Dracula

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: They are making another movie about Uncle Dracula?

Vampire Bat: Well, with some variations to come with it.

Vampire Owl: Nosferatu had him at work earlier with style.

Vampire Bat: Well, they also had Dracula Untold, and so there should be even more to come.

Vampire Owl: I wonder if Uncle Dracula had approved of this one.

Vampire Bat: Humans never really take approval of any other species.

Vampire Owl: Oh yes, they think they own everything in the world.

Vampire Bat: Only until they meet the people from other realms.

Vampire Owl: They are surely expecting some alien contact very soon.

Vampire Bat: I feel that they will need to meet the shadow demons before that.

[Gets some white chocolates and three cups of Munnar tea].

What is the movie about? :: Prince Vlad the Second of Wallachia (Caleb Landry Jones) is on a battle with the Ottoman Turks who are quickly gaining grounds and marching into Europe, relentlessly conquering and brutally murdering anyone who stands in their way, leaving a trail of dead bodies and blood. He becomes the chosen hero standing at the borders of Europe, who chooses to meet brutality with the same strength as he wins battles and impales his enemies taking the fear back to the invaders from the other side. The Ottoman army seems to have retreated for the time being, but they ambush the princess and the guards escorting her in the nearby forest, and almost kills her when Vlad arrives, only to have her die in his arms, as the Ottoman troops had found the lone queen without the guards as an opportunity. The prince had asked the leader of the church in Wallachia only one thing in return for his allegiance to the church, which was to pray to the God and keep his queen safe with the prayers and blessings.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: With his only wish not granted, he commits murder of the priest in the church and renounces God, turning himself into an abomination, with a curse on him to live forever in an undead state. Throughout the centuries, Dracula attempts to track down the reincarnation of his wife by using the usual methods, which does not seem to work, as the plagues lead the women to churches where he cannot enter. Therefore, he comes up with a secondary plan, creating different vampiric agents to assist in his search after drinking blood from them and making them just like him, but directly under his own control. These agents spread all around the world, and travel, with him confining himself to the castle with gargoyles that became his servants in a world of darkness and hopelessness in chaos created by himself. He also develops a specially crafted perfume designed to lure women to him, taking elements of the same from Italy, India and the Arab lands so that he does not have to wait for too many rebirths of his love.

And what more is to follow as darkness seems to take over everything good? :: Four hundred years later, during the Victorian Age, while looking for a property in England, Dracula changes the focus to France with hope in the post-revolutionary world to seek with ease. While negotiating a real estate transaction with the law expert in Paris, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid) who had travelled to Romania, Dracula discovers from his locket that Harker’s fiancée Mina Murray (Zoe Bleu) who looks so much similar, is the reincarnation he seeks. He is incredibly happy about the same, much to the dismay of Jonathan whose worries only get to be more. Despite the initial plan to kill Jonathan for finding out his secrets in the castle, he decides to imprison him instead and go for Mina and get her back to the castle to live with him. Jonathan’s attempts to escape do not bear fruits with the gargoyles all around the castle. Dracula decides to go on a blood hunt so that he could go young again, and gets out of the castle. Can the world stand it, and what will be Mina’s reaction to this with her friend Maria (Matilda De Angelis) also under Dracula’s influence?

The defence of Dracula: A Love Tale :: The best fact about the movie is that it is just too beautiful, with the visual splendour like one would not imagine for a movie with such a dark theme at the core of everything. The humanizing of Dracula brings another viewpoint, and it is something that brings the intellect to full power. The vampires here have a certain amount of charm about them, and even gargoyles are nicely designed. The castle design is also really good, and the architectural beauty of every building that we see here are too good, and the insides keep catching our attention. Caleb Landry Jones deserves all the praise for playing a haunted, tragic vampire with honesty and intensity, despite the initial struggle with past scenes. Zoe Bleu is incredibly lovely in her portrayals of her characters as the main leading lady – there is a certain amount of torment and the sad attempts to balance multiple worlds. It feels incredibly beautiful as he goes through emotions and memories of another life. Matilda De Angelis, at the same time, makes a perfect vampire, and strikes gold with the fangs and expressions, especially when in chains.

Positives and negatives :: The movie just seems to have less Orthodox and Byzantine elements in the old churches and castles compared as much as with the historical priest, and the Catholic and Gothic elements seem to have more of a presence here in comparison. The deviation might feel to be a little too much here, even though this could have been made to suit the French audience or the West in particular. The initial moments of the movie are not that good either, as there seems to be a retreat from a better situation. With focus on romantic love, or what seems at times like lust, the horror elements are mostly lost – at least the gargoyles could have been scarier; the fang power is also somewhat lost in the process. At the same time, Christoph Waltz makes some fine impact as the priest while Ewens Abid’s significance in the character is rather less, but good. The world continues to have something about it, even though even the romance is often felt less used unlike movies like Nosferatu which did it better even in not this much of a colourful world. The women characters have no role in saving the world this time.

How it finishes :: We have had different versions of the world’s most popular and the earliest classic vampire in the form of Dracula Untold and Nosferatu, and this one brings a fine deviated movie that has enough power to keep it strong as something to remember, with horror making its way for romance with some scares and a beautiful world. The comparison would be more to movies like Crimson Peak rather than anything else. This can be considered as a similar kind of gothic romantic drama that reimagines the legend of Count Dracula as a tragic lover rather than just that monster who made the way as pure evil above others, and England becomes France in this one. The tale of the medieval prince who loses his wife to turn against God and become the immortal vampire Dracula would keep striking well. As the vampire pursues love again, there is more romance and tragedy, focusing on Dracula’s loneliness, curse of immortality, and the conflict between love and the eternal darkness within him, as he remains half-monster, half-lover and not much more, but in any way, someone who is to be feared by all except his allies.

Release date: 30th July 2025
Running time: 129 minutes
Directed by: Luc Besson
Starring: Caleb Landry Jones, Christoph Waltz, Zoe Bleu, Matilda De Angelis, Ewens Abid, David Shields, Raphel Luce, Bertrand-Xavier Corbi, Guillaume de Tonquédec

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Black Phone 2

Posted on March 9, 2026 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Are they talking about the only phone in the castle?

Vampire Bat: It is one phone that has never worked.

Vampire Owl: But the vampire elders used to call Uncle Dracula with it.

Vampire Bat: Vampire elders always had their telepathic powers.

Vampire Owl: You think that nobody including Uncle Dracula ever used that phone?

Vampire Bat: The phone is meant to be more of a presence.

Vampire Owl: You mean to say that it has served as an afterlife presence.

Vampire Bat: It cannot be considered undead though.

Vampire Owl: Yes, there cannot be electronic undead, I guess.

Vampire Bat: Why don’t you ask your super-best friends?

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

What is the movie about? :: A few years had passed after Finney (Mason Thames) had killed the psychopath known by the name Grabber (Ethan Hawke), but his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) begins having dreams and nightmares where she sees certain incidents and also the murders that happened at Alpine Lake Camp in 1957, leaving her mostly sleepless. Their mother Hope (Anna Lore) is also known to have had similar dreams at the time of the murders, and this has Gwen worries, while Finney has not come out of the trauma which unfolded in front of his eyes due to that psycho killer unleashing himself after abducting him four years ago. Gwen convinces both Finney and Ernesto (Miguel Mora), her best friend who has a crush on her, to travel to Alpine Lake Camp and find solutions to her problems with mysteries to be solved. Her father Terrence (Jeremy Davies) also gives permission despite early reluctance. They hope that this would solve her problems, even though she is not that sure.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Despite a planned journey, a heavy blizzard traps them, but the supervisor of Alpine Lake camp, Armando (Demián Bichir) and his niece, the young and energetic Mustang (Arianna Rivas) shows them the way. Two camp employees are also there, in the form of Barbara (Maev Beaty) and Kenneth (Graham Abbey). As Finney receives a call on the camp’s dead land phone from the Grabber, he goes into panic. Speaking from hell as it seems, the Grabber vows revenge on him and his family by brutally murdering Gwen. Soon, Gwen is violently attacked in her dream by the Grabber, but the group manages to save her in the last moment from being thrown into fire. Barbara feels that Gwen is possessed by a demon, especially with the young girl having no control over her tongue, using curse and sexual words. The group feels that they have to find the dead bodies of the Grabber’s victims to loosen his hold over the dream realm, and hope that Gwen sleeps less. But can they do it without Grabber knowing or attacking them with a better plan?

The defence of Black Phone 2 :: The way in which the movie expands the original lore and adds new supernatural elements beyond the simple horror is something that should be appreciated, as we feel the creativity behind all of these in a world when horror has always struggled, especially after the Conjuring–Annabelle–Nun trio had started losing power from that memorable beginning. The world has been nicely built for the same and the evil being stronger than ever and almost invincible, keeps the strength of horror at a higher level. The exploration of trauma and the related character growth with an emotional side works well. The visual style with the support of snow and ice all around, is something to be noted too. For most of us who are not that familiar with blizzards and such snow brings further horror with the dialogues from the antagonist about ice of hell and the burns that it delivers – the dialogues further elevates the terror, and there are some unexpected horror moments which keep the world strong.

The claws of flaw :: The movie takes too much time to get interesting, and by the time it provides that feeling, it would have gone through half of its runtime. One feels the need to see why it takes so much time in showing dreams and hallucinations, when all of these could be over in a few minutes, as many moments like those are just random and not that much scary. The dream sequences, especially the initial ones often struggle and do not go on making the impact as Freddy of Elm Street would make. The quality of the same is also something to be questioned here, as it also remains tiring for the eyes. The horror in there do not feel real or dangerous until some time passes in the movie. This asserts the fact that the movie was about twenty-five minutes more than what it should have been. The emotional side and random fears do not raise the movie during the beginning stages. For those who have not watched the movie will also find themselves in a receiving side of some confusion which leaves rather late.

The performers of the soul :: The movie’s biggest strength is Ethan Hawke, the antagonist who takes it to the next level, despite not showing that much of his face – the mask itself would be remembered by the horror fans for long and could become iconic, thanks to his performance. Well, it is not limited to Freddy, Jason, Michael, Chromeskull or Ghostface. This has not been the kind of role in which we have been seeing him, but the movie reminds us that we should be. Madeleine McGraw whom we have seen more in the younger child roles in American Sniper, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Pacific Rim Uprising, gets to be the scream queen here, and despite some struggles in the repetitions of the first half, manages to finish so well. Mason Thames is the other main lead, and he also manages the same nicely. Miguel Mora also follows well. Arianna Rivas as Mustang remains nicely noted here, and is a lovely presence. Demián Bichir also has a strong and responsible role which is managed well, while Jeremy Davies adds well. Anna Lore’s small presence is memorable.

How it finishes :: I was not aware of the existence of a first movie, as this is not the kind of movie which has become known among the horror fans of this part of the world. This one surely deserves better attention in this part of the world, but its lack of attention towards the usual slasher elements got it pulled back a little. As one watches this one it can be said that this is a visually stylish and ambitious sequel that benefits from Ethan Hawke’s strong performance and its darker, and a dream-like atmosphere. Still, the drag in the beginning, uneven pacing, repetitive elements, and missing scream queen elements got this one in some struggle at times. The added supernatural elements might not feel positive to everyone, especially the fans of the first movie. Well, we can always have some divergent horror here and there. The scope never goes low for this one, as there is something that comes up strong at every moment – the idea seems to have been worked with nicely with different elements, and this would indeed remain an engaging watch.

Release date: 17th October 2025
Running time: 114 minutes
Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, Demián Bichir, Ethan Hawke, Arianna Rivas, Miguel Mora, Maev Beaty, James Ransone, Anna Lore, Simon Webster, Shepherd Munroe, Chase B. Robertson

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Devil’s Bride

Posted on March 7, 2026 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I thought that this one was only going to be a demon’s bride.

Vampire Bat: They have particularly spoken about the Devil. So, it would be like that only.

Vampire Owl: Well, the Devil has no authority here in our castle.

Vampire Bat: None in our realm either, but he enjoys his stay in the human world.

Vampire Owl: There are always homes made for him in their world.

Vampire Bat: It would still strange that humans choose to be evil when there is the perfect chance for being good.

Vampire Owl: Humans have always been the big fools from Eden.

Vampire Bat: I would say that the garden of Eden is more accessible to vampires than humans these days, considering the collective actions of a species.

Vampire Owl: Well, the Devil is smarter than we would think.

Vampire Bat: The shadow demons who have crossed over to our realm says the same.

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

What is the movie about? :: Echa (Erika Carlina), a young woman has been happily married to Ariel (Emir Mahira) after falling in love with him. In the beginning, their married life is full of love, as they work hard to make a living, but soon, the busy world catches upon them, as Ariel working as a security guard and Echa as a logistics worker just do not find enough time to be together with each other while trying earn enough. They begin to fight regularly, and without anything to talk to each other, Echa begins experiencing strange supernatural disturbances. Echa starts feeling a new life coming to her in the dreams with a handsome young man taking her to a beautiful home in the countryside. Soon, it is revealed that a djinn had fallen in love with her and wanted her to become his bride. The obsession leads to him having sexual intercourse with her in dreams, as she falls into his spell and agrees to the sexual intimacy, even though she feels that it was only done in recurring dreams like a sexual fantasy which is not close to reality.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It seems that djinn wishes to have her forever, and Echa also seems to be pregnant by three months, much to the dismay of Ariel who remembers that they never really had even an intimate moment in the last few months. She begins to vomit blood and despite a local woman telling them that Echa is pregnant, the doctors do not find such a possibility with her. Ariel has visions of babies looking like the djinn which keeps him further tensed about their future. Echa keeps feeling that there is something inside her, and wonders if it is the result of having the sexual intercourse with the djinn in the dream. But others do not know about this situation, but it is at the same time that one of her friends who let her know about an exorcist also gets killed. She understands that the djinn will not stop until it gets her, and decides to take the matter into her hands. But is it already too late for her to act, with he djinn already part of her daily dreams?

The defence of The Devil’s Bride :: The movie thrives on the tense, dark atmosphere with the evil always present. The demonic presence which is often called the djinn is established very nicely in the beginning of the movie itself. It never loses its way as far as the abiding terror is concerned. There is some good divergence in how the usual idea is used, and a certain amount Indonesian cultural side can also be seen as active here. The supernatural scenes and makeup effects are nice, providing the Nosferatu or Dracula effect also with the demonic love, but maintains a certain style due to the locations. For the Indian audience, the movie will not feel too far away from them considering the way the whole situations have been dealt with. The secondary world of nightmares is constructed well too, despite us having seen before with a different kind of treatment, from Insidious onwards. From the visit to Bali itself, I have found myself interested in Indonesian movies, and this one actually serves more nostalgia as it never really gets out of the usual out there.

The claws of flaw :: Sometimes, one feels that the movie just goes on through a path which has been established in its usual manner for a long time, and it has been taken from the Western ideas about the demonic birth to be used here. We are familiar with the movies dealing with son of the devil being born and the idea of the anti-Christ, and this would often feel like taken right out there, especially with the same being a classic supernatural idea. There is also a certain number of repetitions without bringing anything new, and the protagonist often feels a little too dumb with her actions despite things being so clear for even people who are not that aware of the cultural beliefs. The supporting characters are not that much explored, and they just seem to come and go at will. The romance is also not that much felt, and there for using the love to fight the devil feels out of the equation. The ending also seems to be done in comfortable way without that much of thinking, and innovation when it was needed, never really gets here. Then, there is the loss of pace in between despite the movie being of short-length.

The performers of the soul :: Erika Carlina leads the way in this movie which revolves around her character as the bride of the djinn, seemingly willing for the same within her nightmares, but attempts to come out of the same when back to her senses. With this strong and convincing performance, she effectively portrays the fear, vulnerability and emotional struggle that she has to go through in more than one world. Her expressions and reactions in the emotional, terrifying and intimate scenes help build the movie’s mood with is not limited to the eerie atmosphere, making the whole situation more believable. Even with the traditional horror tropes rising above the rest, Erika’s solid performance makes sure that the different elements and multiple sides work so well here, as she also covers some of the faults of the movie. Emir Mahira is also not far behind in his work, as he plays the loving husband without any trouble. Ruth Marini and Wavi Zihan provides some good support too, while Alfie Alfandi adds on.

How it finishes :: The Indonesian horror movies have often stayed a step ahead like with the near-perfect Impetigore, interesting Ivanna, revenge-seeking Ronggeng Kematian and that almost-horror Grave Torture which also tried well. After the travel to Bali of Indonesia, these have served my love for horror well, along with Gundala being a favourite superhero movie from the same country. While Korean movies have remained the most watched foreign language movies here with Spanish, French and Russian having quite some space in the website, Indonesian ones have been the South East Asian favourites. This one serves the purpose well, but one has to wonder if it could have been better with such an idea at the core – you do not get to work with such creatures of the night all the time, and the premise was so well set with the first scene itself. Well, still it remains a good scary one with the mood and the setting doing the job well too. You can think watch this one on a fine night and have the demonic one have its say.

Release date: 16th January 2025
Running time: 91 minutes
Directed by: Azhar Kinoi Lubis
Starring: Erika Carlina, Emir Mahira, Ruth Marini, Wavi Zihan, Alfie Alfandy, Ence Bagus

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Salem’s Lot

Posted on November 20, 2025 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I remember this as America’s answer to Dracula.

Vampire Bat: Do you think that Uncle Dracula would ever want to visit the United States?

Vampire Owl: Some parts of the nation are suitable for him.

Vampire Bat: You are talking about New Orleans where he won’t be an alien.

Vampire Owl: Uncle Dracula would need more than just one town or city.

Vampire Bat: You think that he still wishes to spread the undead curse?

Vampire Owl: I have read that it was the dream of the vampire elders.

Vampire Bat: Well, the vampire elders, even for a vampire lifespan, were too old to be alive.

Vampire Owl: They were still in their senses, even though tortured by light.

Vampire Bat: They are only that much in their sense as Dr Frankenstein during a science exhibition.

[Gets an egg puffs and three cups of tea with boost].

What is the movie about? :: In the 1975, a strange man from Europe opens an antique store in the town of Jerusalem’s Lot and starts residing in the long-abandoned Marsten House, which has a history of murders. It is then that Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) has returned to this hometown after a very long time, this time as a writer. He falls in love with Susan Norton (Makenzie Leigh), who also wishes to leave the town one day. The place seems to be a peaceful little town where almost nothing happens, and there is almost nothing of interest. But the new entrant from Europe has a huge coffin in there, and something sinister seems to be lurking in the shadows of the night. There are boys who go missing, and as no clue is found, the locals begin to be suspicious about Ben who had only recently arrived and after which these missing cases started. The police is unable to find any clue about the particular missing.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: After the disappearance of the boy named Ralph Glick (Cade Woodward), his brother Danny Glick (Nicholas Crovetti) is also attacked, and after spending some time in the hospital, the boy dies, and is soon buried. Mike Ryerson (Spencer Treat Clark), gravedigger who buried the boy is soon attacked by the undead version of him and gets sick. It is Matthew Burke (Bill Camp) who first notices and identifies the signs of vampirism in the gravedigger and is able to connect the same to recent disappearances, illnesses and corpses. But things are worse than he could imagine as this is not a case of a random vampire attacking a few people in the town. Kurt Barlow (Alexander Ward) is an ancient vampire whose origins go a long way back, and is a source of pure evil. He would stop at nothing as the intention is to turn the whole town into a vampire colony and spread the undead curse even further. Can anyone even come close to stopping him?

The defence of Salem’s Lot :: The movie takes us to the 1970s feeling, and we see that again, and most of us who were not alive during the time can only know them through movies – this one seems to show that nicely, and place the vampire curse right in between. Finding the vampires around would be more chilling at that time as it is displayed in the movie, because there is no friendly neighbourhood vampirism as it has been popularized now. The movie maintains that original essence, and has vampires as the true evil creatures of the night, all prepared for some nocturnal hunting of humans. The setting is really well-constructed and the world suits works with perfection. The vampire attacks are shown with all the required intensity and the fear elements get good dose as the movie demanded. With the old style vampires with the long-established weakness and fear generation, the nostalgia returns like it has wings.

The claws of flaw :: The movie struggles to rise from the tag of just another old-style vampire movie which offers nothing new, and do not even make the book feel better with its content. There is the feeling of lack of depth at times, and the movie struggles to maintain pace. The length of the movie does not seem to justify itself and we see a lot of lagging in between. The struggle feels real, but it should not have been the case with a film which has the base material set from a long time ago – the whole things should have been as safe as adapting Dracula and adding so many new things to it, and still having the vampire world to work like a dream. Some characters do not really develop and we do not feel for them, even when they are dead. The emotional strength feels to be lacking, and the establishment of pillars of the movie might have been the problem as they threaten to fall. The mystery could have been deeper and it is to be noted that the new world would never cease to be terrifying even without vampires, as there are already existing monsters.

The performers of the soul :: The cast nicely blends into the 1970s setting and their work and appearance give us the best feeling of the time period. The blending into that world and characters work like a dream. The journey is led well by Lewis Pullman, who plays the protagonist who comes across the least possible evil and has to react quick enough to survive. Bill Camp is solid in a role which could be this movie’s Van Helsing, even though he does not survive that long with the undead curse spreading faster than that of Dracula. Makenzie Leigh seems to be the one person best suitable for the age with the work, and the character holds on so well. Alfre Woodard also keeps the anti-vampire battle going on well. John Benjamin Hickey could have had even bigger role to play when we see how things have been going. And then, the master vampire works really well, reminding one of Nosferatu.

How it finishes :: Salem’s Lot could have improved on the content of the book, but here it seems like just trying to use the available content and do nothing much to add to the same. There were lots of opportunities to bring a classic touch or visualize better, but the same are not taken by the movie. But the horror arrives well, and we are ready to accept the same. After all, horror is the one true feeling that everyone experiences and believes in, unlike the movies with college romance which is more myth for people who do not experience them. As part of the one true genre of horror, the movie has managed well. We are not supposed to expect more than what meets the eye as a usual thing though. This journey is indeed in the right direction to bring more horror to the scene, and take us back to the original vampire world – not that of the blood-drinking entities that glitter and live in the house on the other side of the street.

Release date: 3rd October 2024
Running time: 113 minutes
Directed by: Gary Dauberman
Starring: Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Alfre Woodard, John Benjamin Hickey, Bill Camp, Jordan Preston Carter, Nicholas Crovetti, Spencer Treat Clark, William Sadler, Pilou Asbæk

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Munjya

Posted on October 14, 2025 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: The universe of Stree always have our attention.

Vampire Bat: Well, they have the vampires, werewolves and witches who form seventy five percent of the population in our realm.

Vampire Owl: I still do not know if anything could match Stree and its sequel.

Vampire Bat: Well, we never know how far horror comedy can go.

Vampire Owl: Comedy can never be horror enough.

Vampire Bat: It is yet to be seen, and we can only wait for the best.

Vampire Owl: I did not know that you have Jio Hotstar.

Vampire Bat: I use a Jio connection with a good plan. So, I would have always had that.

Vampire Owl: We use this in the vampire world? It is news to me.

Vampire Bat: There is nothing that a vampire cannot use, for we are an experienced species.

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

What is the movie about? :: In 1952, somewhere in the Konkan coast, a boy in his early teenage years tries to marry a woman more than seven years older than him much to her dismay, but they end up getting him a purification ceremony and gets her married off earlier. The relatives feel that everything is solved now, and the boy has also left the impure thoughts, but that was very far away from the truth, as he had other intentions, soon fleeing the village to the forests on the outskirts with his only sister. The boy named Gotya (Ayush Ulagadde) who is not happy with the happenings, plans to perform a human sacrifice as part of black magic, and this is about to happen under a peepal tree in the Chetukwadi forest in the outskirts of the village, but he finds himself falling down while chasing the girl, getting hurt and dying in the process. His remains are buried right beneath the tree to contain the spirit called Munjya which would do anything to get what it wishes for, no matter how many years pass.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: In the present day in Pune, Bittu (Abhay Verma) a young man who lives with his family which consists of his mother Pammi (Mona Singh) and grandmother Gita (Suhas Joshi), and runs a family saloon where he assists his mother while hoping to go abroad for studies. As his childhood friend and crush Bela (Sharvari) gets engaged to her British friend Kuba (Richard Lovatt), Bittu is highly disappointed. When his family travel to their ancestral village for his cousin Rukku’s (Bhagyashree Limaye) engagement, Bittu overhears a conversation about his late father’s mysterious death linked to a peepal tree in a haunted forest. There is a fight regarding his visit to the forest and the possessed tree, and the circumstances leading his father’s death have been unknown to him as they speak about it for the first time in front of him. Disturbed, he visits the mentioned place, and ends up releasing the creature, known as the brahmarakshas in the past, and it also kills his grandmother.

And what more is to follow as the demon wishes to haunt more? :: Bittu is devastated as the villagers feel that he was responsible for the death of his grandmother. His father’s brother Balu (Ajay Purkar) particularly feels the same and is not hesitant to assert the same in front of others even on the day of funeral. He leaves for Pune with his mother, but understands that the demon has imprinted on him and has followed him to the city. It is revealed that only someone who is related to his father’s family can see the demon, and therefore, his mother would not understand what is happening to him. The demon never really stops haunting him as it keeps appearing after the sun sets, and it comes out of him like in the tale of Vetala, as if attached to the person. Everyone around him feels that he is too sad about the demise of her grandmother and the related guilt that he has been taking drugs, explaining his strange behaviour. The demon says that it will not leave him until it gets what it wants, and it is not a simple thing. It wishes to get married to the girl whom the boy of the past wished to marry, but could not, despite even trying black magic. Can Bittu get him the same or destroy it in the process?

The defence of Munjya :: The movie, like the others of the same franchise, takes the roots of its horror from the folktales which had spread through the villages, and this time through the Konkan coasts which are less explored. The details are really good with the scary visuals of forests, big trees and villages making an impact. The Computer Generated Imagery works in favour of he same, and the demon’s detailing also works in its favour. The acting is also very good, led by Abhay Verma who gives life to this character incredibly well. Sharvari Wagh in this role, proves that she can do almost anything, up to that final dance, from that memorable work in Vedaa. Bhagyashree Limaye who plays the cousin also scores so well, and she blends in here really well – hoping to see her as lead soon too. Sathyaraj is the one person who handles most of the comedy, and the same works because of him – whenever he is around, this is just too much fun. Taranjot Singh also supports the humour while Suhas Joshi and Mona Singh remains memorable. The thrills feel real as much as the danger, as scares work and the atmosphere remains a gem.

The claws of flaw :: The movie does not have its humour working that well, and it is a surprise when you consider its premise – to have the jokes somewhat working around here and tries to pull this one by parts. Its feeling of the need to bring a British man to the story to make joke out of his situations was surely not funny and would remain the lowest points of the movie. The movie’s romantic side is weak, and the one romance that does seem to do dome good is that of the demon that hopes for immoral bonding in love. There is a certain amount of predictability about the happenings by the end, as we look at the whole thing. The demon could have been scarier too, when we keep thinking about the situations where the same could have been reflected. After all, so much of work has already been put into this group of movies, and one cannot help thinking about so much more that could have added as extra here. When there is a demon like this one involved, there should be no limit for scares.

How it finishes :: The movie becomes another bonus to the Stree series, and has managed to come up with a fine folktale legend with so much of ease. This is the kind of idea which has been made better by Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra now, and that much of a blending of local folktales has not happened here. Yet, we know that with the kind of demon this movie uses, it is not that easy to make things work, but we some skills at display here for sure. With a cameo in the end, the movie is nicely set in the universe of folklore. I would say that we surely require more of such movies, as local legend and folklore have been often forgotten in comparison to the commonly accepted religious narrations. It is our duty to support the local folklore as much as we keep on going through a view of the world internationally. These movies will keep us energized enough to do the same and will also keep the stories of different regions in the spotlight, for those are as much needed as the stories that come as a whole.

Release date: 7th June 2024
Running time: 123 minutes
Directed by: Aditya Sarpotdar
Starring: Abhay Verma, Sharvari Wagh, Sathyaraj, Mona Singh, Suhas Joshi, Taranjot Singh, Ajay Purkar, Bhagyashree Limaye, Ayush Ulagadde, Shruti Marathe, Richard Lovatt, Anay Kamat, Padmini Sardesai, Shrikant Mohan Yadav, Reema Chaudhary, Rasika Vendurlekar, Radhika Vidyasagar, Akshay Vengulikar, Abhijeet Chavan

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Ronggeng Kematian

Posted on September 18, 2025 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Do you remember the first Indonesian movie which we watched?

Vampire Bat: Yes, before that, most of the reviews were Korean and Chinese.

Vampire Owl: Yes, and now, most reviews remain Korean, Spanish, Russian and French.

Vampire Bat: The Spanish also had risen in numbers very soon.

Vampire Owl: Well, there are thirty-one languages, so a few will surely have more numbers.

Vampire Bat: Well, all of a sudden, Filippino movies came to the list when it seemed to end with thirty languages of movies.

Vampire Owl: Among Indonesian movies are a few classic ones, right?

Vampire Bat: Yes, one classic horror and one classic superhero, for sure.

Vampire Owl: It is also the one country we have visited.

Vampire Bat: We did not think about watching when we were there in Bali.

[Gets an onion uthappam and three cups of Munnar tea].

What is the movie about? :: In the remote Magunsari village of Central Java in Indonesia, a young man named Imam (Elang El Gibran) is in love with Sulastri (Cindy Nirmala), a charming and beautiful ronggeng dancer, the village’s only true expert in the dance form, and the one who represents the local culture and traditions through her moves, with the woods making sure that the place maintains its cultural heritage separate from the rest of the island. That night, Sulastri is entertaining a number of men in the guest house with her tradition dance. A local man with a mental disease, Akhsan (Allan Dastan), also comes there to propose her while Imam gets there with the ring to provide his proposal to her. When the lights go out all of a sudden, Imam investigates place while Akhsan runs off, only to be attacked from behind and murdered. Later, Sulastri is also not found with her missing, and both her and Imam are never heard of. The village keep searching for her, but with no results, and there is nobody to keep the traditional dancing going on either, with the assigned girls never being as good as her.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Seven years have passed since the incident, and still nothing is found. During this time, a young woman named Larasati (Claresta Taufan Kusumarina) and her boyfriend Hadi (Chicco Kurniawan) makes their usual journey through the woods, and parts ways. Larasati who keeps on walking through the forest on the way home finds a red scarf and an old radio near an old and ruined well which is not in use. When she finds the scarf to be lovely and puts it on, she suddenly is able to dance in the traditional form of ronggeng with so much perfection as if it was done by Sulastri. Larasati seems to be acting under the guidance of Sulastri’s spirit, sometimes seeming to be fully possessed. It is then that four men led by Adit (Revaldo) arrives in the village for a ceremony. They stay in the same guesthouse where the tragedy occurred seven years ago, and there are more sinister events to follow. What could be triggering these events, and what might have happened to the dancer and her lover?

The defence of Ronggeng Kematian :: This movie’s arrival in Amazon Prime Video once again takes us back to the folklore as well as culture and traditions of the lesser-known areas of Indonesia, in the island of Java itself, setting the world to the villages. The movie seems to have realized that the past will remain significant and therefore any folklore can further strengthen a movie. Therefore, the layering seems to be nicely implemented, as we often get a look into the past as much as the present. This does make the mystery more interesting, and it nicely keeps the narrative going. There is also the reality and the magical coming and going. The tension is nicely built not just by the atmosphere, but also through the actions of the characters and the influence of the supernatural. There is that journey to that twist, of which part we will know after some time, but the rest is revealed nicely, and then there is that ending which solves them all. The characters nicely fit into the cultural flavours and situations. Scares do work with the fine visuals that gives a nice touch at all times, for the settings are such boost.

The claws of flaw :: The movie could have always been capable of more, as the premise seems to have already set foot strongly. There are moments which keep pulling it back as we sometimes wonder if there was the attempt to keep the whole thing on the safe zone without going that much into the details. The jump between the timelines might not satisfy everyone, and those who are looking for the usual horror might not get the usual here. The antagonists are also not given much to do in the later part of the film, as they can only act helpless. A few things just seem to happen with the flow and as if they happen because they need to. There is no grand scare, except for the fear added due to mystery and atmosphere; maybe budget constraints were there. There could have been a fine legend being talked about based on the happenings. The early pacing also did have some struggle and confusion, with fear elements holding back for some time. The elements of guilt do not work that strongly around here either.

The performers of the soul :: Claresta Taufan Kusumarina leads the way here with a fantastic performance as the possessed dancer as much as the girl next door who is in love with the boy whom he has always known. The different layers of the character are displayed well by her, even at a time when demonic possession could go so wrong, given the circumstances of the return of the spirit from the other world and its motives. Her body movement during the dance also feels every elegant, even though we are not qualified enough to talk about the dance form. Cindy Nirmala’s dancing skills are also on display very well, and the return from the grave works really well for her. She has her own moments outside the dancing too. Revaldo comes in really well and is well supported by those playing his friends. Chicco Kurniawan makes the viewer feel the terror that is hidden beneath the happy village and its culture and traditions. The roles played by these characters despite not seeming that relevant, are all significant to the overall movie.

How it finishes :: There is something about the Indonesian folklore and ancient beliefs that keeps us interested at all times. Indonesian movies have surely kept us interested, especially the one superhero movie which made us wish that we had our own – Gundala; post which we had Minnal Murali and Lokah Chapter One: Chandra. Then there was the classic horror in the form of Impetigore and a twisted thriller in the form of Photocopier. Ivanna and Grave Torture also had moments which made them work. The movie does not lag behind, even though there are moments when it could have raised the level. We do see that the movie mostly does its job very well. With cultural flavour and scares, along with being a tale of vengeance, this one run strong without deviating from its purpose, a quality that many horror movies have ceased to have. We are brought close to the Indonesian horror yet again with this one, and we hope that there will be many more horror based on folklore, as we remember Stree from around here too.

Release date: 28th March 2024
Running time: 98 minutes
Directed by: Verdi Solaiman
Starring: Cindy Nirmala, Claresta Taufan Kusumarina, Chicco Kurniawan, Krisjiana Baharuddin, Dito Darmawan, Allan Dastan, Elang El Gibran, Nungki Kusumastuti

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The Well

Posted on September 16, 2025 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Wells are some fine containers for the supernatural.

Vampire Bat: We, vampires are not people of the wells.

Vampire Owl: The demons can stay in the well though.

Vampire Bat: Even werewolves and zombies do not mind. But we do.

Vampire Owl: Can a well without water serve as a coffin during daytime?

Vampire Bat: A coffin needs to have a lid at all times.

Vampire Owl: I believe that Dr. Frankenstein can arrange that.

Vampire Bat: I knew that it was his idea only.

Vampire Owl: I do not see how great men like Frank bro cannot have such ideas.

Vampire Bat: Such villains always have similar ideas.

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

What is the movie about? :: Lisa Gray (Lauren LaVera) is the daughter of a renowned art restorer and they run a famous firm which is known for their expertise in the field and operates in multiple countries. One day, she gets a very significant assignment from a small village in Italy where a wealthy aristocratic family living in a castle-like mansion has a damaged painting which needs to be restored in a very small amount of time. Her father Mr. Gray (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) forces her to take the assignment as he cannot travel that long and their company is in desperate need for funds – a failure there would leave them bankrupt, and at the end of their art restoration journey. The painting is owned by Emma Malvisi (Claudia Gerini) who seems to be too charming and beautiful for her age. On the way, she meets two American biologists Madison (Courage Oviawe) and Tracy (Taylor Zaudtk), along with their guide Toni (Gianluigi Galvani) who are traveling to a nearby campsite located in the woods.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Lisa is asked to restore a centuries painting that has been damaged in a fire, with almost nothing visible. She begins work on the painting, and is forced to speed up, as the contract signed by her father promised that the job would be finished in two weeks, despite her feeling that it would take more than a month. The painting starts revealing demonic figures which also appears in Lisa’s dreams which turn into nightmares. Emma’s teenage daughter, Giulia (Linda Zampaglione), gives Lisa some warnings about the paintings despite acting unfriendly. Emma assures her that it is just a personality disorder and the girl has too many fantasies due to which she could not stay in the school. Meanwhile, Madison, Tracy, and Toni are attacked by an unknown figure and are held captive in cells surrounding a well. There seems to be something sinister going on in the area, and can Lisa and her newfound friends survive this terrifying reality filled with terror?

The defence of The Well :: The Well is that movie which has come out of nowhere to make the perfect Gothic impact, and open that world of ancient horror taken into the medieval and beyond. The terrifying reality which the Gothic and the Dark Romantics provided in the past with its classic elements comes alive again, and we keep thinking about that world of supernatural chaos yet again. The demon is also nicely done and the painting is something like no other. The curse of the past coming to haunt in a medieval castle with secret passages and traps never gets old, no matter how much the modernity comes upon us. The imagination of our age can work well with the Gothic of the past – hence proven. The darkness with that kind of lighting which inspire further horror is also to be appreciated. This one becomes an inspiration to travel to Italy, becoming the one location that horror fans would prefer in Western Europe like Romania in the eastern side. I would travel to Eastern Europe any day, but Italy and Spain would be in the list if there is an extension; after all, I am also a vlogger now.

Positives and negatives :: There would always be people questioning these types of smooth horror movies, especially as it does not bring that inescapable terror. The castle could have even added more horror, and the well could have been further terrifying, despite us feeling the Gothic strength all the time. The fear elements keep gripping us, and we know what Italian movies can do right from Don’t Kill Me with the zombies, A Classic Horror Story with its gore-fillers, Security with the thrills, among the others. Well, this one requires a sequel like The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Nun and Insidious had, and such a setting is added to the ending, even though forced – the scope is a lot there to be taken. Even though a lot of people might have missed the movie – even I never really heard about it, the release of the movie on Amazon Prime Video with Hindi audio is surely going to help. In the world of modernity where nothing is a sin, let this one remind one of the presence of evil and its ability to take over in an environment which seems perfectly not supernatural.

The performers of the soul :: Lauren LaVera is someone whom we remember from Terrifier 2, and it was one fantastic performance from her in a slasher movie that kept us immersed there – the last fight with the clown was epic. There was the note that she began as a body double for Anya Taylor-Joy and others in that memorable psychological thriller Split – this reminds us that we had the seen the girl somewhere before too. She continues her great work in this particular movie, as from the beginning, we know that this one would make a fine scream queen and can continue the great job to more movies of horror too. She goes through the scares, slasher situations and nightmares in a convincing manner. The next significant candidate for the scream queen role is Taylor Zaudtke, who has also done a fine job with the girl who tries to escape from the evil, and is too terrorized at times. Claudia Gerini’s work is solid and we feel like she is part of that aristocratic world all the time. Linda Zampaglione as Giulia does not fall behind in doing the same either. The rest of the supporting cast also contributes pretty well.

How it finishes :: There might be no better place to shoot a Gothic horror film than Italy, which seems to have the settings that would keep us horror fans enlightened with the older medieval buildings of its past as much as the Renaissance structures. The Gothic never got such close its soul in horror movies like we have here, with a medieval castle, mysterious painting, secret passages, underground dungeon, hidden traps and darkness that shines like the light of the moon with a haunting past. If there is a perfect Gothic world, it should be this one, and the other one would be Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak which kept breathing Gothic till the end. This one remains scary, entertaining, and as mysterious as any such movie should be. We know that there is more than what meets the eye from the beginning itself, and we enjoy the same. When you feel that horror is losing its strength, we get transported to this world, and that is indeed something great – we enjoy our existence in such a world of old model horror awakened again.

Release date: 1st August 2024
Running time: 92 minutes
Directed by: Federico Zampaglione
Starring: Lauren LaVera, Claudia Gerini, Jonathan Dylan King, Yassine Fadel, Gianluigi Galvani, Taylor Zaudtke, Courage Oviawe, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Linda Zampaglione, Lorenzo Renzi, Melanie Gaydos, Stefano Martinelli, Toni Pandolfo

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Pechi

Posted on August 29, 2025 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Are we now looking for witches again?

Vampire Bat: We have stopped looking for witches since a long time ago.

Vampire Owl: Well, the war can restart any time now.

Vampire Bat: The next war will not be of this realm.

Vampire Owl: You talk like we have had enough of war, but not all species have been part of them.

Vampire Bat: The war affects the whole realm, whether or not they are part of it.

Vampire Owl: If it affects the advanced the vampire civilization, yes.

Vampire Bat: You should know that the magic used in our wars are nuclear in nature.

Vampire Owl: You are talking about the mythical weapons which are never used.

Vampire Bat: The witches are known to have a magical powerhouse which stores sorcery of the unknown supported by necromancy.

[Gets a chilli chicken puffs and three cups of black tea].

What is the movie about? :: At Aranmanaikaadu in Kollimalai, Ram (Murali Ram) and his wife (Aadhirai Soundarajan) are spending their peaceful time within the forest. After a lot of difficulty and getting a few days off from their busy schedule, they look forward to spend some time of their own in the lap of nature. They venture far deep and sets up a camp there. The temperature drops very soon, and while looking for some firewood, Ram ends up cutting the branch of a tree which reveals a nail, followed by a witchcraft doll. There seems to be something else coming out of the tree, and has him scared, but his wife who is listening to music do not hear a thing. Soon, he is taken away by an unknown force, and the same evil entity also captures his wife. But this evil presence is not identified by anyone. But three weeks later, another group of youngsters come to the area with a desire to venture through this lesser-known area of the forest as part of a trekking adventure. Maari (Bala Saravanan), a forest guard who acts as a part-time guide is asked to escort them all the way into the forest and back, as the paths can be confusing and some animals might also be around.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The five friends, Charan (Dev Ramnath), Meena (Gayathri Shanker), Sethu (Jana), Charu (Preethi Nedumaran) and Jerry (Mageshwaran) are looking for adventure, and are not interested in listening to their guide who talks to them about restrictions due to wildlife and traditions that have been followed for a long time. Meena is frustrated with the restrictions imposed on her, as she feels that they could go through the walk all by themselves and that a tourist guide is only an extra burden. Meanwhile, an arrogant Charu destroys a blockage to an area considered restricted by tradition to the local villagers, ignoring the warning signs. Sethu who considers him to be courageous one among them supports the same, much to the dismay of Maari who continues to ask them not to disturb the nature of the beliefs of people that runs through the area.

And what more happens in the forest where the villages rarely choose to enter :: There seems to be something strange going on though, as Charu almost falls from a cliff and Jerry feels that something grabbed his legs. As Charu and Sethu makes fun of him, he challenges them to go back to the area where the warning board was kept and tie a scarf. Both are not really worried, and accepts the challenge telling everyone that Maari is just creating random stories and is trying to keep them scared as if they are children. On the way there, Charu and Sethu comes across a house, which they enter and finds witchcraft dolls and elements of black magic. Charu is startled to see an unknown figure appearing out of nowhere. Maari and Charan begin searching for them, only to find Charu lying motionless. But soon, they realize that is was not really Charu, and Maari tells them a story, that of a woman from a long time ago who learned black magic and started ritual sacrifices of children. But how is it relevant now? Can they escape whatever is in the forest?

The defence of Pechi :: The movie thrives on its atmosphere and an ancient tale of folklore than runs right through it. Bala Saravanan comes up with the best among the cast, and he plays the only fully sane person around there who seems to understand the gravity of the situation – we remember him in those funny sequences of Godha. Gayathrie Shankar, the actress of Nna Thaan Case Kodu, has provided a memorable performance here, and excels in the last few moments and the flashbacks. The rest of the cast nicely follows the procedure as a cabin in the woods, or lost in the forest tale would unfold. The antagonist here is strong, and is not just another demonic presence – it is the kind of creature from where escape seems almost impossible. There are the moments which provide us with those quick scares and above that, there are the times when it keeps us scared at all times. The fear factor with an inescapable fate brings the terror here. Along with that, the visuals are too good, whether of horror or of the green and dark woods.

The claws of flaw :: The flashback feels repetitive at times, and comes in at a time when it was not to enter. There are moments in between which feels rather confusing, and the scares could have been more visual – it is the kind of scare that would work the best in these situations. Here it seems that the horror elements are not innovative enough and inspired from others instead. The use of darkness is also not at the best. As a cabin in the woods, or journey to the woods story with the usual horror background, there is always a lot more to be added. It also becomes repetitive, and that grand scares which should have come in the end is never there to be taken. A visual terror in the end could have served the best, and combined with the twists would have brought wonders. The twist in the end, even though effective, does not bring that grandeur on the screen, and the flashback provided, even though clear, could have been more detailed. The present situation of the villagers in relation to the witch could have also been shown.

How it finishes :: The movie manages to be an interesting horror flick that elevates itself with the setting and folk-tale power. In a world where there is a shortage of good horror, this one score well, and becomes a good example of bringing working scares out of folklore and myth, something only Stree could do so effectively. As visuals and performances support the scares, fine horror is born. The movie could have still been better, but it is worth watching for sure considering for fans of folk-horror who can appreciate mood over momentum—but it is not for all. There is still a lot to come in a possible sequel, considering how the movie ended, and with one of these main characters having an even bigger role to play there, we will be only glad to wait for more of fear. Until then, we have this movie, and something to remember when we go on trekking, and a reminder to respect nature, local traditions and those who guide the way and advice for the best.

Release date: 2nd August 2024
Running time: 110 minutes
Directed by: Ramachandran B
Starring: Gayathrie Shankar, Bala Saravanan, Preethi Nedumaran, Dev, Jana, Mageshwaran, Seeniammaal, Murali Ram, Aadhirai Soundararajan, Shanthimani

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Shaitaan

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: So, is the movie really about the devil?

Vampire Bat: There are many demons who identify as the devil.

Vampire Owl: Is there anyone whom you know?

Vampire Bat: We do not make acquaintances with the shadow world.

Vampire Owl: We are also nocturnal creatures of the shadows.

Vampire Bat: We are the shadow warriors, but we are not shadows.

Vampire Owl: Shadows are still our allies, and they even provide warnings.

Vampire Bat: Allies do not make us. We are better than that.

Vampire Owl: The shadows will keep us safe.

Vampire Bat: Not just the shadows, we shall stay in the dark forever.

[Gets a masala bonda and three cups of mint tea].

What is the movie about? :: Kabir Rishi (Ajay Devgn), a chartered accountant, his wife Jyoti Rishi (Jyothika), daughter Jahnvi Rishi (Janki Bodiwala) and son Dhruv Rishi (Anngad Raaj) decides to take a break from their busy routine, and spend some time at their farmhouse in the outskirts of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Jahnvi is hoping to end this trip as soon as possible, and go on her on tour with friends, especially her boyfriend. On the way, at a dhaba, they come across a man named Vanraj Kashyap (R Madhavan), who offers them tea when they do not have change. He seems to be a nice person who shows the photo of his daughter and gives friendly advice. He also gives Jahnvi who does not want to have roti and tea, a laddu which she accepts happily. He also leaves her with a few biscuits, much to the dismay of Jyoti. As they reach the farmhouse, they are surprised to find Vanraj following them there. They also find out that Jahnvi had invited him inside the house, and he sits there on the couch as a guest.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: He only asks for a cup of tea and charger for the phone, but soon, Janhvi ends up threatening her brother under his influence, which makes Kabir and Jyoti ask him to leave immediately, to which he disagrees. Before Kabir can push him out, Janhvi under Vanraj’s command stops him. Vanraj says that he has hypnotized Janhvi using black magic, and that she will obey every instruction he gives. To prove his control, he orders her to repeatedly stand and sit, and she does the same robotically. To make them believe in the extremes of his power, he makes her take a tea packet and eat raw tea leaves. He also makes Janhvi slap her father and make her laugh and cry. As she is asked to jump into the swimming pool and stay underwater until he tells her, the parents understand the grave situation. As the frightened family gives him the mobile phones as told, he makes Janhvi destroy all the phones in the house, cutting off their communication with the outside world. Now the question remains about what does he plan to do, and what does he want from the family.

The defence of Shaitaan :: The movie rests on the shoulders of Janki Bodiwala who brings a performance that nobody would ever forget, as she alternates between her character’s own personality and that of a hypnotized mind, as we see her helplessness and determination to commit a task according to an order at the same time, and moving between the two. Madhavan’s alternation between the gentleman and pure evil entity is not that far behind either, as his evolution as an actor is seen again, but we know that he could have also done the father-figure to perfection if given that role. The movie keeps us closer to the situation, because we know that it is indeed a usual family in trouble, even though a little bit too bourgeoisie for many, with the main character driving a Benz Car and owning a huge farmhouse in a hill station besides his original home in the city. The feelings that we have for the family is much more as we can relate to them, at least most of us. The danger is always there, with the younger child closest to death than any other, even though I would consider all lives as equal whether that of children or the elders – I am not a robot to calculate how much more they will live and be useful to society or turn into murderous psychopaths.

Positives and negatives :: The movie might not be appreciated as doing as good as the original, but we know that it is true for all Bollywood adaptations, a case which is best depicted in the works od Priyadarshan, as the original Malayalam movies were all classics which can have no match, certainly none with nepotism factor taking around, like in the case of that remake of Helen. The idea of the original version would always stay strong, and with this one made on a bigger budget and made to suit the spoon-fed and feel-good-seeking audience, some of the soul of a dark movie would be left out – we know what the Bollywood have been involved in making big blockbusters, and so the taste difference would be looked at by the makers who remake works. But the movie has its tension perfectly built and the danger felt from within, with no exaggeration. Each and every moment in the house seems to be perfectly created, and the cast nicely adapts to the same. The satanic touch brings the terror as the movie shifts its world by the end really well.

The performers of the soul :: Janki Bodiwala is the one person who steals the show, long above the veteran stars who surrounds her, and it is no surprise as her character stays at the centre and decides too many outcomes. She had also played the same character in the original movie, and that experience seems to count. This work will establish her as one of the best among the future stars of Bollywood, and maybe could have a hand in another regional cinema too. She has the biggest moments of the film to perform, like the one where sits on the gas cylinder, dancing without end and those smiles and laughs for no reason which are truly spooky. Madhavan might have played the best villain in a horror movie, and let us hope that the ending of Hindi version does not spoil his chance to bring a sequel with him in it. The way in which he gives instructions and talks about his own greatness provides us with the chills. Ajay Devgn and Jyothika plays the helpless parents who still struggle to make things happen and save their family quite well. As the former nicely manages to bring the heroic father to the scene, let’s see what the next sequel of Drishyam brings, as Bollywood is ready take the script from the Malayalam version, and Tamil, Telugu and other versions would be waiting.

How it finishes :: Shaitaan, as a remake of the 2023 Gujarati film Vash, makes a fine impact, even though most of us have not watched the original. But from what has been heard, the original is more of the classic, but as we only have this one around here, and it is very well-made, despite the ending seemingly not that special compared to the original. There is a haunting and satisfying feeling about it, with that strength which is rarely seen in pure horror movies of Bollywood, even though movies like Stree and its sequel had made horror comedy working better. The best horror of pure seriousness was done well by Bollywood quite long ago, and most of the time there were only movies like 3G and Murder which only partially did the job. But this one will surely achieve a legendary status, despite being an adaptation of an older film. Remakes will work very well if done in the right manner, and this one proves it. This is also a proof for the fact that you do not need to keep looking at Hollywood for horror every time, and basic elements for the same working out is right here, with us.

Release date: 8th March 2024
Running time: 132 minutes
Directed by: Vikas Bahl
Starring: Janki Bodiwala, Ajay Devgn, R Madhavan, Jyothika, Anngad Raaj

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Smile 2

Posted on August 20, 2025 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Vampires are not really supposed to give good smiles.

Vampire Bat: Our smiles are the shadows of the smiles.

Vampire Owl: You mean to say that shadows have smiles.

Vampire Bat: Yes, those are the perfect scares that anyone can have.

Vampire Owl: The shadow of a smile. Sounds like it would make a fine movie.

Vampire Bat: Well, vampires make no movies at all.

Vampire Owl: Dr Frankenstein once told me about a particular movie.

Vampire Bat: That vampire movie was not made by vampires.

Vampire Owl: Well, Mr Frankenstein talked about a half-vampire.

Vampire Bat: I warn you – do not trust anything that smiles, even a Frankenstein.

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

What is the movie about? :: Joel (Kyle Gallner), a police officer who was cursed by an evil entity tries to transfer the curse to a new person by killing someone in front of another, as it would make him commit suicide and transfer itself to the watcher otherwise. The curse passing in the usual manner past smiling hallucinations when he dies – right to someone he knew would be unbearable to him, and therefore he chooses a murderer and his brother, killing one and making the other witness. But in the resulting shootout after he kills a brother, the witness is also murdered. But a drug dealer named Lewis (Lukas Gage) is a silent victim to all of these incidents and the curse lands right up on him. With Joel getting hit by a truck while running away, nobody gets to know about this particular evil spreading to Lewis, and ready to bring the horror working through people and their smiles. Lewis is unaware of this, but begins to have hallucinations.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Skye (Naomi Scott) is a New York-based pop music star who is ready to make a reappearance to the public after a long struggle with substance abuse and a car accident which killed her boyfriend and severely injured her. She still feels her health, and with the need to get back to the drugs, she reaches the home of Lewis, one of her high school friends who continues to deal with drugs even after the incident. At his apartment, Skye witnesses Lewis screaming and panicking, but soon finds him smiling, and brutally killing himself. A scared Skye leaves the place, not wishing to be found near the corpse and the drugs. This makes her situation worse, with the hallucinations all around and seeing people with some terrifying versions of smiles feels like a natural thing for her. At the same time, she receives a message from an unknown number, talking about her presence at the apartment when the friend was killed, and about the knowledge of what is going on with her with the hallucinations resembling a supernatural presence. But can this smiling evil be stopped in time?

The defence of Smile 2 :: This one has a new idea, and even though shown in its predecessor, most of us might not have watched it. The franchise is indeed a setup for some new kind of horror, which transforms smiles into something terrible, the evil that needs to be feared. There are not many occasions when innocent smiles from children can be scary, but this one surely has that quality and keeps us in the lair of fear. The main character keeps us glued too, as the performance is of top quality and the same person works out of trauma. The creepiness never leaves the movie, and we know that from the beginning itself. There is the challenge to see beyond what meets the eye, and beyond the surface and the jump scares, this one raises the bar. The psychological elements and celebrity culture, all gets a few moments here. There is a certain emotional side here too, as the terror goes beyond everything that could be imagined. The smiles, you take them scared, and those scares coming out of nowhere with an even terrifying finish.

The claws of flaw :: The movie does not use its resources to the maximum effect, with hallucinations taking too much time than reality, and seemingly wasting time to make this movie longer than the usual horror flick. These visions could have actually been more terrifying and far away from reality, instead of keeping us in confusion. Too many false visions with incidents that do not happen only spoils the overall quality, and an ambiguous side helps nobody. This is also too powerful a supernatural force, and with all realities of perception changed, there is not much to fight with for the protagonist, making the movie feeling a world without hope, especially with that particular ending. When there are too many things shown, and with none of them happening or even leading to a change in the end, too many things feel to be unnecessary. In the end, the movie might be found guilty of overdoing certain things, and in the end, it remains not that movie which everyone, or every horror lover would like to watch.

The performers of the soul :: Naomi Scott does a perfect job in this movie, and she is the one person who elevates the flick by a long way – there are so many moments of her to remember, like Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore did in The Substance, another movie which had enough of the drug abuse and something far away from reality with hallucinations playing a major role. That movie had more to work with, and there is quality written all over it, but with the help of horror, this one surge forward led by Naomi. The movie almost completely rests on Naomi, and she makes sure that it stays that way. The next significant character seems to be the one played by Dylan Gelula, who stands strong to give her company. Lukas Gage makes a fine impression in the beginning stages itself. Peter Jacobson’s role could have been more significant to the incidents which were to follow, but it is moved to the backside, but we hope there will more from him in a sequel. The other performers also play along, even though the focus remains on the lady in the centre.

How it finishes :: Smile 2 makes one wonder why the first movie was missed, and it is strange that such a horror movie was not brought to the theatres here – the first one would have set a better beginning to the series, but watching the second one first feels fine too. The idea of smile itself is so well used here, and when we see someone smiling so well and when that makes us scared, it provides another level of scares. Smile 2 is quite a creepy horror movie, but remains predictable, with too much of hallucinations that deviate the movie from its original path and at times confuses people. The scares do work and the social commentary is effective, making it that movie which often stands above the usual horror movies with supernatural presence. With a third entry in the series, any confusion could be solved, and the ending is just nicely setting up for the same. This one surely adds to those nice deviations in horror.

Release date: 18th October 2024
Running time: 127 minutes
Directed by: Parker Finn
Starring: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Kyle Gallner

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Frozen Empire

Posted on August 6, 2025 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I feel that this movie is about the Lich Queen.

Vampire Bat: Are you talking about that witch who called herself the Lich?

Vampire Owl: She is the Lich Queen, and it is a status bigger than the regular witch.

Vampire Bat: Only an undead female sorcerer qualifies as a lich.

Vampire Owl: Well, witches are hard to kill in the world of magic.

Vampire Bat: You should see that undead sorcery is of another level, outside regular magic.

Vampire Owl: I am sure that she possesses the ancient frozen power.

Vampire Bat: Well, only if she is already dead and risen.

Vampire Owl: That would make her a vampire, a nosferatu, right? A vampiric officer on duty?

Vampire Bat: Liches once tasted the frozen evil would never be vampires. They also have no nocturnal qualities, and wait until dawn to unleash their full potential. The separation can be clearly seen in the atlas.

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

What is the movie about? :: The team of Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), Callie Sengler (Carrie Coon), Trevor Spengler (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace) goes through a fight in the streets of New York, three years after the battle in the countryside. The come across Hell’s Kitchen Sewer Dragon which they manage to capture, but only after causing quite some destruction to the city. The mayor of the city Walter Peck (William Atherton) finds this as a fine opportunity to threaten the team and close the Ghostbusters down for the best. He fins Phoebe to be under eighteen years old, and as a minor, warns her in specific. This leads to the team leaving Phoebe behind during their adventures, much to her dismay. As she is disappointed and wanders around in the park, she comes across the ghost of a girl who was killed in fire, Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), with whom she becomes a friend and plays chess to free her mind.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Things change when a man named Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani) sells a strange brass orb with Mesopotamian ritual markings to them. There seems to be something sinister about it, as Nadeem also disappears, and it also seems to affect other artefacts. As something seems to be coming and as they can feel the energy, they contact Dr. Hubert Wartzki (Patton Oswalt), a New York Public Library research librarian and anthropologist, but what they do not understand here is that an ancient power is ready to be awakened, and it would not stop until it takes over the world. It is revealed that the orb was supposed to be a prison built over four thousand years ago somewhere in South West Asia by four sorcerers serving as the masters of fire to imprison a creature of ice that wished to conquer humanity with its power of Death Chill. Now, things would get more serious – can they stop this villain from being unleashed in the modern world?

The defence of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire :: The movie tries to keep up with the spirit of its predecessor and is partially successful in doing the same. There is fun in between and the spirit has its role to play too. The presence of a dumb little kid who makes all the mistakes to unleash the evil is once again here in the form of the foolish daughter who is not really old enough to be even talking to ghosts, as revealed in being the silliest creature in the universe – well, we require a usual dose of such dumb people to bring evil upon this world so that it can be saved. There are some fine visuals at the end of the movie to support the same time too. The ancient monstrous entity looks good, even though it is there for only a few moments. The ghosts look fine, even though there could have been bigger and better-looking ones. The combination of science and supernatural is good, even though the talking could have been less and action should have been more. The performers do try to bring as much fun in here as possible.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is surely too long for anyone, and there are too many dialogues in a film that should focus on action. It would have served the previous movie more as some introduction was needed, but not this time. Too much talking kills more than one ghost cinema for sure. After all, people in this part of the world are not fans of this particular series of movies, and the nostalgia that means to these people about it is very low. This kind of an approach is also not going to be appealing for the children of this age who are looking for quick results and have very less patience in comparison to our generation and the one that follows it. The funny side could have also been stronger, and the danger often leaks in its strength, even though there Is something greater needs to be there for this work for bringing the entertainment. Well, with kids not acting like they need to be, you know this movie also has its limitations. The grandeur that we were expecting is not really there and the evil struggles even though it is ancient and all – it should have been creating that demonic spectacle that we never get here.

The performers of the soul :: This seems to be one fun-loving cast that tries to keep this world interesting, even when there seems to be some limitations regarding the same. They also seem to keep a certain amount of nostalgia going, even though most of do not have it due to our love focused on other movies like Evil Dead and more. But this cast makes it work indeed. Paul Rudd is the one who leads the way in style, even though we keep wondering why he was not given more action. The movie focuses more on Mckenna Grace, and even though she does good, there is too much of focus on her character while others are shown less in comparison. Carrie Coon and Finn Wolfhard follows well, even though gets limited. Kumail Nanjiani nicely adds to the fun and there is some humour whenever he is around – he also gets it big in the final stages of the film. Emily Alyn Lind makes a fine ghost with a melancholic side that would stay with us for long. The other characters play along well.

How it finishes :: This version of ghostbusting tries the best to bring some nostalgia along with some scares and fun, and all these are partially effective as we look at them. There are many funny and scary ways that this film could have gone, and it is surprising to say that it is sticking to the minimum instead of bringing some innovation of our times. Without even a classic ending, it does struggle, but manages to hold on at times to keep some entertainment going. The movie required to have more of a soul than what it displayed. The lack of enough screens here does not come as a surprise as people do not really think about a movie like this, as it might not have had much with the earlier version too. It is that kind of a movie which we can go through on an OTT platform, and speed things up in between. This will make us feel like the overall length has been reduced, and is enough for us to spend a weekend when there is not much to do.

Release date: 22nd March 2024
Running time: 115 minutes
Directed by: Gil Kenan
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Nosferatu

Posted on June 25, 2025 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Finally, our Count is coming back to the big screen.

Vampire Bat: This one is not really the true Dracula Uncle.

Vampire Owl: Well, Count Orlok is not lesser than Count Dracula.

Vampire Bat: I have heard from humans that this Orlok is an illegal version.

Vampire Owl: Well, there are no such rules in vampire kingdom, right?

Vampire Bat: Human rules need not apply here, but we should know.

Vampire Owl: We will never really know the humans.

Vampire Bat: We will know everything except their inherent evil.

Vampire Owl: Well, which is why we do not transform humans into vampires anymore.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that they want to; the greed for eternal life and perpetual youth.

[Gets a tea cake and three cups of Ooty tea].

What is the movie about? :: Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) is a recently married young woman who has had too many nightmares in her life in the past, and it is revealed that her recent bad dream about being married to death and everyone around her dead. It is revealed that while looking for consolation from her loneliness and depression in life, during her random chants and prayers, she had ended up creating a psychic link with Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), or what they villagers of Romania used to call Nosferatu, with Romanian roots. The nocturnal creature of pure evil had marked Ellen from thousands of kilometres away, and this connection often led her into situations of seizures and sleepwalking. She keeps having hallucinations and a feeling of being with death, from which escape seems almost impossible. She has been living in the German town of Wisborg with her husband Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) and is irreversibly in love with him as it seems, but this connection seems to have journeyed through the unimaginable, the darkest of the woods and deepest of the rivers and lakes.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It is then that Thomas accepts the offer to sell the partially ruined Grünewald Manor to a reclusive lord named Count Orlok located somewhere in Romania. Ellen talks about her nightmares and pleads Thomas not to leave for those unknown lands where a certain cursed evil lurks, but the offer from his employer is too much for him not to accept this opportunity of a life time. He leaves her in the care of his wealthy friend and famous shipbuilder Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his wife Anna Harding (Emma Corrin) who lives with their two little daughters. As he arrives at the Carpathians in the Transylvanian area of Romania, Thomas is warned not to wander around during the nights and not to visit Orlok. During the same night, he still wanders around and witnesses a group of gypsies running a ritual with a fully naked woman on a horse which ends with the exhuming and impaling a vampire’s corpse with a wooden stake, ending the undead life with a lot of blood coming out of its mouth. The next morning, he finds no help or support, and leaves for the count’s castle alone and on foot.

And what is to follow as the Count maintains all the control over the world known to him? :: In his castle, Count Orlok welcomed Thomas as the aristocrat that required respect at all times. But soon, his existence as something more than human is revealed to Thomas, who hopes to escape, but the paths of the castle only lead to the crypt where the count is sleeping in his coffin, and he is not able to attack him as the vampire awakens, and so do his demonic hounds. He understands that he will have to remain a prisoner in the castle forever, as the document which the count made him sign might not be the Romanian version of the deal concerning the property, but a document dissolving his marriage to Ellen and the vampire had also taken his locket, containing a lock of her hair. He understands the vampire is going after his wife, and jumps into the river below the castle to escape. But the count has already started his journey and has infested a ship which is on its way to Germany. He will not stop at anything unless he becomes together with Ellen. Can anyone stop this evil from embracing her and also spread through the whole of Western Europe? Or will the blood-seeking demon have a blood feast that will last forever?

The defence of Nosferatu :: The movie achieves atmospheric horror and thrives with the sound effects as much as the visuals. There is fear running through the air, as we rarely see a world thriving on light here. The psychological side very strong here, and the performance of Lily-Rose Depp is truly magical here, with so many moments to remember, and the final few moments of her is out of this world. I cannot stop myself from not being the new admirer of Johnny Depp’s daughter as I have been a fan of him. I can say that I have never seen the main female character of any version of Bram Stoker’s work getting such attention which is supported by a performance of grandeur. The connection to the demonic creature and talk about all of this terror has never been so perfectly detailed and connected to the female lead. Nicholas Hoult and Willem Dafoe works the roles just as expected, while Bill Skarsgård’s demon is something we have not seen before, well divergent in looks and actions to create more terror. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corin move through expected paths. These are not just characters, but people who immerse us in their wisely created world with fine performances.

Positives and negatives :: It can be said that there is no movie based on Bram Stoker’s work that has provided an emotional and haunting touch like this one, and a terrifying vampire movie becoming an emotional tale of love and selflessness keeps us rooting for the film even more, like never before. The movie basically like music which strives for a fight against the most terrifying form of evil with love. By the end, here we know that as evil always finds a way, so does goodness and self-sacrifice. Finally, we know that the melancholy of the main character is not hers alone, but of all of us. It is a poetry on what it takes to thrive against the most ancient forms of evil. The sequence in the forest makes a fine reflection which is to come, and there are some classic shots in the castle that elevates this movie to a psychic-psychological mood which is rarely seen in the adaptations. The final image from where the camera zooms out reflects the same, and that too with a melancholic beauty. There is also some work with demonic possession, which is actually shown without any overdose. This is indeed a fine Gothic work that reflects the Victorian Age even when not in Britain. The one thing that we might really be missing is the Brides of Dracula.

How it finishes :: This is the one movie which becomes a fine divergent tribute to both the 1922 version of Nosferatu and the many later versions of Dracula as well as the original book, along with being a different entity in itself. There seems to be so many inspirations, and many creative ideas placed around here. This version is sure to be remembered as a classic in future, no matter problems critics would find, which would be lost in the process. This version might be the one which needs even more attention than what it has managed. This is that version of the vampire that maintains all kinds of feeling which are related to a vampire as a nocturnal creature that feeds from the lifeforce of humans. There are not many movies which can pay homage to so many of its predecessors and still remain something new. This one, with some fantastic performance and an atmosphere which would put even the high-budget movies to shame, manages to rise and seek theatre experience – it is quite depressing that the movie was not really found in theatres when it released.

Release date: 25th December 2024
Running time: 132 minutes
Directed by: Robert Eggers
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Katerina Bila

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Terrifier 2

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: We are the most terrifying ones.

Vampire Bat: I don’t think that we are that terrifying as we used to be.

Vampire Owl: It is due to Twilight and Vampire Diaries. They don’t count.

Vampire Bat: They do count for the humans.

Vampire Owl: Well, sometimes I feel that only they count for them.

Vampire Bat: Humans are not that aware about true vampires.

Vampire Owl: There are no true and false vampires. There are only us.

Vampire Bat: We have been children of the night for too long.

Vampire Owl: There are no vampires of the day.

Vampire Bat: Well, the vampires that sparkle have other opinions.

[Gets a chicken biryani and three cups of cardamom tea].

What is the movie about? :: Miles County Massacre was one of the most traumatizing events for the people of the town. Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) who was responsible for the brutal murders does return though. He was considered dead, even though the body was not found – he is once again here though. The police had only provided the statement that the body had just disappeared, and some people do spend the legend that the clown is not dead and might return at some point. The Little Pale Girl (Amelie McLain) is another mysterious entity which wears similar clown costume, and seems to join forces with Art. Meanwhile, a teenager named Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) is finishing the Halloween costume which was designed for her by her father who recently died due to brain tumour. Sienna’s younger brother Jonathan Shaw (Elliott Fullam) is obsessed with Art the Clown though, and wishes to dress like him for the Halloween, after finding details about him from his father’s sketches. Sienna ends up having a nightmare about the clown, and wakes up to find the room on fire, yet has a sword from her father as the same as it used to be. She had also seen people being murdered by the clown in her nightmare.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: On Halloween, Jonathan sees Art and The Little Pale Girl at school playing with a dead animal, and he is held responsible for bringing the creature to school as they disappear without a trace. As the school calls the parent, he is grounded at home. Sienna goes to the Halloween costume shop to buy a replacement pair of wings to fit with her costume as the earlier one was lost in fire, and there she encounters Art who stalks her without mercy, and later brutally murders the shop vendor who is left alone in the store. He also manages to make the later customers believe that it is all part of a Halloween show. Sienna is the only one who believes her brother and that the clown might be real as she had seen him in the shop. Sienna’s friend, Allie (Casey Hartnett) finds herself in trouble too, as Art gets to her home pretending to be trick or treating. Allie who is rude to him for asking for candy at an old age is brutally attcked by the clown and left in pieces. Allie’s mother is also killed in the same way, and her head is kept for putting sweets for Halloween.

And what more is to follow with this brutal adventure featuring a clown? :: Art is well-supported by the clown girl in his actions, even though the brutality is committed all by himself. He also resorts to cannibalism at times, even though the act of brutal murder seems to be the one thing that satisfies him more than anything else. He also seems to display a supernatural side to him after returning to the seemingly unstoppable killing spree which goes mostly undetected as the victims are not found. Jonathan shows the paintings of his father to his mother Barbara Shaw (Sarah Voigt), but unhappy with his obsession with the clown and not believing in his stories, she tears them off. She feels that his son requires some serious counselling. At the same time, Sienna goes to a Halloween party dressed in the costume designed by her father, but it seems that Art has other ideas about this particular celebration, and it would involve her family. She becomes drunk at the party and begins to see the clown girl, while the clown attacks their home. Jonathan runs away from home only to find the clown girl in the way. Art seems immortal evil, but how far will he go?

The defence of Terrifier 2 :: For a slasher, the character development of this movie is at an all time high, especially with Lauren LaVera playing Sienna Shaw. She leads the movie here, and as a battle angel, becomes the last hope for a family and the town in general, a role into which she evolves really well. This is one character who rises above the horror tropes with ease, and promises to continue the peformance into a sequel too, if such a thing happens. Lauren in the Halloween costume fighting the clown is a joy to watch. Elliott Fullam who plays her brother also does a fine job. The movie, with blood and gore as well as the representation of the evil on screen lives up to the name, as a work of terrifying nature. The ambience is very well used too, and the Halloween world as well as the carnival attraction works like a fine nightmare here. As you get transported into the world of a seemingly immortal evil clown, the feeling is forever, and here, the grand clown rises above Stephen King’s It as a movie and its second part as the demonic clown of the century.

Positives and negatives :: Terrifier 2 blends into its genre really well. It has some of the very gory scenes which might not be that good for everyone. The signs of such brutality can be seen in the beginning itself. The border lines for gore has been crossed here and most of the natural horror film fans who prefer only those works like Ouija, The Conjuring, The Nun, Annabelle, Curse of La Llorna, Insidious, Sinister and other would not go further with this after the first scene. A murder on the bed might feel to be too brutal even for the best of fans of the genre. The final moments have a little bit of of too much of the supernatural side added to it, which could have been kept to the minimum, especially as both the protagonist and antagonist deserves more in the form of two people going at each other. The movie does remind of those older slasher films with moments which takes us back to the past memories of slasher horror, a genre which has kept us close to the darker side of humanity, the horror which has been inherent in human beings since the beginning of time. While doing the same, the scares work so well.

How it finishes :: Terrifier 2 is the nice slasher horror which we rarely see around these days. After all, it is easy to lose the way whenever a slasher gets a chance to make it big. The movie delivers most of what it promises, and in the end, leaves an open door for a possible sequel, as death does not come easy for antagonists like this, as proven by many slashers including Halloween which has overused the idea. Most of us around here did not hear about the first movie, and a lot of people still need to hear about this movie. It is the kind of movie that has raised the level of slashers in a decade when it hasn’t scored much. With a third movie, things can get even better, as characters are better developed here. Well, we need to celebrate the horror in raw forms when we see them, as this is one example of the same. One can be sure that Terrifier 2 will have its fans, and can develop into a cult classic horror as most of the old slasher horror films have stopped bringing reboots and remakes of relevance to keep the legacy moving on.

Release date: 6th October 2022
Running time: 138 minutes
Directed by: Damien Leone
Starring: Lauren LaVera, Sarah Voigt, Elliott Fullam, Kailey Hyman, Casey Hartnett, David Howard Thornton

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Soul of the Dragon

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Do you know that Uncle Dracula once owned a dragon?

Vampire Bat: Vampires don’t own dragons. The sorcerers do.

Vampire Owl: Well, with the rise of the witches, there are not many left.

Vampire Bat: At least, the necromancers live well with the zombies.

Vampire Owl: You should know that the dragons lived in the dungeons of this castle.

Vampire Bat: You are talking about a legend spread by the villagers.

Vampire Owl: Dr Frankenstein has assured me that it is true.

Vampire Bat: Well, he is one scientist who knows nothing.

Vampire Owl: You don’t know the doctor enough.

Vampire Bat: Well, I know Mr Frankenstein well enough.

[Gets a paneer biriyani and three cups of iced tea].

What is the movie about? :: Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman (David Giuntoli) has a visit from Richard Dragon (Mark Dacascos), an old from a very long time ago, and Bruce is very glad to see him again, but they are attacked by some strangers with axes in their hands. It is then revealed that before he became the vigilante crime fighter known to the world as Batman, he had traveled to Nanda Parbat, a secret monastery in the Hindu Kush area of the Himalayas where he received training in martial arts. There, he was trained by the master of the arts, O-Sensei (James Hong), along with other students, and Richard was one of them. The others included Lady Shiva (Kelly Hu), Ben Turner (Michael Jai White), Jade Nguyen (Jamie Chung) and Rip Jagger (Chris Cox), who are supposed to among his best students – those who are already well-trained in the art. Bruce decides to train among them despite the doubts being present there. He had also learned to control his emotions and redirect them efficiently, along with using the darkness to his advantage.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: O-Sensei bestows upon Shiva, the responsibility of guarding a Muramasa sword called Soul Breaker, after Rip who also claims the same is defeated by her with ease. But Rip has other plans with the sword. He takes the sword, murders Jade who seems to blindly trust him with everything, and ends up opening a portal with the weapon. The area has a magical gate which is guarded by the master, and it would open this portal to world of the serpent god who is mentioned more as a demon, Naga. They had closed the gate once after a long fight against the giant serpents, but not without the sacrifices which had to be made including that of the master himself. Richard had discovered that the millionaire Jeffrey Burr (Josh Keaton) who leads a cult based on snakes named Kobra had taken control of the gate, and hopes to stop him and his allies at any cost. The strangers who attacked them were also mercenaries sent by him, and were expected to stop any progress.

And what more is to be offered here with the bat and his people on the hunt? :: They look for allies, and also hope to find and protect the sword before it is used to open the gate to the other world. For the same, they travel all the way to the Chinatown in Gotham where Shiva who is still in possession of the sword, and is controlling the world of crime out there. Batman is aligned to the opposite side of the law, but she is only happy to see a good friend again. But they are attacked by a bigger group of trained cultists, and the sword is also taken. The cult now owns a highly fortified island where they hope to open the gate using the sword and along with the same, sacrifice a number of kidnapped children. Now, they have to think differently to stop the worst from happening. They do find Ben and manage to make him a part of the team. But will they be enough to stop the evil from spreading? Are they fast enough to make the difference around here? Can Bruce Wayne contribute to all of these better as the Batman with all the equipment?

The defence of Batman: Soul of the Dragon :: There is something divergent about this particular animated movie that we see as following a different path. We do have the feeling of watching something nostalgic around here, reminding us of the animated series which came in the television, and this one surely has a lot of action along with some nice background music to go with it. You know that there is something about those times which we would wish to remember. The memories of the old kung-fu and karate movies also seem to come back to us to make an impact. It seems that there is also the chance to bring a sequel which can prove to be better than the original – a lot of action seems to be waiting to be unleashed, as we look at the final moments. With a short run-time that goes even below one and half hours, there is no drag in this particular movie as it keeps on going quick and smooth throughout its run. The antagonist of this movie serves really well as the one force of another world which seems to be near impossible to stop.

The claws of flaw :: There is not that much of a strength as in a Batman movie, whether as a detective or a superhero thing; for this one chooses a different path in comparison. It is certainly not the kind of DC movie which is expected too. The title is rather misleading as this is not really about Batman, as not just battle is shared – we just have the superhero in this movie which belongs more to the other characters. Well, Batman seems to be more like the guest who has decided to stay and own parts of the flick. The myth on the demon could have also been used in a better way. This also changes the Batman a little too much than what we know from the other movies, and that feels strange as so many things about our dark superhero seems to go some other way. When you have Batman in what feels more like a martial arts movie, this is expected, but the question still remains if it is what the fans of Gotham’s favourite vigilante would want. Well, you have supernatural forces, and Batman is also forced to go Mortal Kombat against them instead of being himself.

How it finishes :: Batman: Soul of the Dragon reminds one of the many interesting animated movies which DC has come up with in the last few years. Justice Society: World War II, Batman: The Long Halloween Part One and Batman: The Long Halloween Part Two are a few of them which made the impact earlier, and there are a lot of more of them which seems to be ready to contribute further to the world of the live-action, supplementing Aquaman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman and everyone around. While Marvel doesn’t seem to have these, DC surely has managed to keep one in the animated world too. Well, we know that animated superheroes have been our first love, and any reminder of the same only helps things further. We are all waiting for the bigger movies from DC, and there is no shortage of love for superheroes. After all, there is none in real life, as the only people who are termed super in our world are the most evil among them all.

Release date: 12th January 2021
Running time: 83 minutes
Directed by: Sam Liu
Starring: David Giuntoli, Kelly Hu, Jamie Chung, Mark Dacascos, Michael Jai White, James Hong, Josh Keaton

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

No One Gets Out Alive

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I used to say this to some of the vampire apprentices.

Vampire Bat: How long ago was that? We haven’t had apprentices for a long time.

Vampire Owl: I don’t count the centuries anymore.

Vampire Bat: You can still count the years well enough.

Vampire Owl: The years mean too much counting for my liking.

Vampire Bat: Well, you don’t really get older every year. You are immortal.

Vampire Owl: Immortality only stops the body from getting old.

Vampire Bat: You cannot continue to take it as a curse.

Vampire Owl: We don’t get to be that evil as humans. It is a curse.

Vampire Bat: We are better without human level of evil. It is too much to handle.

[Gets a sweets puffs and three cups of mixed tea].

What is the movie about? :: Ambar Cruz (Cristina Rodlo) is an undocumented Mexican immigrant, and has no id which restricts her. She moves to Cleveland after the death of her mother, whose illness hadn’t allowed her to lead a normal life. She finds a place to stay at a cheaper rate than usual, with Red (Marc Menchaca) as the caretaker of the boarding house which has a few floors where only her and Freja (Vala Noren) are staying. It seems that Freja is not the kind of person who wishes to talk to people much, but Ambar does hear her crying from her room. She has to pay a good amount of money in advance for the apartment and gives a co-worker the remainder of her savings to obtain a fake ID that will allow her to continue working, but her newfound friend cheats her and leaves with the money. It also seems that Red has a sick brother Becker (David Figlioli) who bangs his head against the door all time, and it is not that only strange sound in the building.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Ambar’s slow working speed doesn’t allow her to get any appreciation from her boss, and as she continues to ask him for some advance pay, she is fired from the job. Now, with no money to pay, the only way forward for her is to get a refund from Red who is hesitant to provide the same. She doesn’t have anything to do with the building either, as she begins having some strange visions, which are nothing less than nightmares. But she returns to ask for the refund again, as she needs the money after being left on her own, not able to contact her distant relatives and having no money to survive, after losing the job. Soon, two Romanian women also seem to join the boarding house, and Red assures her that he will get her the refund from their deposits. She has some relief when she hears that, but that doesn’t stay as a few sinister secrets about the boarding house is revealed to her. Now, this will no longer be all about money and job.

The defence of No One Gets Out Alive :: This movie manages to be effective in more than one way. It is indeed an effective horror film with its own twists, but one can also safely say that No One Gets Out Alive is more than that. It also shows the struggles of an immigrant, which is depicted on the other side of the horror in a way that we appreciate the same. The movie plays with the lights and uses darkness effectively to make the horror effects get better. The eerie feeling is maintained well throughout the movie, and so is danger lurking at the corners of darkness. The film provides the scares in not just one way, but further, as we know that hopelessness can lead to desperate measures being taken. connects the whole thing to the monster nicely, and we see the creature as the movie nears the end. They seems to have worked with this one seeing a possible sequel, as there is that box, and a monster which is nothing less than an ancient demon which reminds us of how Sinister had prepared its premise and proceedings.

Positives and negatives :: There is always something special that can be done about strange houses with secrets, and this boarding house could have brought more innovation to the same. This one has a few things predictable instead, even though it does bring the much unexpected twists too. It also brings to us, some of the creatures from myths which we have no idea about. The creepiness that this movie maintains remains worthy of appreciation at all times, thanks to the atmosphere and surprises that one boarding house brings. The movie is based on a horror novel by British author Adam Nevill which was published in 2014. Having such basic material means that there has been something to work on, and develop all the time. The human antagonists in this movie are more disturbing than the creature that does what it is supposed to do – it is basically a good turn towards truth, as we knew this all time. Demons are evil because they have no choice, but humans are evil because they choose to be evil, for their selfish needs – that much is once again clear, as depicted in this movie. You can often trust a demon more than a human.

The performers of the soul :: Cristina Rodlo plays the lead here, and it seems only perfect that a Mexican-born actress is chosen for the role. There is something that makes her suitable for all the horror too, seemingly suiting the scream queen situation really well. Other than that, she also deals with the emotional sequences with great skill. I had earlier read the name as Christiano Ronaldo, with a spelling mistake – now that sounds as strange as the monster that we see in this flick. The monster is an entity in itself, and maybe, we can use it as another character of interest, with its origins tale also being told from an archeologist’s point of view. The girls other than the main character could have been used better, especially the Romanian girls who do seem good to contribute further towards the movie – they all look perfectly suited to live through a horror film. Marc Menchaca as Red does come up with a strong performance too, while David Figlioli as Becker manages to be all about muscles, becoming a near unstoppable villain.

How it finishes :: No One Gets Out Alive works well with its horror options, and serves more than what meets eye. The title nicely serves the purpose too, as the film deals with that kind of a monster. Moving away from the usual demonic spirits of The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Nun, Insidious, The Curse of La Llorna and others, we have the variation of a creature here, that makes grand appearance as the movie moves towards the end. Here, we have a horror movie with a human touch, as it shows the struggles that the main character, an immigrant, has to go through. We don’t usually get such a good, detailed background story for the protagonist – here, the focus is mostly on her rather than anyone else. Even though Corona virus pandemic might have other ideas every time, we are always looking for some horror with monsters too. After all, the big monsters from other worlds are as significant as the human monsters and the little viruses causing trouble. As you understand the same, you take this horror into heart.

Release date: 29th September 2021 (Netflix)
Running time: 87 minutes
Directed by: Santiago Menghini
Starring: Cristina Rodlo, Marc Menchaca, Joana Borja, Victoria Alcock, Phil Robertson, Moronkẹ Akinola, David Barrera, David Figlioli, Vala Noren, Alejandro Akara, Mitchell Mullen, Jeff Mirza