that Bollywood overdose of things itself is a reminder of the same – we all remember how Drishyam’s Hindi versions whether original or sequel could not survive without some extra unnecessary additions or changes here and there, even though they were small and not relevant. Well, this movie had gained its power right at the beginning itself, and its remake would also have the same, as there would be a number of changes that need to be there with the Hindi edition, whenever it comes. With that movie’s ending, one can be sure that Janki Bodiwala will get a better role to play around there as the main characters had a rather positive finish with the Bollywood trying to keep its world as usual and appealing to its common audience. This movie is a fine sequel, and leaves us with hope about it too.

Release date: 27th August 2025
Running time: 103 minutes
Directed by: Krishnadev Tagnik
Starring: Janki Bodiwala, Hitu Kanodia, Hiten Kumar, Monal Gajjar

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Together

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Vampire Owl: We, the vampires have been together for an eternity.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that there is more about togetherness in this movie.

Vampire Owl: So, you think that there is not enough of the same among us.

Vampire Bat: Togetherness is not something that can be evaluated.

Vampire Owl: At least the movie is on Amazon Prime Video to be evaluated.

Vampire Bat: I wonder about the kind of supernatural present in that movie.

Vampire Owl: Should I consult the parapsychologist Dr. Frankenstein on the matter?

Vampire Bat: When did Mr. Frankenstein graduate in psychology?

Vampire Owl: He has so many graduations that we will never know all of them.

Vampire Bat: This Frank needs to be reported to Uncle Dracula for his fake degrees.

[Gets a podi masala dosa and three cups of Kodaikanal tea].

What is the movie about? :: A man has been searching for a missing couple with his two dogs. But after the unsuccessful search, he finds the dogs fused together as one. A few days later, Tim Brassington (Dave Franco) and Millie Wilson (Alison Brie), a couple going through an emotional path, and at the same time, latter finds a job of teaching elementary school English. Tim has been trying to make his mark as a musician, but has not been himself since the memories of his dead parents have been haunting him. Millie proposes to Tim at a going away party held by their friends but, he shows some hesitation which makes them further ponder over their relationship. As Millie meets her new co-worker Jamie McCabe (Damon Herriman), he tells them about the interesting walking trails near their home that goes deep into the woods and remains a beautiful view. While hiking through such path, they fall into an underground cave and decide to camp inside for the night due to the rain getting heavier. Tim drinks from a pool of water but Millie does not.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As they wake up on the next morning, Tim and Millie find their legs stuck with each other with some material which looks like glue, but they are able to separate them without much difficulty, and feels that it was some random sticky thing of fungal nature. Tim feels like he is physically and brutally drawn towards Millie, which leads to complicated situations which makes them feel that this is a psychological problem. The doctor that Tim sees also dismisses the incidents as panic attacks and asks him to use some muscle relaxant pills, and reminds him that the place has its charm, but also dangers, as a local couple had also gone missing. Tim looks at the news and also at the social media pages of the couple, and finds out that these particular couple had also visited the same cave, identified by some of the marked bells outside and some signs on walls of the cave. Jamie arrives at their place and welcomes them to the neighborhood, and they have a dinner together.

And what more can happen as the couple seems to be confused in between? :: The couple recounts their experience at the cave, which Jamie explains was a hippie-type church which had some activities which were considered strange for the commonly accepted churches. He adds on that people who got better options moved away to cities with their families, the church was abandoned, and became part of the cave system, as time passed. He adds that this is not a terrifying Satan worshipping cult of anything, and no followers of the same remains there. Even though Millie drops Tim off at the train station for his journey to the city for a musical programme, he experiences another episode of being attracted to her and immediately goes to Millie’s school, much to her surprise, as he gets on to her. This time, she is also attracted to him, but she denies the same, but it the strange attraction would come to her at night too, and the mystery deepens. Can they get out of this as they seem to be getting attached to each other, and this seems to be a problem to which there is no solution?

The defence of Together :: The romantic drama mixed with disturbing body horror is something unusual, and thus provides a fresh feeling that will keep the audience interested. It is nice to see that this becomes a metaphor for interdependent relationships and also signifies the need for togetherness in a relationship rather than keeping on separating each other – as it says in the Holy Bible: “A man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” – Genesis 2:24. This seems to be a strange coming together of the same, as at least the same thought process should guide a relationship, as the fusion of ideology will guide them better; something which could often include religious ideology. In this case, everything is shown with that body horror that stays effective, and the fear factor is surely active, and it includes being scared of losing identity. Alison Brie with Dave Franco of Now You See Me and Nerve do manage to bring some real chemistry, as they are also real-life couple, despite the former at times looking much older. Their moments together are very good with a certain amount of love which feels apart, but so much longing to be together, like the body horror itself calls for. Disturbing transformations and dark humour remain effective too.

The claws of flaw :: The movie remains repetitive in parts, and there seems to be moments when nothing much past. There is also a little too much useless time spent in pondering over the past of the main male character when it could have easily gone on with just a small mention of the same, thus making the length of the movie exact as intended. The narrative just goes on the usual path with the couple story while moving towards the fresh twists. The mixture of romance and body horror does not always work the best, and signs can be seen here – some people can even find part of this to be gross, thus justifying its rating in India. Some cringe moments are also present and dialogues get a little too weak at times. The emotional connection could have been also more, as the romantic background is already set. There is also the need for a lot more explanations with this one, as the weird mode keeps on being active. We can see the chance for some people clearly missing out on the idea.

How it finishes :: If you are looking for experimental horror with focus on the body-based terror, this might be the movie for you, as performances and hidden ideas and messages also seem to come in here and there, despite there is nothing too grand about it with moments where the movie just seems like a usual random journey that stays repetitive. Even if togetherness story is your key, this will be your relationship-focused tale with a dark twist, as the darkness would take the whole world to something beyond comprehension. But you are not to look for fast-paced and plot-drive works with this one. But seeing the fusion of the couple, you might not stop feeling that there is the need for togetherness coming from religious scriptures fulfilled right here, whether some subterranean or alien entity is involved in the process. After all, we know that there shall always be too many things that we do not understand, and can stay on the mysterious side; and so we go through this movie, and enjoy the same in moments, with one final shot of togetherness with innovation. Still, the body horror of The Substance remains one of its kind.

Release date: 30th July 2025
Running time: 102 minutes
Directed by: Michael Shanks
Starring: Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Mia Morrissey, Karl Richmond, Damon Herriman, Jack Kenny, Francesca Waters, Sarah Lang, Aljin Abella, Rob Brown, Charlie Lees, M J Dorning, Ellora Iris, Melanie Beddie, Rom Considine, Nancy Finn, Flynn Wandin, Mark Robinsom, Michael Shanks. Sunny S Walia

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Osiris

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Vampire Owl: A movie about the Egyptian god who brings the dead back to life?

Vampire Bat: I feel that there will be only a small connection.

Vampire Owl: The name should actually be associated with us as we come back from the dead.

Vampire Bat: The vampire elders do not approve of the dead given more importance than the undead.

Vampire Owl: Is there any undead who do not come from the dead?

Vampire Bat: The undead are also summoned through magic.

Vampire Owl: Aren’t they the animated skeletons of necromancers and northern witches?

Vampire Bat: And they call us the animated ones.

Vampire Owl: The necromancers have been banished for too long.

Vampire Bat: There are still the necromancer vampires.

[Gets an avocado shake and three cups of Vagamon tea].

What is the movie about? :: US Special Forces on a mission in the desert, Kelly (Max Martini), Rhodie (LaMonica Garrett), Jax (Jaren Mitchell), Reyes (Michael Irby), Gibbs (David Meadows), Nash (Linds Edwards), Bull (Dawson Towery) and Scars (Stanley White Jr) find themselves in a tough battle on the ground, only to find something else also coming up. They are abducted by some strange floating structure of gigantic proportions that appears on the sky after unleashing some kind of weapon on the ground. The floating structure seemed to cause enough havoc on the ground, much more than what was happening around. After a series of nightmares, those who survived awaken, disoriented and confined within some stasis pods, on what seems to be an alien spaceship or an extra-terrestrial building, maybe even located outside the planet. The structure seems to be scientifically advanced, with very less lighting, even though not without stains and dirt, as if straight out of a realistic first-person shooter game.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As the soldiers further explore the areas, they come across skinned human corpses hanging from above and unfamiliar but seemingly advanced weapons and technology. They also find a struggling young Russian woman Ravishka (Brianna Hildebrand) who is tightly chained to a pole, and as they rescue her, they meet her captors too. The captors are strange creatures, tall, eyeless humanoids with armored skin, sharp claws and energy-based weapons and shields. They keep fighting their way with the help of alien devices which they manage to take from the fallen ones. Ravishka tells them that she feels that she is from around there as she has been around for a long time, and explains that the ship collects humans to be processed as food. She guides them in a journey away from danger through lesser-traveled maintenance tunnels. After a series of encounters with aliens and near-death situations, they fall into a pool of blood filled with remains of dead humans.

What more happens here as aliens seem to be near-invincible and ready for food? :: They are rescued by another survivor named Anya (Linda Hamilton), Ravishka’s mother, who tells them that she has been there for a very long time, and was part of a Russian team which tried to fight the aliens who tried to take over the world. None of them are left now with the last group being captured with Ravishka and brutally murdered. Now, they have to depend on the newly found friends. There, they realize some of the strangest truths about what happened on Earth and how aliens have been going about. They have now lost almost half their soldiers, and are only fortified better with the alien weapons and ammunitions – but the aliens are tracking them through heat signatures and sound. After knowing more, they realize that they have a bigger mission than they thought about and it would be tougher than ever. Can they accomplish that without losing any more of their people?

The defence of Osiris :: The movie has some fast-paced combat that keeps us interested at all times. The signs are shown early enough with the first battle in the desert before the aliens’ arrival, and points to some military warfare more than a random alien invasion. The shootouts feel great from the desert to the alien ship and we have an action game mode feeling going on here. The details are very good, with the spaceship having a classic look, and aliens looking like part of a fine design. There are those moments when we first see the aliens, and the second just before that, which kept us at the edge of the seat like not many other alien movies could do. These are the kind of aliens that we can accept more than any other, and brings some nostalgia back to us. The action feels classic, and we are reminded of Doom in its multiple forms as aliens are no less than demons either, even supported further by some dialogues spoken. The intensity of the battles keeps a certain level at all times. The need for survival is always there, hoping against hopelessness.

The claws of flaw :: The movie does not go deep into the material, and is happy with the surface level journey. There seems to be a little bit too much dependance on the early science fiction movies, including Alien and Predator as well as those sequels. The innovation was there to be taken, but it does not come to the front. The script could have used a push, with more classic elements, and as we see how the movie ended, there could have been more clues in between, with better connection to the title. By the end of the movie, saving the girl gets too much of an attention despite her being introduced as a fighter in captivity in the beginning. Some of the characters are just there for the sake of being there, and even the main characters seem to get less attention to their detail. The moments of survival and twists could have also been better written to create better impact, and alien invasions could have been explained with visuals. There were so many opportunities to make the situations more and more interesting.

How it finishes :: There was always scope for so much more, but that much is not taken here, with the safe zone seemingly the place to be, without that extra innovation. There are not many deviations which seem to be in the mind of the makers which could come out of the box. Still, this remains a very much entertaining journey – there is no boring moment as you are transported to this dangerous world. It is that strong sci-fi action entertainer rather than a thoughtful science-fiction movie. The fast-paced action, alien attacks and nostalgic appeal the best for some time-pass watch rather than provoking thoughts. But some struggle in writing, predictability in plotting, and thin character development keep it from standing out within its genre or leaving a lasting impact. It feels more like a derivative sci-fi action film that never ceases to be entertaining, and also has a scary side taking it close to another genre, as we wonder if this could also become a successful computer game in future.

Release date: 25th July 2025
Running time: 108 minutes
Directed by: William Kaufman
Starring: Max Martini, Brianna Hildebrand, LaMonica Garrett, Linds Edwards, Jaren Mitchell, David Meadows, Michael Irby, Linda Hamilton

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

It Feeds

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Vampire Owl: It should not be it, for it should be a he or she.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that they are not talking about vampires.

Vampire Owl: Who feeds better than vampires these days?

Vampire Bat: Who follows better? Then it should be “It Follows”.

Vampire Owl: What is there to follow for us?

Vampire Bat: We follow art, and we further follow beauty beyond exceptions.

Vampire Owl: You still think that there is beauty in this world of chaos and destruction.

Vampire Bat: The beauty of chaos cannot be taken out of the equation.

Vampire Owl: The vampire elders have always absorbed power out of chaos nodes.

Vampire Bat: Chaos nodes have powered the vampire animation for centuries.

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

What is the movie about? :: Cynthia (Ashley Greene) is an experienced psychiatrist who is also able to see into the minds of her patients, identifying the exact problem, as she basically walks inside that world of their minds. Through these special skills, she has solved a number of problems faced by her patients, some of them actually clueless until meeting Cynthia. Her daughter Jordan (Ellie O’Brien) is very much supportive of the same, and she comes across a girl named Riley (Shayelin Martin) who comes to visit Cynthia as advised by Agatha (Juno Rinaldi), a friendly woman who was cured by a visit. But the girl’s father Randall (Shawn Ashmore) also arrives all of a sudden and takes her away, asking Jordan not to be bothered about her, but not before Cynthia has a quick glimpse of a creature that looks from under Riley’s shoulder. Jordan talks about Riley, and how she was talking about someone who always accompanies her, but is only visible to her, and when Cynthia says that she saw something, she asks her to help her.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The Creature (Brooklyn Marshall) reminds Cynthia of a troubled past, and the attempts which had made her husband commit suicide after they had gone after such supernatural troubles. Even now, Cynthia has been very careful, even with her psychiatric journeys so that nothing goes out of control and comes back to her, causing trouble to her family again. Therefore, she rejects the possibility of helping the girl who seems to be too much affected by some terrible force of darkness, an entity belonging pure evil and chaos. Still, Riley’s claim that a supernatural entity has been feeding off of her, makes Jordan determined to help the girl at all costs. She goes to meet Agatha despite Cynthia’s warnings, and finds the address of the girl and her father. But soon, she finds her tied up firmly to a chair, not able to move any part of her body at all. Her jacket is removed, and as the girl places her hands on Jordan’s shoulder and upper arm, she sees the creature for the first time, touching her, and burning her body. Now, can she escape from this family and the creature that seems to be also feeding off her?

The defence of It Feeds :: The wraith-like entity with an extremely creepy burnt skull and long fingers is visually terrifying enough to keep haunting people in their nightmares. The creature on its throne is a majestic visual of a demonic rule that could cross over from its world to the human lands. The looks are as much disturbing as a terribly burnt corpse which has come back alive without much of the body left. At the same time, the movie explores trauma, fear and healing of wounds of the past while emotions run right through, as the creatures becomes unable to feed on any of them from the past and present. The continuous present of the dark lighting makes sure that something is going to happen all the time, while tense scenes during the supernatural and sudden scares from out of the world keep the horror going for the fans. The situations outside this world are nicely created and there is a certain amount of quality related to the same. With the available elements, the movie has managed to be worth the time.

The claws of flaw :: The movie does not feel like original, as elements of other movies seem to have come across here to become this film, the combination of many things, not many of them coming up as an innovation, even when there was the chance to take this further. The content here seems to rather less, and some of the moments seem to be there just to point to the jump scares. The nice poster surely gave the feeling that there would be more around here with horror level to be increased much more. Then, there are times when movie losses its connection despite having ideas active here and there. The characters also show the tendency to overdo things. The movie also seems to end up with the negative idea that helping people without second thoughts is not always the best thing to do; but that being truth is not to be avoided. The world remains uneven, and it would not go on to become a movie that we could remember for a long time; Amazon Prime Video is just the platform that will make this one something for which people will be interested.

The performers of the soul :: Ashley Greene leads the way really well here as the determined mother who is looking forward to save her daughter, even though she is not of that power throughout the movie. Still, the one who catches our attention more is Ellie O’Brien, who plays that character who tries to save lives, but is helplessly caught in trouble, tied up, attacked by the creature, and even buried alive – tough moments indeed, but she manages the same really well. In the end, the mother-daughter duo scores even further with the creature facing them, and a moment with creepers which does not strike like the Evil Dead trees, but does just enough there too. Shawn Ashmore also brings more strength to the cast, and there is also a certain amount of emotional weight which also gets added here as he scores as the father figure who listens to nobody while trying to be the big protector against all odds. Juno Rinaldi and Mark Taylor in smaller roles makes impact, despite not staying on for more. Shayelin Martin as the child with a haunting on her, does very well too.

How it finishes :: The movie is your usual horror movie which works with elements of many other movies, but the one which uses what is available effectively enough. It holds the ground as a good atmospheric horror with solid acting and creepy visuals which increases its effectiveness, but the story feels generic without more to be said about it and without doubt, predictable enough to make sure that it does not raise the level enough to be remembered for that long. When you have movies like Evil Dead, Sinister, Insidious, The Conjuring, The Nun, Annabelle and others becoming big things with the quality associated it with, one would find it strange that a movie like this which establishes the premise so well in the beginning and catches our attention could do only this much. Well, we cannot always have enough with a big start, but for this one, that was expected. After all, it is recommended with some of those better movies when on Amazon Prime Video, and more people would surely watch it there.

Release date: 28th March 2025
Running time: 102 minutes
Directed by: Chad Archibald
Starring: Ashley Greene, Shawn Ashmore, Ellie O’Brien, Juno Rinaldi, Brooklyn Marshall, Mark Taylor, Shayelin Martin, Julian Richings

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Baby Girl

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Vampire Owl: I wonder who these babies in the movie are.

Vampire Bat: I have heard about a baby going missing in this story.

Vampire Owl: How can babies go missing? Who takes them? A succubus?

Vampire Bat: I am relieved that you did not say gargoyle.

Vampire Owl: The gargoyles are completely under the control of Uncle Dracula now.

Vampire Bat: I am glad that you did not assign them to Mr. Frankenstein.

Vampire Owl: Dr. Frankenstein has better scientific plans.

Vampire Bat: What will he invent now? A fake time machine?

Vampire Owl: I have heard that Dr. Frankenstein is going to create an elixir of invisibility.

Vampire Bat: You mean like the elixir of immortality which increased mortality by a thousand times in multiple realms.

[Gets a Paneer Fried Rice and three cups of Nuwara Eliya tea].

What is the movie about? :: Meenakshi (Mythili Nair), a young student doing engineering graduation at Bangalore had just given birth to a baby girl, only to find out that her baby had gone missing when she checked. She had married her senior at college, Akash (Akshay Prashanth) who had just turned twenty one, the minimum legal age for marriage as she had already turned eighteen and was pregnant with his child. Sanal (Nivin Pauly), the attender and Sukumaran (Jaffar Idukki), the security, becomes the worst affected due to this situation as their lack of care for their duty time becomes known to the police force led by Sub Inspector Rakesh (Abhimanyu Shammi Thilakan) and Assistant Sub Inspector Akbar (Azees Nedumangad) who try to get to the bottom of this, despite not getting enough support from Circle Inspector Sujith (Sreejith Ravi) and City Police Commissioner Shameer (Major Ravi) who are focusing more on a political protest which is going on in the city. The protests get through the blockades and with the Chief Minister at the location, there is least police support provided to the missing case.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As the team send CPO Jeffin (Aswath Lal) to gather further information, Sanal tells them that he had seen someone in a purdah going out from the hospital with a bag, and he suspected that the baby was inside it. They keep searching for the same person in that clothing, and Sanal ends up getting a baby from a woman in the streets, but that turns out to be her own baby, making it an embarrassment for both the police and the hospital. As the hospital dismisses him with immediate effect for carelessness as much as recklessness, his wife Sini (Aditi Ravi), a nurse who had just returned from Saudi Arabia, asks him to return home and not to think more about what happened. But he is determined to find out what happened to the baby, but the situation is not like what he had been thinking, as Rishi (Sangeeth Prathap) and Rithu (Lijomol Jose) are the two people involved in this, but things had gone out of their control. Can there be some balance brought back to the situation, and will they be able to find the baby and return it to the mother before there are more complications?

The defence of Baby Girl :: The movie has the main incident coming into the picture right at the beginning itself, as not much time is wasted in a movie which had all the opportunity to waste a lot. It seems to be in a hurry in the beginning, as nothing else gets the care other than the baby girl gone missing, and the investigation is very quick to start and move on with hope. The movie needed an initial strength as it focuses more on the Passenger-model of common people going after a serious situation covered by the media, and that early boost helps the movie to keep moving forward even when pulled down. When the movie powers to an effective interval, that nicely gets to a point where emotions peak. The emotional side can also be seen as mostly working, and the deviations in the tale with more characters always seem to bring the emotions further. With realistic moments as much as performances, the movie never really moves away from our world. Cinematography and background score also adds to the overall quality of the movie. Then, the hype was always meant to keep the movie felt grand at the start itself.

The claws of flaw :: The movie’s attempt to bring the emotional side of losing a baby girl is lost in the process of getting emotionally attached to the other characters, who are not that much well-established. The movie seems to be keeping us close to different griefs and the abiding sadness here is more or less related to these people being sad for many other reasons which becomes more important than a lost child at times, and there are moments when we feel that the baby is just a missing package which has to be reminded as important by the police and the main characters through carefully crafted dialogues meant for some occasions only. The story keeps losing strength at times, as if there is some laziness which comes in here and there. The subplots often do not come up with that much of a strength, and a number of characters, fail to come up with the desired impact here. The ending is not that satisfactory, even though it is emotionally effective, for we did not wish to go the Game of Thrones finale way after a long wait. Well, this is a movie in which characters remain strange and act so, on too many occasions, as police characters also remains not effective in thinking.

The performers of the soul :: Nivin Pauly leads the way here not as the hero who would come out strong and prove that he is among the best, but as a flawed protagonist. He surely has a lot of screen time here, and is there from the beginning, and yet, I would consider the main character to be that one which is played by Lijimol Jose. One can safely say that it is her character that determines the real outcome of the movie, and scores like no other in the emotional scenes. It is also good to see Sangeeth Prathap getting roles like these, which have something far away from that usual humour. Even then, he does add a little bit of situational humour here too. Mythili Nair and Akshay Prashanth, the new faces also get some strong work to do, and they handle the same with some maturity which is to be appreciated. Abhimanyu Shammi Thilakan’s police role is solid, and Azees Nedumangad’s support is also to be appreciated, even though it comes as no surprise after watching movies like Kannur Squad. Aditi Ravi’s role is surprisingly limited to a few scenes at one house and so is that of Alphy Panjikaran at the hospital. Major Ravi, Aswath Lal and Sreejith Ravi plays their smaller police roles well as expected.

How it finishes :: As this one comes from the writers Bobby-Sanjay, the expectations were to be the much higher, and only some of the same is delivered here. There will not be the emotional power of Kaanekkaane or the investigative strength of Salute. After the success of Sarvam Maya, this next movie of the year with Nivin Pauly in the lead and with the addition of Lijomol Jose of Jai Bhim fame around was supposed to be a movie which helped expectations to skyrocket, but that journey to the clouds was surely short-lived, even though the movie does serve with entertainment and emotions as well as thrills and some twists also added here and there. The potential was so much, but movie confuses itself towards the ending which will satisfy only a small number of people. It had begun with such a compelling idea of a missing newborn case with a clear atmosphere of urgency and tension, which deviates, and feels like ready to lose its way, but then comes back, and feels like raising itself on occasions, only to end without that much of a real solution. But the journey remains memorable, and effective enough to have us go for it with the engaging moments.

Release date: 23rd January 2026
Running time: 124 minutes
Directed by: Arun Varma
Starring: Nivin Pauly, Sangeeth Prathap, Lijomol Jose, Abhimanyu Shammi Thilakan, Alphy Panjikaran, Aditi Ravi, Rudraksh, Azees Nedumangad, Major Ravi, Sreejith Ravi, Mythili Nair, Akshay Prashanth, Jaffar Idukki, Aswath Lal, Nandhu, Nisha Sarangh, Ranjini George, Prem Prakash, James Eliya, Kichu Tellus, Anoop Krishnan, Archana Prakash

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Bluff

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Vampire Owl: Are we reviewing the first Priyanka Chopra starrer here?

Vampire Bat: Well, she was part of Matrix: Resurrections, but not her movie.

Vampire Owl: I remember that we had watched many of her movies before this site started.

Vampire Bat: Well, she was around since 2002; and it is quite natural.

Vampire Owl: We had come so close to reviewing a few.

Vampire Bat: Well, there were many movies of her that we liked then.

Vampire Owl: Compared to some other Bollywood actresses, she was surely the queen.

Vampire Bat: Yes, Bollywood is now left with the huge quantity of nepotism that leads to epic nonsense. There is no escape from them.

Vampire Owl: But we rarely watch the nepo-kid movies.

Vampire Bat: Nothing matches the terror of Param Sundari and its dumb nonsense towards infinity. It is like oblivion.

[Gets a paneer paratha and three cups of Vagamon tea].

What is the movie about? :: A former pirate Ercell Bodden (Priyanka Chopra) is living in a British overseas territory further away from the people she knew with her disabled son Isaac Bodden (Vedanten Naidoo) and sister-in-law Elizabeth Bodden (Safia Oakley-Green). They do not about her past, and the people of the peaceful island are also not aware of her origins. The only person who knows about her bloody past is Pastor Bradley (David Field) who also had similar life, but had left it to become a pastor at the only church which serves at the centre of the island. Theodor H Bodden (Ismael Cruz Córdova), her husband who had gone on a ship as captain, continuing his life as a sailor while Ercell had stayed behind to take care of their disabled son while hoping not to be recognized by any sailor from her past, as she is known to have done terrible things while being with the notorious pirate Francisco Connor (Karl Urban), who had made her his partner after rescuing her from slave trade as she was separated from her family long ago.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: One day, Ercell finds two people in her house, and after attacking her, ties her up, and gets ready to hang her to death. The overseer of the island, Custode Drayton (Gary Beadle) finds a strange man on the docks, and as he asks about his rank and nationality, gets shot, and despite the islanders try to attack the upcoming swarm of pirate boats with cannons, almost all of them manage to reach the island and finish off anyone who took up arms against them. Ercell, who is brutally beaten, manages to break out of her bondage as her captives tried to catch her son, and she also decides to kill them. Meanwhile, Elizabeth who had gone outside to elope with her lover, finds the man dead, and also witnesses and injured overseer being executed by the leader of the group of pirates, who turns out to be the most terrifying pirate of the area, Francisco himself, who chooses executions with cannons over anything else, and enjoy the view of body parts scattering all over the sands.

And what more could happen here as the pirates take over to unleash chaos and destruction in an unsuspecting island far away from mainland? :: Ercell moves out with her son, and finds Bradley outside, and they decide the move through the forest area, but she decides to look out for Elizabeth. The find each other in the fields and realize that they are in big trouble. As the group led by Quartermaster Lee (Temuera Morrison) who serves as the second-in-command keeps Theodor as a captive, their aim seems to be Ercell as much as the gold which she had stolen from their crew. Francisco gets right on their trail, as they manage to get to the other side of crocodile-infested river with the only available boat. But this would not be the end for them, as the most terrifying pirate of their times got other plans, and with Theodor held captive under them, there is no way the family can move themselves away from the man who will keep hunting for them. Can the family find a way to live peacefully in between the terror which has been unleashed?

The defence of The Bluff :: It is nice to see that Priyanka Chopra has transformed herself into an action star, and that has surely been managed so well, as she never falters in that field, which is surely above her rest of the work here. Karl Urban whom most of us love the best for his classic Dredd which matched the original, has remained a fine villain throughout the movie. Safia Oakley-Green remains notable with her full presence, Temuera Morrison also leaves a mark. The visuals are really good, and we get the island feeling with the beauty of the world right there. The movie comes up with some brutal combat and survival sequences which works here as we see the pirates as the evil which they had been. Along with being a pirate adventure on survival mode, there is also the home invasion mode. A mother trying to save her child works emotionally well when the past comes to haunt her, but not throughout the movie. There is some old-style sword-fight that goes on well, and there is a lot of action to look out for, with no shortage of blood and gore. The final fight at the top of the cliff works nicely.

The claws of flaw :: There seems to be very less that the characters of this movie gets other than action, and even Priyanka Chopra gets too less of the other sides to explore. The villain’s past adventures could have been shown in a more terrifying manner. The dialogues feel as cliched as some of the scenes around here, as innovation does not seem like a skill. There is no attempt at originality and ideas often feel like falling short. The movie remains rather too predictable, and most of the things that happen in the movie goes in a path which is common. The preference of style over substance is not something that can be appreciated as we keep seeing only one side of the movie. The mother-child bonding and sisterhood power do not show that power at all times, as the relationships struggle, with the romantic past and husband-wife live not becoming something of interest either. The emotional side should have been stronger and the deaths could have mattered much more, as we look around here. There seems to be a certain amount of confusion for the movie about what all it should have, with the tendency to move through different genres.

How it finishes :: This goes on to become an enjoyable pirate action thriller that reminds us of other movies while also keeping some nostalgia right there. But it seems to be not sure about what exactly it is going to achieve. When we think about it, there were so many ideas that this movie could have taken related to pirates and surviving on an island, as many computer games have also come up with similar situations. The action remains raw, sometimes brutal and pretty much grounded enough to keep the audience engaged throughout its run. The viewers will still have to adjust with a situation which is not new, and without innovations, but entertaining throughout its run. After all, pirates and running away from the crew in an island which has hidden caves will keep everyone interested. I have the feeling that the movie with Priyanka Chopra as a pirate would have done pretty good at the box-office too, for she is many times better than the nepotic actresses and overrated advertisement celebrities of these times – just imagine some of these people in this particular role, and you would not see much of a choice to fit in there instead of her. Then we have the real name of the main character shown written in Malayalam twice – Mariyam; keeping us wonder about the Kerala connection there.

Release date: 25th February 2026 (Amazon Prime Video)
Running time: 103 minutes
Directed by: Frank E Flowers
Starring: Priyanka Chopra, Karl Urban, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Safia Oakley-Green, Temuera Morrison, Gary Beadle, Zack Morris, Gideon Mzembe, Pacharo Mzembe, Greg Hatton, David Field

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Dheeran

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Vampire Owl: Here is a movie title which translates to being brave.

Vampire Bat: Well, vampires are born brave.

Vampire Owl: You mean that we are reborn as the brave ones.

Vampire Bat: I have not yet seen a vampire who is not brave.

Vampire Owl: I have doubt about the Vampire Mouse.

Vampire Bat: All mouses that bite would not be a Vampire Mouse.

Vampire Owl: Still, he had given an application.

Vampire Bat: And it was rejected in just half an hour.

Vampire Owl: We would need more brave vampires in case there is a war.

Vampire Bat: The pact with werewolves stand strong, and the rest, whether witches or demons do not fight direct wars.

[Gets a paneer puffs and three cups of Bandarawela tea].

What is the movie about? :: Eldhose (Rajesh Madhavan) is someone who had received a bravery medal from the President of India when he was a child, for saving the village’s only welder, Aruvi (Manoj K Jayan) who was drowning in the middle of a river. But after developing a pre-marital relationship with Suramya (Aswathy Manoharan) whose wedding he is blamed to have ruined, both of them are caught during their private moments in the bus which he was driving, right in the middle of the night, while most of the village were busy with the local temple festival. As he tries to escape, it had also led to the Panchayat President Abbas (Jagadish) getting injured. Finding himself in trouble, and with people about to forcibly getting him and Suramya married against her will, he runs away from the village and reaching Erode in Tamil Nadu. There, he becomes the assistant of Abubacker (Vineeth), a Malayali gangster who only trusts him and his long-time henchman Suhail (Arun Cherukavil), as he had made too many enemies, and used a perfume store as front to hide.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Abubacker who keeps being worried about his former friends turning rivals, cannot sleep at night, and sleeps with a gun on his chest. He decides to find some relief by killing Saravanan (Srikrishna Dayal), one of his former henchmen, and assigns Eldhose to do the work, while pretending to be someone looking for work in the fruit factory which served as a front in a land where even the police were frightened to enter. But things do not seem to go well, as there is the news about Eldhose being killed in a fire-related accident in the fruit factory. This leads to a group of people deciding to go to Tamil Nadu to receive his body. Abbas who feels that he would go for the purpose any way, is joined by Aruvi, along with his two uncles Kunjan (Ashokan) and Joppan (Sudheesh) and brother-in-law Dixon (Abhiram Radhakrishnan). Spinesh (Shabareesh Varma), his old friend turned nemesis, also decides to drive the ambulance, leaving their past problems behind. But the question remains about what awaits them after crossing the border.

The defence of Dheeran :: The movie maintains its dark humour and silliness really well, and the situations for humour have been nicely created and maintained. Then there is some classic humour that comes of out of nowhere to create the fun all of a sudden. Then there are the simple and realistic moments that work, as the characters feel close to life as in those feel-good movies. The fine visuals of the villages of Kerala and Tamil Nadu also serve the purpose, as the movie has arranged a suitable cast for the purpose. The background score and music do serve the purpose well. Their use of the devotional song “akkarekk yathra cheyyum” which comes from the speaker nicely fits the situation. The execution of the final moments with a lot of action serves very well in a mixture of action and humour, with the special new year firework effects. The satire is as much present as everything else, and when there is such a veteran cast that can do the job so well, one can be assured of at least a minimum quality.

The claws of flaw :: There is a certain amount of struggle that the movie shows in between, as the narrative keep going back and come right back to the front – the non-linear journey was not really the option for a movie of this genre. The progress of the movie is rather slow, and the silliness often keeps us not interested rather than bring the humour to the front. We also have some dragging of the situation in the middle, and the flashback also feels too long. The overall length is a bit more considering the fact that the content does not have that much to keep the parts strong. The movie also goes on a predictable path with nothing new getting on the screen. The side characters are often lost, without the kind of significance which made other films like Kunjiramayanam and Adi Kapyare Koottamani successful. This one was so close to being a wild adventure ride, but not that much there to be taken. The fact that the movie gets back to Kerala from Tamil Nadu too soon, then everyone travels vice versa, does not help the purpose at all. The female characters also fall short except for some dialogues.

The performers of the soul :: The movie is led by Rajesh Madhavan, whose work has been memorable through Minnal Murali, Nna Thaan Case Kodu and Maranamass which had him making such a fine impact in different ways, but surely adding some fine humour. Jagadish’s work reminds us of what he did in Falimy, a movie which had similar humour running through, and had become a family travel humour sample to look forward to. Ashokan and Sudheesh adds to the humour well, according to the situations. Manoj K Jayan as Aruvi also brings both the funny as well as the emotional side to work. Vineeth as Abubacker also contributes to the fun, and Arun Cherukavil nicely supports him in the world of gangsters with a little too much of fear – the early gangster fun had surely got everyone interested. Shabareesh Varma keeps doing what he has been doing since Premam, really well. Abhiram Radhakrishnan can also be seen as further adding to the humour. Srikrishna Dayal as Saravanan gives the character the right elements of a real gangster, and Sidharth Bharathan remains notable.

How it finishes :: Not to be confused with other movies with the same or similar titles but deals with different topics and genre, Dheeran is that kind of a movie which goes on the lines of simple and silly fun with some dark humour to support it, and the same comes up with memorable moments. With Malayattoor as the setting, there is the feeling of watching something familiar with this one. The world of villagers and later that of gangsters work effectively here, and the funny side does not disappear from this one even when there is a serious scene or flow of emotions. The action comes strong by the end, with the adventure almost reaching that fine ending which also leaves like a feel-good movie, but with even a scope for sequel that could develop these characters in an even better way. Despite the bumps here and there, the movie is surely worth a try, especially as we keep looking for some lighter moments in a world of chaos. A weekend with this movie running on television would surely be the one with the laughs.

Release date: 4th July 2025
Running time: 137 minutes
Directed by: Devadath Shaji
Starring: Rajesh Madhavan, Jagadish, Ashokan, Manoj K Jayan, Sidharth Bharathan, Vineeth, Sudheesh, Shabareesh Varma, Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Aswathy Manoharan, Srikrishna Dayal, Arun Cherukavil, Indumathy Manikandan, Vijaya Sadhan

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Dheeram

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What is the movie about? :: Assistant Commissioner of Police Stalin Joseph IPS (Indrajith Sukumaran) has built a fine reputation as a police officer who could solve even the most difficult cases. This makes the Police Commissioner, Rama Das IPS (Renji Panicker) assign a clueless case to him, especially as it involves the murder of the son of Inspector General of Police at the parking lot of a night club. This victim named John Kurian (Maahin Krishna) was brutally stabbed to death in front of his newly found girlfriend Fidha Fathima (Ashika Ashokan), who reluctantly agree to be the eye witness to the crime while being held back due to the fact that she is engaged to someone else, with a wedding set to happen soon. Circle Inspector Jose Thomas (Nishanth Sagar) and Sub Inspector Diya Prabhakar (Divya Pillai) also join the team of Stalin, but the situation feels too complex with Fidha not able to provide any extra relevant information. But a woman named Radhika S Nair (Avanthika Mohan) who runs a nearby café is known to have problems with John, but she reminds them that the case was withdrawn after he made payment for the destruction he caused in the café.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Radhika reminds the police officers that there was a friend of John who had a fight with him in her café on the same day. The police track him and find his name as Kiran Sivadasan (Mahesh Nair), who is part of a family which has NRI connections. But they soon find him hung on a tree, dead by midnight. They try to find any clue, and can find only a vehicle which had passed through the area – they feel like it is a significant finding. But the vehicle they tracked is found as owned by Kiran’s sister Keerthy Sivadasan (Sandhya Nair), but she had just returned from the United Kingdom after her brother’s death. It feels like a dead end, and they feel that the two friends were murdered by someone who had a problem with their ways of life. The notes about murders which were identified around there also means nothing to the investigation. A local reporter Sradha Das (Reba Monica John) is also after the murders with her own investigation trying to make a name.

And what more is to follow here as deaths keep happening with a murderer on the loose? :: Stalin has further problems with his stepbrother George Joseph (Sagar Surya), as he has not been doing anything substantial after the death of their father. The police soon find another dead body in the nearby river, and it is Deepak Dinakaran (Sajal Sudarshan), son of the local MLA who has significant hold on the ruling party and is close to the Home Minister of the State. He was earlier chased by the police for possession of drugs, and the MLA is angry that no breakthrough was made in the case. There is a note found related to this murder too, and this is proven as a clear case of serial killings. They are able to link all of these incidents to a school where all these victims had studied together, where a particular incident had happened and came on news. This make them feel that the next victim could be Althaaf Hussain (Deepak Manohar) who was part of their gang, but they do not realize that there are more twists to follow, and he might not be the next target. Can this puzzle be solved before more murders occur?

The defence of Dheeram :: This is a solid investigative thriller premise with nicely interconnected plot points that keep it interesting from the initial stages to the end. The mood of the movie could be nicely established, and we see that there is the dark thriller mood initiated early enough. From the beginning to the end, there is suspense maintained, and there are twists to make the audience ponder over the same, and with some nicely placed red herrings in between, there are not many easy twists for the audience to get it right. The movie feels technically sound right from the beginning; there seems like a certain amount of quality on what we see – the visual tone supports the overall theme of the movie which do not have much for redemption in a world of chaos which reflects the reality of humanity. The background score supports the movie really well, and the music remains effective, as we are transported to that world not just visually, but with what we hear, and the world remains what it really is, affected by human evil, and when it comes from the past and still exists, hope is surely not a thing with feathers or wings. For the same, there is zero humour in this dark, chaotic self.

Positives and negatives :: With performances to remember, the movie gets its own addons to the positives. Reba has always deserved more from the Malayalam movie industry, and Nishanth Sagar after his returning roles makes us feel that he would need more screen space every time. There is a message about parenting and the emotional connection is active. The way in which connections are made and how it all comes to an end with some classic dialogues in the end needs mention too. The movie focus is also completely on the case, and there are no deviations, certainly no subplots which had the tendency to drop in; no silly romance here too, as we see a film which never tries to move out of a set path. The excessive violence in the end felt unnecessary, as the flashback was already talked about and the movie was already coming to an end, and violence over violence was never going to add anything to the already established mood. Maybe the idea was to justify the murders committed by the killers, making the viewers feel that the victims deserved their fate more than hundred percent, but that was already established for most of the audience – for bringing pure evil right out of burning hell, this is not a fantasy horror slasher movie from any angle. For now, we can fast forward something on Amazon Prime Video.

The performers of the soul :: Indrajith Sukumaran manages a different level as a police officer, and this divergence was clearly visible in Angels, another movie with its own serial killer, whose identity is revealed in a different way, and with some fine twist that comes out of nowhere in the end. He plays that kind of a police officer who never really deviates from his path, and that determination along with the need to do what is right, is reflected well, and with his moments by the ending, we are left intellectually satisfied. Divya Pillai makes a fine police officer, like we had seen with Anju Kurian in Others – Divya’s support role works really well, and so does Nishanth Sagar’s police avatar. The three police characters feel different in essence, and thus seems to complete the team well – then there is Renji Panicker in a usual role without any trouble. Meanwhile, Reba Monica John is brilliant in her avatar that goes beyond a timeline, and this would be her performance to remember in Malayalam cinema. Varalaxmi Sarathkumar comes is all of a sudden, and scores well, while Sagar Surya and Avanthika Mohan’s work remains notable, and Aju Varghese has a good serious role.

How it finishes :: We have had so many investigation thrillers with serial killers on the loose, and this one has a fine place among them – from Memories to Anjaam Pathiraa, Forensic, Kooman, John Luther, Abraham Ozler and others, we have had some of the most memorable movies with less hype. But with our movie here, we should have had more hype, and more screens for sure. With some reduction of violence, especially in the final moments, it could have easily achieved the same, and the shows could have had more audience. Even now, it can boast of a fine place among its kind. If it had released some years earlier, I would not have waited for its release on Amazon Prime Video; the serial killer investigation movies are the kind of works which we never really miss at the theatres. But as the reviews at Movies of the Soul never really get shared by the celebrities or official pages of movies, the idea of early theatre reviews was lost for us. As we understand that movies have paid reviews going for them, we can only keep watching movies on the OTT platforms, most of which are available with a simple mobile recharge and Amazon delivery.

Release date: 5th December 2025
Running time: 149 minutes
Directed by: Jithin Suresh T
Starring: Indrajith Sukumaran, Divya Pillai, Reba Monica John, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Nishanth Sagar, Aju Varghese, Renji Panicker, Sagar Surya, Avanthika Mohan, Dinesh Panickar, Sreejith Ravi, Sabitta George, Sundarapandiayan, Devi Ajith, Sojan Angel Varghese

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Mercy

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Vampire Owl: Hope that the vampire elders will have mercy on us.

Vampire Bat: I wonder why you have started caring for the vampire elders.

Vampire Owl: I have a deal which I have to make for them.

Vampire Bat: We have an official Vampire Deal-Maker. You need to do nothing.

Vampire Owl: Dr. Frankenstein had assured of a special scientific deal.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein can only make pseudo-scientific deals.

Vampire Owl: Frankenstein is a scientist beyond all infinite understanding.

Vampire Bat: He tried to create life out of chicken fried rice yesterday.

Vampire Owl: Well, it was chicken noodles, and I remember that.

Vampire Bat: It could be even chicken biryani, but that is not my point.

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

What is the movie about? :: In the year 2029, the world has changed by a long way. This time at Los Angeles, the Mercy Capital Court while trying to deal with a surge in crime, brings Artificial Intelligence judges for trials of violent crimes, which have been too common in an attempt to keep the general public safe. These AI judges give the defendants enough resources to find and provide all the evidence needed, and they are to prove their innocence in ninety minutes, or in the case of failure, will be executed. Los Angeles Police Department Detective Christopher Raven (Chris Pratt) is the one who finds himself in trouble due to the same new system despite himself having fought for its implementation after his best friend and partner in Los Angeles Police Department, Ray Vale (Kenneth Choi) was murdered, and the killer had walked free after he had hesitated to take a shot when there was the chance to finish off the criminal. He is put on trial for his wife Nicole Raven’s (Annabelle Wallis) murder, and is given not a second more than ninety minutes of investigation with the AI help to persuade the judge AI Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson) of his innocence.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: All the evidence seems to point to Chris having killed his wife, as her blood was found on his clothing and doorbell camera footage places him returning to home from the office just before her murder, and nobody else had come to their house on that day, and their daughter Britt Raven (Kylie Rogers) who came just after he left, was the first person on scene. Chris’s guilt probability is 97.5%, which he needs to lower to 92% to avoid a quick execution. There is also proof for Nicole planning a divorce due to his increasing drinking problem and all the shouting at her that came under the alcohol influence. For the same, Nicole was spending time with another man, Patrick Burke (Jeff Pierre), with whom she had started a romantic relationship, seemingly intimate in nature as they saw each other in hotel rooms. But the man could not be linked to the murder. This means that there is something more sinister in this murder as Christopher knows that he did not commit the crime. But time is less and can he survive?

The defence of Mercy :: The idea of an Artificial Intelligence judge coming up with a judgment in such a short period of time, and thus racing against time, remains something that will keep us glued to the screen from the beginning itself. As we go with the protagonist is bringing together the pieces to solve the puzzle, that works well. The expected themes like surveillance, privacy and effects of technology are surely there to be seen. The use of digital footprints to find someone also reminds us of a familiar world. The constant reminder of an end and such a countdown create a constant tension which keeps the movie engaging. The short run-time delivers everything well, and with much of a complication. There is that feeling of what is next, which is maintained, and with suspense, the twists come into the picture post the thrills. This is why the movie remains constantly entertaining as a movie that sticks to its genre. There is no need to think too much even though the premise with science fiction based on artificial intelligence and just feels heavy; it does serve purpose too. Aristotle would love the maintenance of the three unities with everything happening in the courtroom with the protagonist within ninety minutes too.

The claws of flaw :: The feeling of having seen this idea before will surely be around, as we come across the idea for not the first time, as there has only recently been the movie known as Artificial Justice in Spanish, and we also keep remembering about a Tom Cruise starrer from some more years ago. There is some unrealistic side that comes in even if we avoid the genre, with the willing suspension of disbelief not always getting its due. The ideas of artificial intelligence and justice do not also go that deep, as we are more with the surface level journey here. With such big ideas on paper, maybe the movie could have dived in deeper. The cliches could have been pushed to the side in this new world which deserved better strength. There is also a certain amount of artificiality related to the same, and the pacing remains uneven. The characterization is not that much present to be seen either. The side characters are just present seemingly because there was a need for the main character to gather evidence, and most of the action takes place in the AI courtroom and with live and recorded footages from outside which might leave a few not happy.

The performers of the soul :: Chris Pratt is the man who has to do most of the work here, and he does not disappoint, as most of us had expected. From moving through Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequels as well as the final Avengers movies with more adventures like The Tomorrow War and Passengers in between, he now goes on with more of the thrills, but without the action, and even on the chair, keeps us interested. Rebecca Ferguson of Mission Impossible, Doctor Sleep, Reminiscence and Life fame gets to be the artificial intelligence judge, and the same is managed with near-perfection as the machine who takes the human form and the determination to keep to the rules make the character even more memorable. Annabelle Wallis whose character is killed off earlier has much less to do. Kylie Rogers and Chris Sullivan also have their moments while Kali Reis drops in with some interesting minutes too. Kenneth Choi has something from the flashbacks, and has a character relevant to the chain of events, and so does Jeff Pierre. But we are still very much focused on the two main characters who gets all the screen time.

How it finishes :: The movie keeps reminding us of some the titles which have come in the past dealing with similar ideas, and there has been only a limited expansion of the original ideas. Despite many negative reviews, this is surely one fast-paced artificial intelligence tale which suits the time period, and could be watched with some popcorn on a weekend for some pure fun. After all, we are always looking for such fun in a world which has been missing the same in the name of many other factors including political correctness. Still, we see that certain gap between a powerful idea and its execution. At its core, the concept was so much full of potential in this world, and we can say that the film chooses a subject that could have been even more impactful. This is one of those movies which seems to have had almost no hype in this part of the world, and we feel that with a little more attention, it could have come late to the theatres here, stronger. But this one remains a recommended watch as an entertainer with a fine idea and classic theme.

Release date: 23rd January 2026
Running time: 100 minutes
Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan, Kylie Rogers

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

I Know What You Did

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Vampire Owl: Nobody knows what we did last summer.

Vampire Bat: But nobody knows what we did during winter or monsoon either.

Vampire Owl: So, we are not popular enough, right?

Vampire Bat: Why should people know about what we do?

Vampire Owl: Maybe celebrity vampires getting attacked by serial killers is cool?

Vampire Bat: So that you can drink serial killer blood now?

Vampire Owl: Well, we have to keep trying something new.

Vampire Bat: They are just random psychotic humans with same kind of blood.

Vampire Owl: Well, different brands of ice creams taste different.

Vampire Bat: You should remember that we have been vegetarian vampires for long.

[Gets a paneer masala dosa and three cups of Munnar tea].

What is the movie about? :: Ava Brucks (Chase Sui Wonders) returns to her hometown of Southport, North Carolina for the engagement of her wealthy best friend Danica Richards (Madelyn Cline) and her rich and influential groom Teddy Spencer (Tyriq Withers). They are joined by their friends from the past, Milo Griffin (Jonah Hauer-King) and Stevie Ward (Sarah Pidgeon), along with their estranged friend Stevie Ward (Sarah Pidgeon) whom they are meeting after a long time as she faced the death of her father and drug addiction. They decide to see the fireworks of the day, and stops their vehicle on a cliff. There, Teddy stands on the middle of the road while on booze, only to cause a pickup truck to apply sudden brakes and lose control, plunging into the rocks below. Teddy’s father Grant Spencer (Billy Campbell) who is a powerful politician, manages to twist the incident in such a way that the driver had stolen the vehicle and speeding, which caused the accident at the curve which was prone to accidents. The youngsters are not even called for questioning with their presence at the area itself erased.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: An year later, it is seen that Danica and Teddy have broken up, and the former is now in another relationship, soon to be married. The group of friends return to the town to attend the bridal shower of Danica, with the exception of Teddy. Ava reaches last, after having some sexual advances with a slasher podcaster Tyler Trevino (Gabbriette Bechtel). When Danica receives a note “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer”, and after her fiancée is murdered with a note about the past, Ava is forced to turn to Tyler who is an expert in serial killers and psychotic murders. They investigate into the past of the town which had that terrifying history of the killer with the hook which has been mostly erased to support tourism. But they find the new killer in the old costume, and Tyler is brutally murdered. Now, they find themselves in trouble with cops not ready to help them. Can they escape this terror before losing more lives?

The defence of I Know What You Did Last Summer :: This is another movie that we have been waiting for, as most of the horror fans would agree to the same. It makes a fine use of the underlying terror and a perfect scream queen in the form of its leading actress whom we hope to see in more of horror movies with the same charm and beauty. This look surely suits her more in comparison to how she has looked throughout the internet and seemingly in her earlier works. The hook image remains classic like the Ghostface and Chromehead masks have remained, and darkness is nicely combined with music and silence to create the desired effect here. The final revealing is surely something that has all the strength, and the double twist adds to the same. The connection to the original movie is nicely made, and the scope for sequel is well set, and we really hope that Chase Sui Wonders gets to lead in that movie too, after all, she plays the one character with whom we relate and feels as the movie goes deep. Her friend characters who remain alive would also need to make a comeback, as they worked fine as a team too.

Positives and negatives :: The movie always had the scope for more, going by the traditional slasher standards. Surprisingly, violence and the other traditional elements of slasher flicks do not get to rise that much, even when suspense, thrills and twists get quite something to do. The cast is really good, especially the leading actress who maintains the horror mood and runs through as the scream queen. The rest just follows her lead and there are a few characters who do not get their due. The final moments could have been more intense, even though the twists and turns nicely come together for the finale. These are the kind of movies that we need, the slashers that keeps coming alive even without any dose of supernatural being added to bring back the dead antagonists. After all, humans are born killers, not needing any supernatural to support their cause – the non-believers in God have always been murdering without prejudice, before civilization came into place and rules of man and God set them. So, evil can always find a way and bring death upon all.

The performers of the soul :: The movie is led forward by Chase Sui Wonders who transforms into a perfect scream queen with ease. She is the classic central character who faces danger, screams memorably, survives terrifying situations and even takes the movie to the end, despite a multi-starrer feeling being present at all times. She shines and even surprises the audience at times in what seems to be her first movie which had a release in this part of the world, as part of one of the rare franchises that spread horror with quality an fanbase. Her character is as much nicely presented as it is well-written. In comparison, Madelyn Cline’s character in one-dimensional, and she maintains the same well. At the same time, Sarah Pidgeon makes a fine impact, without doubt. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr bring further strength to the movie as much as they bring the nostalgia out of the original movies. Gabbriette Bechtel makes an impact in her short stay, while Tyriq Withers and Jonah Hauer-King provide the expected support.

How it finishes :: This return to that world of knowing what we did last summer works really well and brings the nostalgia back to us. This is one franchise which had brought us so many fine scream queens and one serial killer image which inspired many others, and therefore this return was much deserved. After so many years, it is nice to see Jennifer Love Hewitt to extend that nostalgia, even though watching her back in that old movie would mean more – originals would always have that flare despite multiple returns, sequels and reboots. This one reminds the new generation that we had such classic slashers at an earlier point of time, and that Evil Dead, Scream and Halloween are not the only ones that came back, with some of those sequels not making that much of an impact. We the horror fans can safely celebrate this one though, even when we feel that there are moments which could have had more impact and kept that slasher elements projected without seemingly traveling through the safe side. Well, you know that horror can always keep making comebacks, and this is surely one of them.

Release date: 18th July 2025
Running time: 111 minutes
Directed by: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Starring: Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Gabbriette Bechtel, Austin Nichols, Freddie Prinze Jr, Jennifer Love Hewitt

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Narivetta

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Vampire Owl: This is one movie we missed at the theatre despite being interested.

Vampire Bat: Well, it was said to be a political action thrillers and politics is not our thing.

Vampire Owl: Some of those rare Tovino thrillers that we missed.

Vampire Bat: We have never been the people who watched movies for its actors.

Vampire Owl: Yet, we have watched more Tovino movies in the theatre considering the ratio.

Vampire Bat: It is the case of acting in the kind of movies that we like to watch.

Vampire Owl: Yet, we have created no borders in cinema.

Vampire Bat: Well, we have watched almost every kind of movie.

Vampire Owl: Yes, our identity is of people of the true cinema.

Vampire Bat: We will one day be left with nothing more to watch in Malayalam cinema.

[Gets a paneer samosa and three cups of Yercaud tea].

What is the movie about? :: Varghese (Tovino Thomas) has been living a usual small-town life having a lot of time spent with his love from school days, Nancy (Priyamvada Krishnan), despite the disapproval of her father. Varghese has been employed since forever, as he keeps looking for a good job, ending up getting none, while Nancy has been employed in a bank for some time. Along with the same, Nancy’s father is a rich man running a number of business ventures with his influential family members, while Varghese’s family has the history of his father committing suicide due to financial problems, from where they never recovered. This makes the marriage alliance almost impossible between them, and both families are aware of the same. Finally, after being forced by Nancy, he decides to take up the job of a police constable, even though he continues to wish for much more. He thinks that he will study for the Public Service Commission tests while working as a constable in the police force.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Varghese is not at all confident or comfortable at the police camp, but he is supported by Head Constable Basheer (Suraj Venjaramoodu), a senior with whom he forms a bond, as both are forced into this job due to different circumstances. While Varghese is not that popular with his colleagues, things only get much worse as tribal protests erupt in Wayanad demanding land rights under the leadership of C K Shanthi (Arya Salim), Madhu (Prasanth Madhavan) and Thaami (Pranav Teophine), as they seek the fulfilment of promise by the government. DIG Raghuram Keshavadas (Cheran) is assigned the task for suppressing the agitation. Raghuram becomes the hand of the politicians of the state, and with his plans nicely at work, the support of army is also requested. This would mean that Varghese and Basheer would have to face something different from what they were expecting – can they survive the same and come out strong?

The defence of Narivetta :: This one is a bold movie with strong performances that go deep down the list. As the movie focuses on issues like tribal rights, police violence and the abuse of power, with inspiration from the Muthanga Incident, there is a certain amount of realistic touch to some parts of it, with some scars never really fading and some resolutions never really being reached in a world of chaos and absurdity due to human behaviour. The realistic side often takes the front seat, keeping the commercial side to the minimum, and this mode is followed not only by the moments inspired by original events, but also those which come around it to complete the movie. The romantic side is also good, and the “Minnalvala” song is going to remain a favourite for a long period time, even after time passes by a long way. The hero and heroine surely have a fine chemistry between them, and the choice of supporting cast works like a dream. The movie surely has a lasting effect to make the audience think about situation in a chaotic world.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is surely too long, and we are forced to fast forward it as we watch it on the OTT platform, Sony LIV. Even with the less shown romantic side, there is a stretch, and with the serious moments that come later, there is more lag, and we often feel that there is the journey through similar situations and dialogues again and again, with moments also present where nothing much of interest happens. Then, the heroine is mostly lost after the romance seemed to have a role in the beginning. There is a struggle that goes on with the movie, which is not just between the characters, but also to keep the main idea at the core and engaging enough for everyone. The predictable story is surely there, even if we keep the closeness to real incidents away. Some moments just feel like made to keep the whole thing rather comfortable. The antagonist, as a character, could have also had more strength, and just using the government and the system for villainy serves less as a whole.

The performers of the soul :: As expected, the highlight of the movie is the performance of Tovino Thomas who comes up with a strong performance as the main character like he always did from Minnal Murali to 2018, Thallumala, ARM and Anveshippin Kandethum, nicely portraying the character’s change from a careless young man to someone who stands for justice against all odds, bringing a dynamic character to life. He scores with the emotional side, whether it is the romantic side or the hopelessness that comes later when facing injustice. He further scores through the “Minnalvala” song with Priyamvada Krishnan who comes up with a responsible performance in a character that sticks more to the loyal romantic side, but with determination. The song surely has her best appearance ever. Suraj Venjaramoodu once again comes with a performance that strikes, a matured one that will stay with us for long too – as a mentor, big brother figure to the main character, he remains a character who brings maturity to the scene, while keeping close to doing the right thing. Arya Salim is extraordinary in her work as she brings a character to perfection while Cheran brings villainy nicely to the scene.

How it finishes :: This is a movie which is worth a watch for how it progresses with a content that needed some fine attention, and keeps it working without deviating from the main thing which it seems to be seeking towards the climax – the final justice. The progress is not that smooth though, and even when scratchy, it is surely going in the right direction. There was a little bit too much of expectations with this movie, and it does not seem to progress in the way the posters and the superhit song were seemingly pointing to. A bigger scope was surely expected of this one. But the movie gets many things right, with its focus on the need to do the right thing even when against some of the most powerful forces, and on having faith even when there seems to be not much of a chance for hope. The ending is achieved well in a realistic manner, rather than going through those mass-appeal moments when hero just takes what he wants – it is the kind of idea which would increase the gross in other states and those languages, but not with this one, as it seems to have faith in the realistic, and that has served well.

Release date: 23rd May 2025
Running time: 138 minutes
Directed by: Anuraj Manohar
Starring: Tovino Thomas, Cheran, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Jithin Eden Mathew, Priyamvada Krishnan, Pranav Teophine, Prasanth Madhavan, Rini Udayakumar, Nandu, Sudhi Kozhikode, Srikant Murali, Badusha N M, Appunni Sasi, Kumar Sethu, Vijesh Lee, Shahi Kabir

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Housemaid

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Vampire Owl: We have waited for this movie to come in the OTT for some time.

Vampire Bat: And it is on Amazon Prime Video, which is for the best.

Vampire Owl: Well, we all needed our Amazon Prime deliveries.

Vampire Bat: There is no Amazon delivery in Dracula castle.

Vampire Owl: Well, we can always pick them up from the borders of the realm.

Vampire Bat: What we need are very much here, and at best quality.

Vampire Owl: The vampire apprentices are really working hard, aren’t they?

Vampire Bat: We have shifted to magic for doing the work for us.

Vampire Owl: Dr. Frankenstein had invented enough to help with that.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein’s pseudo-science actually helps and saves nobody. Frank no longer has enough access to our work.

[Gets a vegetable samosa and three cups of Kodaikanal tea].

What is the movie about? :: Wilhelmina Calloway a.k.a. Millie (Sydney Sweeney) is on parole after committing a murder in self-defence. It is then that she is hired by Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried) as a live-in maid, much to her surprise as her criminal records did not stop her from being hired for such a big job after so many rejections. The home also has her daughter Cecelia Winchester (Indiana Elle) and husband Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar) who are surprised to see her around there, but Nina is determined that she should have a housemaid as she cannot manage household work even though Enzo Accardi (Michele Morrone) takes care of the work outside. Mille is given an attic bedroom that can be locked from the outside, much to her surprise, and she tries to get a key for the same. But she is so desperate to keep her job as it is a term of her parole; due the same, she just goes on with the process despite the problems that come in her way, and feels that there is something wrong with Nina and the family seems to be slowly falling apart.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Mille further learns that in the past, Nina was locked in a mental hospital for a period of nine months for trying to drown Cece in a bath tub under the effect of drugs and for has tried attempting suicide by overdose. Nina is considered mentally unstable by different people, and some of them seems to keep a distance from her too. Millie also finds her to be very angry towards her, and breaks things while keeping on shouting. It could also be seen that Nina says one thing to her and forgets the same later, keeping on saying that Millie decided to do that thing against her instructions. The neighbours consider her to be a dangerous woman, without a family, and has attached herself to her husband who is rich, handsome, and sweet to everyone around. Andrew’s mother Evelyn Winchester (Elizabeth Perkins) is also that high society lady whom everyone revered, and keeps telling the family about a few things which they should always follow without fail.

And what more is to happen around here as a crisis seems to be on the way? :: A similar case occurs as Millie books Broadway musical tickets and a hotel for the Winchesters in one of the richest areas, but later, Nina just denies having given her those instructions, and tells her that she will take the money out of her salary as the tickets are not refundable. But when Nina was talking her daughter to the ballet camp, Andrew tries to cheer Millie up by secretly taking her to the show, and after enjoying dinner together, they check into the hotel. Millie receives a large number of angry texts from Nina, but Andrew, and the two start and intimate relationship in the hotel bedroom. Then, when they return home, and Millie realizes that Nina has found out that she spent ten years in prison for murder. Nina uses this knowledge to make sure that police arrest her on stealing their car, after reporting a stolen car. But this would not be the end of it, as her plans might be more sinister, and the family secrets would mean more trouble. Can Millie survive this?

The defence of The Housemaid :: The movie maintains a certain level, with nice red herrings and the suspense always ready to come out, with thrills going on strong – the performances of the leading actresses are also to be noted, as Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried blends into the situation really well. Sydney seems to be very close to becoming the next scream queen in a horror movie, and we have seen her capability with thrillers earlier itself, through The Voyeurs. Amanda had a more complicated role, and she maintains a certain amount of skill to go through the transformation of the character. Brandon Sklenar also joins well here. The tension is nicely built, as the viewer gets curious with secrets to be revealed, mind games and twists which might not be the kind that one can predict with ease. There is the feeling that we are watching the kind of thrillers which we had during much earlier times. The dramatic side also works and entertainment is guaranteed, with most of the action set in a big and isolated house which is set far away from the city.

The claws of flaw :: The movie’s ending seemed to be too quick and forced. After that, there is another scene which feels like not relevant at all, as Sydney Sweeney’s character was surely not fit to that situation, and it is not a kind of job that one could take when on the list of police; strange that some fine endings feel the need to be made further complicated by an additional scene – even if it was created to bring hope for a sequel which also would not fit in. The predictability also comes in after the grand twist, and after that, the situation feels just going on and on, and nothing more. There was also the slowing down in between, and seemingly an attempt to divert the movie a little too much. The length of the movie is surely a little too much, as sometimes, time is just lost in the dialogues. With the movie becoming too much filmy, we can also see that the realistic side, despite being present, sometimes losses its charm. The flashback and the explanations are also too long, and the main character, without any prior knowledge of the predicament, seems to guess and thus understand everything with relative ease.

How it finishes :: This particular movie had successfully become more than what is seen on the outside, and we know that movies like this one and Deep Water, as well as Gone Girl, strikes because they have something more than what is seen on the surface. Compared to those titles, this one also ultimately stands as a highly watchable but not the best psychological thriller that leans more towards providing the old-style entertainment rather than focusing on the much-needed depth. Powered by the performances led by Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney, the movie could create an engaging atmosphere having tension, secrets and dramatic twists. It chooses the commercial side instead of the intellectual, and manages to work well in the same. It still relies on familiar tropes, some predictability and moments of too much talking about the past to reduce the overall impact. But you are sure to enjoy this one because the movie is made in a way that the appeal to the audience would be more, and catering towards the regular thriller fun side is here to be taken home, even if it is from Amazon Prime Video.

Release date: 19th December 2025
Running time: 131 minutes
Directed by: Paul Feig
Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Nicholas Galitzine, Julie Walters, Alex Wolff

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Pennu Case

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Vampire Owl: I had seen so many vloggers talking about this movie.

Vampire Bat: The movie surely had some extra hype.

Vampire Owl: But it surely did not do that well in the end.

Vampire Bat: I think that it was not really sure about its own genre.

Vampire Owl: More people are talking about it now after the release in OTT.

Vampire Bat: It is Amazon Prime Video, and so there will be more talks.

Vampire Owl: Well, there is always that talking in the moonlight.

Vampire Bat: You know that vampires cannot walk or talk in the sunlight that well.

Vampire Owl: Still, we always talk better than humans.

Vampire Bat: Humans are the kind of people who talk with wars through weapons of mass destruction and unlimited chaos. Ask your best friend, Mr. Frankenstein or just phone Uncle Dracula himself. Even the Vampire Monkey has written an essay about it.

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

What is the movie about? :: Rohini (Nikhila Vimal) is finally caught after years of committing a certain serial runaway bride scam, in which she had cheated many men whom she had married and left right after the wedding day with all the money and ornaments. She was not caught by the police, but by a group of men who were cheated into marriage and left behind, led by Thomas (Irshad) who had started a WhatsApp group for those who had suffered insult and loss of money. They made the way into the wedding function of Subhash (Aju Varghese) who had felt that after so many years of waiting for a suitable alliance, he had found the right bride for him, whom he considered to be too beautiful for his standard, and thus a lucky find. Rohini in this avatar and a new name seemed to be the sweet and understanding village girl that he was looking for. But this arrival of the former husbands and the following fight, which was further followed by police intervention had ruined his hopes by a long way.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: But this was never really the end as others like Vijayakumar (Ramesh Pisharody) and others also follow with their tragic story of being married to Rohini, known by Sindhu at that time, at another point by the name Susan and many more on a long list. The case goes to the Circle Inspector of Police, Manoj (Hakim Shahjahan) who is also on the verge of a wedding about to be cancelled, and he becomes determined to solve this case, in which he feels that there are so many others also involved – planning such big weddings all around Kerala would be difficult for just one person. As he had brought disgrace to the police department due to a video which became viral during a protest, this is seen more as a chance rather than anything else. His police station had not seen any big cases being solved, and his fellow workers also join him. But his superior officers do not trust him, and Rohini’s husbands already keep asking about getting their money back. Can he do the job in time or will someone else get all the glory?

The defence of Pennu Case :: The idea is interesting as much as realistic as we have heard about news of similar things happening in this part of the world multiple times, and with the laws favouring the female, the women who cheated men in this way might have found it easy to get away without that much of problems. By showing the same here, humour also comes into the picture with some fake tears helping the woman to keep everyone on her side. The comic side of this movie does not try to do too much, as it goes through a rather smooth pattern instead of being loud and dumb – the simplicity of humour with usual kind of people all around, makes an impact – the choice of cast also working in its favour here. The movie remains light-hearted, never really going to the dark side, which would be even closer to the truth, and lurking around the corner to avoid an emotional drama of terrifying shades coming in. The length works in favour of the movie as this content goes through exactly that much time it required, at less than two hours.

The claws of flaw :: The movie remains quite a slow one, and the flashbacks could not do it any favour as we try to follow it. In the middle, it seems to have been going in a predictable manner, losing some strength in between. The predictable backstory just escapes with that twist in the end, as otherwise it was traveling towards a certain doom. The idea of not giving seriousness to the situation by the end might also feel somewhat strange, as one would still feel that this certain act of crime and evil is considered funny more because the suffering person is male and the criminal is female – the psychological depth and impact as well as emotional consequences are not really there to be taken due to the world staying surface level, even though it would not be the case in real life as far as victims who go through these are concerned. One would also feel that some characters were given the evil image a little too much, and that the red herring had gone too much beyond control. The investigation could have also been engaging rather than just seemingly following the procedure because there is not other job.

The performers of the soul :: Nikhila Vimal keeps the movie together as the main character who is right there in the middle, working through different roles that the character plays within the movie, with all the varieties. Her character should have seen with the shades better rather than showing so much less outside her own narrative. Hakim Shahjahan’s police officer remains a strong presence throughout the movie, as he is the one determined character that we also support, and even after that twist, his character would have something to offer if there is a sequel made in a better way. Meanwhile, Aju Varghese is there creating a silent impact throughout the film while Irshad was the one who made the final initial impact. Ramesh Pisharody also scores when he is there, even though for a shorter time period. The popular content creators whom we see around social media platform, Jayakrishnan Sreekumar and Sreekanth Vettiyar can also be noted from here, and we see that they are so good in their work in the movies, despite the small roles. P P Kunhikrishnan, Shivajith and Praveen Raja also scores. Anarkali Nazar should have had a bigger role though.

How it finishes :: The movie had created quite an impact online even before its release as the vloggers had it covered well. The serial marriage scammer bride has been part of news for quite some time and had taken rounds in the social media, which makes the whole thing feel more real than ever. It takes some skill to weave a divergent story out of it instead of going through a drama – the twist makes sure that everything comes together and some of the problems in between are solved well. The humour exists smoothly right behind without affecting the story which thrives on flashback narratives getting connecting to the original timeline. The social satire is also present with those small, enjoyable moments and situational humor coming out of nowhere. The movie has taken the necessary steps to keep its world working and get to that twist, without which the tale would have been relatively weak, and the predictability is thus removed. It could have surely been better, but it works well as a humour-twist divergence as of now.

Release date: 10 January 2026
Running time: 112 minutes
Directed by: Febin Sidharth
Starring: Nikhila Vimal, Hakim Shahjahan, Aju Varghese, Ramesh Pisharody, Irshad, P P Kunhikrishnan, Hari Pathanapuram, Praveen Raja, Shivajith, Sreerekha Rajagopal, Aami Thasnim, Sandhya Manoj, Ranji Kankol, Shukkoor, Abin Bino, Anarkali Nazar, Danesh Koliyatt, Jayakrishnan Sreekumar, Sreekanth Vettiyar

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Fall for Me

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Vampire Owl: I have heard about vampire penguins falling from the top of Dracula Castle.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that it is not exactly what they mean with the falling here.

Vampire Owl: All other types of falling do not happen around here.

Vampire Bat: Well, this is the kind of falling that happens more to humans.

Vampire Owl: We are not people who watch over the fall of humans.

Vampire Bat: Well, the human falls are just normal and natural in that realm.

Vampire Owl: Such a terrible realm to be born to, if you ask me.

Vampire Bat: Especially if you do not turn into vampires early enough.

Vampire Owl: We should not be taking more human turned into vampires.

Vampire Bat: Well, we also need more workers at the castle.

[Gets a chilli porotta and three cups of Ooty tea].

What is the movie about? :: Lilli (Svenja Jung), and auditor from Germany travels to the island of Mallorca in Spain to visit her younger sister Valeria (Tijan Marei). There, she is surprised to see that she is engaged to a French man named Manu (Victor Meutelet), and are planning to open a bread and breakfast establishment. The two had also planned to buy his uncle’s property for the same purpose, but for the same, there is the need to sell the property of the sisters’ mother, which was meant to be kept for Valeria’s university education. But Valeria who is too much attached with the idea of starting a life together with a supporting hospitality business that she no longer wishes to study any more. The university dreams just seem to be that of their mother, not hers. Lilli wonders if she was invited there so that her signature is required to sell mother’s property, and is worried that her sister has had too many lovers in the past, and wonders if this one is also temporary in nature, which would bring a new crisis to their world.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Valeria feels that Lilli is not happy about her, as her own relationships have been going terribly in the last few years. But things get different when Lilli meets up with the local club manager Tom (Theo Trebs) who is also from Germany, both share a romantic attraction from the flight sight itself. Soon, Lilli meets real estate investor Nick (Thomas Kretschmann) who offers an amount of €900,000 for the property, which he considers to be more than what would be given by anyone else, and Valeria along with Manu supports the cause. Nick’s wife Girasol (Lucia Barrado) also tries to make the transactions quicker, and tries to get close to Lilli to make her more interested in them. But Lilli is of the opinion that she requires more time with this, and at the same time, has her relationship with Tom going to an intimate level after he comes to her home to repair a broken pipe, with the rest of her making way for them having sex multiple times.

And what more can happen here as something never seems right? :: She places her trust on him and gets someone else to look at the plot to know exactly how much it costs, and gets an analysis of €700,000 for the property as most of it cannot be destroyed due to its historical past and location. He advises Lilli to accept the earlier offer, and she agrees. But it is then that Bea (Antje Traue), the former lover of Manu comes to their life, and she seems to be obsessed with him, even though Valeria is not that bothered, as she also had many lovers in her life, and she had gone very intimate with most of them, leaving some of the relationships just within a short time. Lilli feels that her little sister is in trouble, and tries to come to the bottom of it. But chasing Bea does not lead her anywhere, but she does comes to know that Manu has not worked in the hotel where he told her that he had prior experience. At the same time, Nick is forcing her to sign the deal, but with her doubt about Manu, will she do that soon enough?

The defence of Fall for Me :: The movie is shot in some of the most beautiful locations that we can get anywhere. Mallorca of Spain has that stylish, vacation-like vibe with scenic locations which keeps us so much interested throughout its run, and also makes us wish to travel, not just to one place, but any similar areas. The romance, deception, scam and relationship revolve around without that much of an overdose, as everything goes on through a simple path with smooth transitions. The twists are not that shocking, but they remain effective due to the performances and the emotional side that has something in store. The lead actors like Svenja Jung and Theo Trebs goes on well, and Svenja feels like too good in this role, as everything including the emotions are so well portrayed – she remains the loveliest part of the movie, and goes through the character’s troubles well as the central character. Then there is Tijan Marei whose performances feel even more realistic as much as cute in the form of a little sister. The romance here is never really overdone, and this is a movie which feels having just enough around.

The claws of flaw :: The movie just moves through what seems to be just the usual process, and the surprises and shocks do not count as among the most effective or memorable ones. It never gets to be that serious or with serious danger. The focus on the story is not really that much as we look closer – it just feels like taken from different earlier movies which deals with similar themes. The thrills go too smooth with the suspense and got enough predictability around. The focus on romance is sometimes not there, and at times, just comes out of nowhere. Some of the decisions of the characters also feel strange, and there is not that much of development among them – even the talks about the past just feels repetitive rather than bringing something special out of them. There is not that much of depth, and the strength of a classic thriller has gone missing. The ending also seems to have been done in a comfortable manner, not thinking about making it suited to bring a memorable finish. The absence of that much thoughts about the movie’s progress can surely be seen here and there.

How it finishes :: The movie seems to be that smooth journey like a journey through some beautiful areas with charming people all around. At a time when traveling has not been that easy in a world of chaos, we can keep wandering through different lands with movies like these which never really misses out on the chance to capture the location. There is romance and we also have those deceptions, and despite seemingly going nowhere at some points, brings the whole thing to an end, even though there is nothing special about it. For going through a tale that does not claim anything huge, but gives enough of a normal tale, this one is a harmless watch. One would feel that the lack of intensity is something that favours the movie in maintaining a cool effect throughout its run that does not feel too long even when it slows down. Getting some German movies on OTT is quite a rare thing, one has to acknowledge the same. We do get one more here, to add to the foreign movies list which has been dominated by Korean, Spanish, French and Russian movies.

Release date: 21st August 2025
Running time: 105 minutes
Directed by: Sherry Hormann
Starring: Svenja Jung, Theo Trebs, Thomas Kretschmann, Tijan Marei, Victor Meutelet, Antje Traue, Lucia Barrado

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<<< Click here to go to the first full-length German movie.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.