Tag Archives: dread

Colony

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Snake Girl

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Vampire Owl: Is this an extension of the Vampire Snake’s tales?

Vampire Bat: None of the vampires have traveled to China in the last few years.

Vampire Owl: You mean to say that vampiric existence has now been restricted.

Vampire Bat: Vampires shall travel to any realm whenever necessary, but just not now.

Vampire Owl: Is it because of the humans becoming more of virus?

Vampire Bat: Humans have been true virus species for quite a long time.

Vampire Owl: And they call some micro-organisms as virus and bacteria.

Vampire Bat: They have always been strange people of some absurd things of science.

Vampire Owl: They are just like Dr. Frankenstein, I would say.

Vampire Bat: There is nobody as absurd as Mr. Frankenstein.

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

What is the movie about? :: In the remote border highlands long way outside the cities and towns, there is a dark forest, and the local mountain people abide by ancient taboos that forbid trespassing deep and harming certain serpents. But a man named She Ye (Zhong Lei) is determined to break all rules for his factory which manufactures vaccines from snakes. Jiang Yan (Michelle Hu), the corporate head who controls the vaccine business also looks forward to have things done her way, and feels that she could regenerate some of her youth and slow down her ageing using some of the snake serums. She focuses on capturing a strange snake called The Snake Girl (Jin Yangyang) that has the head and torso of a girl and the lower body of a snake. She feels that capturing and continuously milking the girl kept in strong bondage for her venom is the best choice for her to keep her youth as well as to sell even a drop of her product for millions of dollars. She orders She Ye to keep the Snake Girl alive, but hurt her as much as it is required to capture her.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As illegal biochemical experiments spread further into the area, create the elixir capable of halting cellular decay becomes top priority. During the initial fight, the hunters are ambushed in the foggy woods by the legendary creature, and the crew is wiped out, but the group looking to milk her for her venom vows to return and do their job with perfection next time. Chen Shu (Liu Lincheng), a skilled mountain tracker and herbalist who had lost his brother to an attack by the Snake Girl in the past decides to join the team on request, but lays the condition that none of the snakes would be killed. Unaware of the possibility of being cheated, Chen Shu agrees to guide a more advanced armed expedition to find answers to his questions from the past. The team of commanded is led by Qin Feifei (Grace Qiu) who stops at nothing. But they are attacked by the Snake Girl again, and despite the early retreat, Chen Shu’s plans work as they manage to capture her. While the Snake Girl is taken to the laboratory to be milked, Chen is also captured to be killed. Now what is to come next?

The defence of The Snake Girl :: There is not shortage of movies with snakes around, and we also have half-human and half-creatures around in different movies, and this one adds to that list. The Snake Girl becomes an interesting character right from the beginning itself, especially as we know very less about her and her habitat which is a mystery in itself. The woods remain lonely, dark and deep, with some secrets seemingly hidden there not just about one half-girl half-snake creature, but much more, as there is a long set of beliefs seemingly hidden around there. This might surely be what the monster fans look for with strange mutant experiments, lab break-ins and aggressive serpent creatures who also has a supporting tale from the myths and legends. At less than seventy-five minutes making it one of the shortest horror movies that we see these days, it wastes very little time and avoids the long and dragging subplots typical of this type of movies. The horror works well mostly, especially when the creature attacks in full power, and often out of nowhere. The jungle setting works really well and the Snake Girl becoming anti-heroic is also nice.

The claws of flaw :: When we have a half-girl and half-snake mode activated, we were always supposed to hope to see the most out of the premise and following situations. There are moments when the special effects do not look that good, and the Snake Girl could have always done more instead of just attacking – some of her moments also go unnoticed due to the pace and we never see the creature with all the grandeur, and one wonders if it is because there was not enough budget to make a spectacular creature out of her. The digital snake effects and the monster attacks vary widely in quality and can look cartoonish at times. She could have been a creature burning bright like William Blake’s tiger, or even something like a mermaid out of this world using forest as her waters. The same can also be said about making the girl and her snakes scarier. Being scary does not seem to be something this movie could do with effectiveness. The usual greedy corporate executive, unethical biological laboratories experimenting on animals, disposable mercenary hunters and nature that fights back are all just repetitive in this kind of movies.

The performers of the soul :: Liu Lincheng plays the protagonist well, and he is seemingly the one person in the movie who keeps having right and righteous intentions all the time. He would also feel like playing the one sensible person of relevance that stays so throughout the movie. Jin Yangyang who plays the titular character would also have our attention all the time with the looks and expressions of a creature not of the human world, but bringing something from beyond the common man’s understanding. There are those moments when she looks at the eyes of the main antagonists, and there is something about her and the portrayal of that character which has no dialogues and not even an attempt to speak. Michelle Hu’s antagonist looking for eternal youth reminds us some of the classic villains, and we can see that she remains the pure corporate evil who is not just greedy, but also as selfish as one can get, with no remorse for her actions, even at the end when she is ready to meet her doom. Zhong Lei’s antagonist is also a memorable one, even with the character not that developed as one would like when there is a clear past.

How it finishes :: This is one of those movies which came out of nowhere in Amazon Prime Video when there was the search for those horror movies – we remember that Anaconda: Cursed Jungle also appeared just like that on the OTT platform when we were looking for something to watch. This works the best when taken on its own terms as a fast-paced piece of usual creature entertainment. The short runtime and straightforward revenge plot keep the narrative simple and effective with not much to think too much about. Jin Yangyang’s voiceless half-girl plus half-snake, whose clear motive of revenge delivered with efficiency makes this even more satisfying. With some better budget, the movie could have done wonders for sure, as in this state, it struggles to make the best out of its premise. There is very less focus on the narrative, as the tale and situations feel ordinary and repetitive at times. But as it is on Amazon Prime Video, most people of this part of the world would have watched this one already.

Release date: 24 June 2025
Running time: 74 minutes
Directed by: Weiwei Chi
Starring: Liu Lincheng, Jin Yangyang, Grace Qiu, Zhong Lei, Michelle Hu

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Control Freak

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Vampire Owl: The vampire elders have always been control freaks.

Vampire Bat: The vampire elders shall not be questioned under any circumstance.

Vampire Owl: We are not questioning them, but appreciating their control.

Vampire Bat: They need not be appreciated, but respected and honoured.

Vampire Owl: I would say that they are not bigger than Uncle Dracula.

Vampire Bat: Forefathers are always more significant than the father of modern vampirism.

Vampire Owl: I do not think that they are that old and that much older compared to Dracula.

Vampire Bat: You have seen them, and they definitely look old.

Vampire Owl: They just live a nonsensical life. I still say not old.

Vampire Bat: They have seen the fall of Byzantium, Troy, Babylon and more. Uncle Dracula in comparison, is too young.

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

What is the movie about? :: Valerie Nguye (Kelly Marie Tran) who was born to Vietnamese immigrant parents in the United States of America has turned into a successful motivational speaker with a huge number of fans. But she secretly has a struggle as she always has the urge to scratch the back of her head. This urge has been going on since she lost her mother by drowning after their boat went down the river. As Valerie prepares for an international tour, she finds out that she needs her birth certificate to travel to China, bringing the need for her to get back with her estranged family. Her aunt Thuy (Kieu Chinh) directs her to her father, Sang (Toan Lee), who was a former soldier who fought in the Vietnam War. She sees that he had now turned into a monk, and it is only he who has the necessary documents for her. The relationship between the two has been strained due to their shared traumas, including her mother’s death and Sang’s long history of addiction which followed his time spent in the war.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Sang tells her about a Vietnamese folk tale about a parasitic ghost that feeds on human hosts, leading to the fall and end of the infected human. She does not believe the story at all, but finds something strange from their family photos which points to supernatural elements. Her husband Robbie (Miles Robbins) becomes more and more worried about her as she ends up injuring her head by scratching. She confronts Sang, and he reveals that he had summoned the parasite during the Vietnam War. He further adds that it was also passed to his wife, and she had tried to kill Valerie to stop it from spreading further in her bloodlines, leading to her death by drowning due to Sang’s intervention. As she still hesitates to believe him thinking that he might still be under the influence of the drugs, there is a breakdown for him during a grand motivational speaking programme. The doctors find out that she has scratched a hole right into her skull, and now she would have to go to the most extreme levels to find a solution. Can she do that?

The defence of Control Freak :: The movie’s use of Vietnamese folklore and the ghosts that feed on the hosts works not only with the horror, but also with the themes of immigrant assimilation, generational trauma and the pressure for living up to the expectations, and when the same happens to a motivational speaker, things seem to go nicely towards not just physical, but also psychological terror, which is nicely shown around here. The horror feels very much real, and will be reflected in life for a possible connection when there is a scratch on the head, and the creature outside also brings some more scares. The idea often hits us in more than one way, as we look at it. The best moments of the movie might be when it gets close to the end, even though we would have hoped for everything to happen a little differently. The idea of motivational speakers going to pretentions for fake inspiration will make us remember that we ourselves should have the strength and not listen to others. We have to remember that the very few successful examples are not to be taken as there are more unsuccessful people and there is more chance that we will be unsuccessful if we take that risk with life – the movie reminds us not to take motivation into hearts for we might also be fall into the traps of parasites.

The claws of flaw :: The movie surely has its own pacing problems, as it seems to slow down on too many occasions, and at times fails to pick up pace when there was clear chance of elevation. There is also a certain amount of repetition related to the same with panic coming with repeated itches, but then denying if anything is wrong even after hearing from others and hiding the world, then panicking after sometime, and going through the same thing again. The movie seems to be stretched out due to the same and even a one and three quarter hours feels so much as the protagonist keeps going through the same thing multiple times almost in the same order. From the moment when the parasite becomes an assurance of eating the host, the rest of the elements disappear, and it seems like they come one after the other and not together. The supporting characters could have been given more to do. The final moments seem to be forced and the audience feel like they walked into an ending because there needed to be one, and this kind of an ending seems to be just brought about as a mandatory one.

The performers of the soul :: Kelly Marie Tran has a lot on his shoulders, and she manage to hold them strongly. Considering her real-life parentage to be also from Vietnam, the choice seems to be a near-perfect one for the makers of the movie. As she carries the movie with some intense, vulnerable and physically demanding performance, the movie gets its due. There are moments when things seem to deviate and go slower, but she elevates the whole thing well enough, as she seems to become part of the folk-mystery. Miles Robbins plays Val’s supportive partner, and it is for this character that we feel the most – we feel his character to be loving and with genuine concerns and feelings for her character, and it is one person who remains righteous throughout the movie. He does not become the usual horror film boyfriend at all, and stay with her till the end, and also alive. The Vietnamese family members also have some role to play, but despite the Vietnamese side having so much importance, they are not given enough screen time.

How it finishes :: The movie often feels like something which had a grand potential, especially with body horror involved – this one just focuses on the head and a bug-like parasite when the scope was much more. More of body horror with the parasite spreading through the body would have been nice to have. When we look closer, this is more or less an impressive vehicle for Kelly Marie Tran whose leading performance breathes more energy and keeps the level of the movie higher. The Vietnamese folklore keeps us more and more interested. The only two Vietnamese movies which I have watched are both action thrillers, Furie and Furies, and more reviews which deals with similar topics will have our interest after this one. Indonesian movies like Impetigore or Korean Salmokji and India’s own Stree, Munjya, Thamma and friends had the folklore horror moving well, and we would surely need more of them. For now, this one movie with Vietnamese roots has us interested, and it is indeed available on Jio Hotstar. But as long as body horror is concerned, we would have needed more. Enjoy this one among the new releases of the OTT of Reliance.

Release date: 13 March 2025
Running time: 104 minutes
Directed by: Shal Ngo
Starring: Kelly Marie Tran, Miles Robbins, Kieu Chinh, Scott Takeda, Toan Lee

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Strung

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Vampire Owl: I have heard only about the strings of vampire violins in the castle.

Vampire Bat: Vampires do not play music in the castle.

Vampire Owl: I have heard a lot of the same from Uncle Dracula’s room.

Vampire Bat: It is not music, but voices from the other side of immortality.

Vampire Owl: The voices do make some nice music for sure.

Vampire Bat: The voices are inherited by the castle from the adoration of vampire elders.

Vampire Owl: There is always some new mystery to be unveiled from the elders.

Vampire Bat: They are all pointed towards eternity and infinity.

Vampire Owl: Well, we all know that death is only the beginning.

Vampire Bat: Beginning of the end is the one true beginning. Just run to the other side and ask Uncle Dracula.

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

What is the movie about? :: Laila Calloway (Chloe Bailey) is an extremely gifted, aspiring classical violinist who is working as a substitute music teacher while dreaming of a grand career which seemed out of the equation since her young little sister died of asthma and she could do nothing about it at all. This has led to her going through hallucinations and nightmares at times, which affects her performance on some occasions. Her best chance at a better career seems to have arrived when she meets Audra Jelani (Lynn Whitfield), a charming matriarch with unparalleled wealth and influence. Audra gives Laila an offer she cannot refuse in the form of a live-in music tutoring position to mentor her granddaughter, Zuri Jelani (Romy Woods). Laila understands that her high-society connections and high influence will guarantee her an easy path in her journey of music. Laila moves into the family’s highly luxurious estate which seems to belong to another world compared to the surroundings, and considers herself the luckiest person all of a sudden.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: But the situation seems to be something they did not expect, as the atmosphere inside the mansion is very much unsettling. Audra’s daughter, Imani Walker (Anna Diop) who is pregnant, does not like Laila at all, and treats her with contempt. At the same time, Laila’s young student, Zuri (Romy Woods) always wears a mask, and is deeply withdrawn, hyper-allergic, and hides her emotions at all times after the violent murder of her father, a highly popular rapper known as Reginald Garvey Bell (Pardison Fontaine). Zuri’s abiding sadness further triggers the unresolved trauma for Laila, as she has the haunting memories of her own deceased sister coming back to her. The situation gets to be further complicated with the return of Imani’s charming handsome husband, Marcus Walker (Lucien Laviscount). Laila’s finds out that Marcus is that man with whom she had a intense and passionate sexual affair just a few days before, which she considered to be her best physical experience ever. How will the family take this secret as the house itself has so many mysteries hidden in the building?

The defence of Strung :: The feeling of mystery goes right through the movie, and there is always the thought that something big can happen at any moment with so many secrets to be revealed from not just one character. Chloe Bailey keeps elevating the movie with a wide range of emotions as she goes through unexpected situations, while Lynn Whitfield’s antagonistic side adds to the overall quality of the movie. The movie surely features rich estate set design and a vibrant cinematography also supports the same, as most of its world is nothing less than stunning within a big mansion and its surroundings. The music and sound effects really add well to the same, and keeps the mood running to suit the movie. The wild twists and emotions that run further has us interested, while red herrings bring something more to take it away from the possible right guess of the twist. The final moments extend well with its moments creating a feeling of tension that goes on and on until the solution is reached.

The claws of flaw :: The movie does not reach its potential after a smart beginning, as the mystery does not get that finish it deserved. There were so many moments which could have taken in another way and made better. The twists could have also been extended in a fine manner, especially with an early connection established between two main characters and taken further with a twist as movie goes forward. The exploration of the evil and the intentions could have also been explored more to make that feeling of terror even more – as of now, it mostly exists in the background with not that much of the same shown directly or clearly. The movie also happens to be too long, and was worth not more than one and half hours, and feels stretched with a little bit too much of unnecessary details and melodrama that goes over the emotions. The feeling that the characters are over-reacting never really leaves us, and some strange dialogues also creeps in, as we keep wondering why this movie is deviating so much and wastes time in getting nowhere.

The performers of the soul :: Chloe Bailey as Laila Calloway comes up with a performance that we are going to remember for long, even though it is not a new role, with The Housemaid having its main character facing a similar situation and an angry wife and a seductive husband awaiting her. But Chloe makes sure that her role remains really good and also has some divergence associated with the same. It is to be notable that while playing a likable character, she makes the emotions of the person so much felt that we support the character even more in her complicated journey. When we look at her, there is the feeling that a Helen of Sparta with race changed would suit her more than anyone else; there is a certain amount of charm that she brings to the character which is nothing less than the same. Lynn Whitfield delivers as a seductive and manipulative matriarch with impressive aura, and the character remains one which we will remember for long. Lucien Laviscount and Anna Diop supports just fine. Romy Woods brings a lovely performance as the daughter.

How it finishes :: The movie does not reach the point where one would feel it should have reached with this kind of content as it seems to hold back on many occasions. The highly engaging thriller is not to be taken as the movie is rather slow, and the attempt to work with silence also does not work that well due to the presence of a little bit too much of melodrama. With such an interesting premise which has worked so well in the past, more could been achieved, but it is safe to say that we still have enough around here to spend some time with this one on a weekend on Jio Hotstar where it has released in India, and as the one OTT which comes with mobile recharges, more people from this part of the world would surely end up watching the flick with relative ease. As the main performers inject some much-needed charisma into the increasingly deviating movie, the interest regularly comes back, which could provide a fine feeling of being interested in a mystery which could easily bring the twist that leads to those tense final moments which serve the purpose.

Release date: 27 May 2026
Running time: 119 minutes
Directed by: Malcolm D Lee
Starring: Chloe Bailey, Lynn Whitfield, Lucien Laviscount, Anna Diop, Coco Jones, Romy Woods

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Dark

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Vampire Owl: We are the true people of the dark and stays further in darkness.

Vampire Bat: Darkness has been our ally for many centuries.

Vampire Owl: There is no light that has taken away our darkness.

Vampire Bat: We have traditionally been against the spreading of light.

Vampire Owl: Light has created more scope for evil as humans can see in it.

Vampire Bat: Yet, humans are blind to goodness and honesty.

Vampire Owl: These had ceased to be considered qualities of humans long ago.

Vampire Bat: Well, evil has always been easy to find among humans.

Vampire Owl: There is a famous quote attributed to Dr. Frankenstein related to the same.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein has no quotes relevant to us. We should only refer to Uncle Dracula for interesting and useful quotes.

[Gets a chicken curry puffs and three cups of Yercaud tea].

What is the movie about? :: Vignesh (Ajay Karthi) is a rationalist who tries to live life in his way, just arrived in Chennai from Bangalore for a few months for his work. Despite his family’s attempt to interfere, he decides not to stay with his uncle living in the city, and looks for a place to live near his office, even though he can also take the work from home option if necessary. While facing many problems due to his bachelor status, high rent and temporary nature of stay, he comes across a two-storied house offered at an unusually low rent by an elderly landlord who lives in the ground floor, Karunakaran (K. Bhagyaraj). Despite the owner’s warnings that the house has a terrible reputation due to three youngsters committing suicide there, Vignesh decides to take the option, believing in his faith in rationalism over everything else. There he also meets Karunakaran’s young daughter Priyadharshini (Anchana Nethrun) who does not show an interest in talking to him, and the father also shows no interest in introducing her as he is only bothered about having someone stay in the house for some time.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: While Karunkaran finds this three-month stay of Vignesh as an option to have people believe that there is no problem with the house, as different people had run away from the rented upper floor complaining about ghosts or some terrifying presence which haunted them. The whole neighborhood had considered the area to be a haunted one, but Karunakaran assures him that he had seen no ghosts there despite being always around, and still tells him that he can leave – the rationalist in Vignesh still decides to stay and even opt for more of work from home option. But soon Vignesh experiences sleep paralysis, terrible hallucinations and bizarre apparitions, and comes to know that one tenant there had killed the other two and set himself on fire, as he see burned people and moving shadows all around. The television gets switched on by itself and keeps playing the same song and the same books keep falling down the shelf and more follows. Now, he wonders if he remains sane, but further feels that he might in grave danger – can he escape from this terror?

The defence of Dark :: The movie focuses the most on psychological tension, and the same also helps in adding further to the overall red herrings, which finally ends in that effective twist. There is also no meaningless romance or humour added here that would have devastated the mood as we consider the fact that the movie is based on mood rather than anything else. The background score and some quick appearances of scary visuals keep us going, and keep the genre going with its classic values. The movie never really extends its stay either as less than two hours make its existence right within the time-period in which we have the attention. The premise was too good, and the first scene had really caught our attention, followed by a second level of terror, making us wonder how well the world can be determined from there. We can feel the possible eternity of horror with the early shock and scares being provided. There is that feeling when something terrifying is to jump out of darkness and create that memorable experience.

The claws of flaw :: The movie could have been more direct and the confusion that it creates in between blurring reality and thoughts, and connecting them with horror, does not work that well at all times. It often gets down to the familiar haunted-house formulas with the random strange noises, forced nightmare sequences and a tragic past which does not use the best advantage. The pace keeps varying, with some moments feeling rather strange, and often not suitable to go through the flow otherwise. The police investigation is also not given that much of a focus despite that being the source of information about the past. One still keeps wondering why a perfect closure was not given for the tale, and the ghost just seems to have been unleashed and left so to act too strange, even though there were many direct methods for the creature to unleash itself and do its work. A few better moments from the distant past could have also served well. This kind of movies should have always had the power of a detailed past, but the same is not served here – the twist also comes in a little too smooth manner.

The performers of the soul :: Ajay Karthi has us going through the horrifying journey with him, as he carries the full weight of the film. He shows a certain amount of physical and mental deterioration from the confident rationalist to a man caught in a supernatural web from where escape seems almost impossible – the change from a confident professional young man into an insomniac pushed to the edge of hopelessness and sanity is shown naturally. The pain of going from one extreme to the other is nicely reflected through his performance. Anchana Nethrun brings the surprise here, as she becomes the centre of a tragedy as much as going through the core of horror. Her performance shows some vulnerability and a certain amount of melancholy as the tragic history of the house slowly comes to light. The emotions work strongly whenever she is around, as the abiding sadness keeps creeping in. At the same time, Bhagyaraj brings the strength of a veteran older generation to the horror narrative, while serving on the realistic side. Natarajan Subramaniam brings the feeling of enquiry to the same.

How it finishes :: This happened to a surprise good horror that came out of nowhere, as we did not even know about the release of such a movie – yet, it falls short of where it should have reached in the end. The movie feels ambitious and could have been something like Demonte Colony with sequels as an expansion could serve really well, or at least move on the Pechi mode. The strong and emotional performances along with the quick shocks in the darkness almost got it there, but in the end, had it limited in scope. The pace problems with some predictability, and the limits of setting, without that much focus on the psychological side by the end, has us asking for more. The scary side surely had some fine initial push, especially with those moments in the beginning. With better focus on the world and by spreading the evil, this can still gain more through some well-made sequels. The attempt at divergence and experimentation that comes though are to be appreciated here, and other movie industries also need more attempts at horror.

Release date: 3 July 2026
Running time: 110 minutes
Directed by: Kalyan K Jegan
Starring: Ajay Karthi, Anchana Nethrun, Natarajan Subramanian, K Bhagyaraj

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Jester 2

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Vampire Owl: It is time we appoint a Vampire Jester in the court.

Vampire Bat: The times of vampire entertainers are over in our world.

Vampire Owl: You think that Uncle Dracula would not need one to keep him not so serious?

Vampire Bat: I think that you are talking about the Vampire Clown.

Vampire Owl: I object to that usage because they call Dr. Frankenstein by that name.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein has always been a clown of science.

Vampire Owl: You know the greatness of the scientist Frankenstein soon enough.

Vampire Bat: Please keep the castle out of strange pseudo-science and related experiments.

Vampire Owl: I would have liked the castle to have all the credit for great experiments.

Vampire Bat: There is no greatness in fake experiments which bring nothing useful.

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

What is the movie about? :: A Halloween night begins, and a terrifying mute figure wearing a scary clownish mask and an orange suit is shown to kill a man at night in the streets after showing him a magic trick, and this happened after he had caused the death of a young man at a costume party after a little performance. This man of illusions and magic tricks, the Jester (Michael Sheffield) keeps walking through the streets, seemingly look for more victims. At the same time, a lone teenager Max (Kaitlyn Trentham) decides to get out of her home to walk through the streets wearing an oversized top hat and a hand-stitched magician’s tailcoat, staying close to the mood of the season and following a trick and treat model. Max has always been a social outcast, bullied all the time by the friends who study with her, and she is also not really liked by her mother and sister, both of them considering her to be too weird and not mentally grown up enough for her age. Her only place of refuge is an antique magic shop managed by Willie (Dingani Beza) who has served as her mentor, also teaching her some tricks of illusion in the process.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As she sits at a diner all alone at night, on the opposite seat, the Jester arrives to sit in a friendly manner. As he takes out a deck of vintage playing cards, and tries to go through his usual activity, Max recognizes the idea of the illusion, and as taught by Willie, she brings a counter-trick, and beats him in his own game. The Jester finds theatrical routine falling apart and deeply enraged by a teenager beating him, slams his hand on the table and leaves as she wonders about what just happened. She finds out that the Jester is a supernatural entity who has turned the entire neighborhood into a location where he is going to perform through a night of blood and gore. He stalks local residents, and darkness has become his ally, with Halloween masks an added advantage. Max witnesses one of his acts of brutality as she goes with him as he had invited him to go to a home for trick and treating. She understands that this is something supernatural.

And what more is to follow here as horror makes more claims in the Halloween night? :: She tries to escape from him, but ends up in a strange place under the control of the Jester where he explains that he needs her to join him and perform tricks instead of him as she had beaten him in his own game of illusions. Only then, he can claim souls this time, and she has to lead the way. She instantly disagrees to the same, but then learns about the consequences which would lead both her souls to eternal torment as a result of a pact which he had made with an evil entity whose existence goes a long way back. She partially agrees to help him by leading him to the people who bullied him earlier and provide him with their souls. But when she reaches one of such victims, finds herself unable to have the Jester murder him. But with time running out and the Jester determined to claim souls and with her own life at stake, she has to find an alternative, as her family is also targeted by the evil entity of Halloween. Can she escape from this situation which seems to be inescapable from all known angles?

The defence of The Jester 2 :: The movie stands tall with Michael Sheffield’s work as the Jester at its strongest. His silent theatrics in the orange suit and scary mask give him a genuinely striking visual presence reminding one of tricksters and evil clowns. Kaitlyn Trentham also nicely blends in here as the girl who seeks for a better situation in life, and at least to be considered a person of importance. She will make a big impression as a scream queen with more horror movies. The Halloween mood also brings the aesthetic with street carnivals, people in the classic costumes, neon-lit small town and spookiness never leaves, as the visual score remains high. Instead of remaining just a mindless slasher, the attempt to weave in an emotional core about loneliness can be seen, and the Jester is also more than what meets the eye. The magic and illusions getting into murders also have our attention, as the usual random murders are no longer at the main focus. The twisted world keeps us feeling that there is something about it than what meets the eye.

The claws of flaw :: The movie seems to have a certain amount of confusion about what kind of an entity Jester really is, as we find him as many different things at once, and in the end, he is taken apart rather too easily despite being such a creature of evil and darkness set in a world of chaos and illusions – he could have been a force of nature from the abyss of evil like no other. The Jester could have been that kind of a creature bigger than all evil clowns as we have seen in It or Terrifier. The lack of pace also brings some worry in between. The presence of uneven CGI along with those visual tricks keeping itself cheap might be because of a lower budget – much more could have surely been achieved. The dramatic side with the mother-daughter could have been stronger with more moments, and sisterhood elements also deserved something better than what we had around here as just a quick scene and references. The mentoring with the magic and some stylish illusions would have also made a classic background.

How it finishes :: There was always a lot of scope with this kind of a premise, and we had hoped for more. Yet, this remains interesting throughout its run, even when things slow down a bit. The Jester 2 rests mostly on the strength of its visuals with the atmosphere and some nice tricks, along with the performances from those who plat the protagonist and the antagonist. We can hope that the ritualistic purpose of the creature gets expanded on another day with one more sequel, or a prequel from a long way back, as this is one concept that can keep the horror strong. Facing a seemingly unstoppable force from the depths of unknown will always have our attention. A future sequel with a bigger budget can bring something to remember for a long time. For now, it is available in both Amazon Prime Video and Jio Hotstar, making sure that we have nicer slasher from two of the best OTT platforms available in India. After all, these are the kind of platforms which we use more due to special offers which come from mobile phone recharges and other sources.

Release date: 17 October 2025
Running time: 90 minutes
Directed by: Colin Krawchuk
Starring: Michael Sheffield, Kaitlyn Trentham, Dingani Beza, Jessica Ambuehl

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Devil’s Mouth

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Vampire Owl: At least the devil is doing better than the humans these days, I think.

Vampire Bat: Maybe the devil should go to Earth and leave hell for the humans.

Vampire Owl: Isn’t it where most of the humans are going sooner or later?

Vampire Bat: I am expecting the angels of heaven to be very lonely.

Vampire Owl: Do you think that there will be space in hell for this many humans?

Vampire Bat: Hell is infinite and eternal, and with separate circles.

Vampire Owl: So, it is the same as what Dr. Frankenstein had discovered.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein is a man of infinite circles of nonsense.

Vampire Owl: When did infinity start coming in circles of Frankenstein?

Vampire Bat: He has always needed them as he would be going to hell as a human too.

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

What is the movie about? :: Five friends from the United States, Sara (Kathryn Newton), Max (Lala Condor), Greg (Gavin Casalegno), Adrienne (Tommi Rose) and James (Nico Hiraga) are on a trip to South Asia, now visiting the beaches and going through underwater journeys in Thailand. As they are enjoying the open tropical waters off the coast, they do not realize that Sara is diving in the water, and as they ask for the boat to be moved to the land as Max feels that she is in the shower. Left alone, Sara is swarmed, and stung by aggressive jellyfish in all parts of her body, rescued later, but is left in pain. Max is supposed to be the one in control of the trip and also the one who said that everyone was aboard before the boat was taken forward, which leads to some tension, but Sara and Max are back together as best friends in no time. The friends are back together, and as they continue to feel that something is in the saltwater of ocean due to seeing dead fish and turtles cast ashore on beaches, they sign up for a guided swim through a fresh water remote cave system known as The Devil’s Mouth.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: This early incident leaving Sara as damsel in distress does manage to keep a rift between them right before they enter The Devil’s Mouth cave network, and despite Sara trying to keep up with the excited team against her pain and in spite of Max trying to tip the guide to take better care of her friend, there is some disagreement. While Sara asks for the easy way through the tunnel without that much of it submerged in water, Max who has always been the leader opts to go for the highly submerged red route, and Sara, despite her fears, agrees to the same. The team is led through a path which had its water level only somewhat come down from being fully submerged in a previous storm. They go through different caves which are interconnected through passages flooded with water, some of them even having salt water from the nearby ocean. But they soon find one of the divers who went before them dead, and within minutes finds themselves hunted by a shark which seems to have come in from the ocean during the flooding with nowhere to go as the tunnel lost its connection with the saltwater. Now, can they survive the creature sensing blood all around?

The defence of The Devil’s Mouth :: With the tide rising and oxygen levels dropping inside the cave system, the friends left on the isolated rock shelves where the shark cannot reach, do not find it to be a long-term option, but have nowhere to go in the maze-like chambers – this is perfectly shown here with each scene, and we have an environment which is so well created and maintained with danger all around the corner. The cave diving horror and shark survival are combined nicely here, as the subterranean setting makes it a different battle against the creature. The tight underwater struggles, internal disagreements, secrets and grievances within themselves, all add to the further tension here. The movie is also never really that long, and this length feels perfect for the total run-time. The signs of the same was established early enough, and that too in open water, with the attack of the jelly fish as much as being left alone in the middle of the sea – these are also basically the kind of horror which are scary enough even without huge fangs.

Positives and negatives :: The movie’s caves are among the best that you might ever see, and when you put a shark in there, it is just glorious. One then remembers that some fine foreshadowing has always been there, and all would lead to just disaster. The final moments when the protagonist lures the shark with herself as a bait is among the best of the movie, and when the characters try to escape from the shark at a ledge, and when they move through tight tunnels, we are all kept in the highest level of tension. We see that the situation places us in a world from where escape is almost impossible by logic with water all around, and the shark being able to thrive in both freshwater and saltwater settings. This also means that there is less visibility, and we can keep feeling the need to have more light around – keeping on looking at the darkness is not the best thing we can do around here. There is some repetition here and there with what the characters are doing, even though the same remains enjoyable.

The performers of the soul :: Here, we have Kathryn Newton once again doing what she does the best, and that is to survive against all odds, as she already did in Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, and had managed to get out of that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania level which was rather lower in comparison to where she stands now as a grand scream queen in the making – she seems to be surviving everything in a convincing manner, and here, she remains a lovable character, and it is her for whom we keep rooting for, as she knew that something bad was going to happen all the time, and in her senses, tries to avoid the worst, even though she has to finally give in to her friends. She is the survivor whom we would all love to have, maybe in a sequel to The Shallows. She is one young actress who seems to be bringing a certain amount of completeness. Lana Condor whom we would best recognize from Alita: Battle Angel, Pretty Lethal and X-Men: Apocalypse, also comes up with a memorable role, and it is another work that we are going to remember here. Tommi Rose also has some work that we will remember. Nico Hiraga as James might be one selfish character which is done well. Then, Gavin Casalegno also comes up with the needed.

How it finishes :: It can be seen that the movie maintains a certain amount of balance around here with a shark attacking in a flooded cave with nowhere to go – the horror gets more of the strength here with the same, while tensions also run related to the past among the characters. We have already seen the sharks and friends running strong in 47 Meters Down, Deep Blue Sea, Killer Whale and more, but this one takes a divergent and interesting approach with the same. Anchored by strong performances from Kathryn Newton and Lana Condor, the movie also focuses on the deteriorating, toxic friendship and further focuses on the terrifying situation rather than the shark. The predictability does not push this aquatic survival flick that much down, as the tension never leaves us and the lovely leading character always have us rooting for us, with the empathy right there to be taken home. I would consider this to be a surprise charm as one of the best shark movies in some time, and its release on Amazon Prime Video has left the same accessible to more of us who choose OTT over the theatres.

Release date: 29 July 2026
Running time: 104 minutes
Directed by: Jeff Wadlow
Starring: Kathryn Newton, Lana Condor, Gavin Casalegno, Nico Hiraga, Tommi Rose

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Astronaut

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Vampire Owl: I have dreamed about being an astronaut when I was a child.

Vampire Bat: You became a vampire hundreds of years ago. So that would have been long ago.

Vampire Owl: Considering in vampire years, I am still not that old.

Vampire Bat: That explains you being a child even when space travel started its job.

Vampire Owl: I was never thinking about human space travel.

Vampire Bat: You are looking forward to being teleported other realms?

Vampire Owl: Yes, Dr. Frankenstein has created a magical space vessel.

Vampire Bat: You should remember that nothing made by Mr. Frankenstein actually works.

Vampire Owl: It is a wrong accusation by his mortal enemies. He travelled back in time last week and brought proof from another period of time. Even aliens approve of him.

Vampire Bat: I am quite sure that he brought back that ancient thing from a museum and not from the past. It is his time machine that looks more pre-historical than that thing.

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

What is the movie about? :: Sam Walker (Kate Mara) is the daughter of General William Harris (Laurence Fishburne) a veteran military officer who has worked in collaboration with NASA space travel, and has Sam going on another space journey in relation to communicating with extraterrestrial beings if there are any. But as she comes back from the International Space Station, some debris leads to her crash-landing back on Earth. After floating somewhere in the middle of sea, she is finally rescued by the United States Coast Guard and taken to the nearby hospital for recovery, even though not taken out of quarantine for some days. Her fellow astronauts and doctors keep visiting her at the hospital, while William assures her that he is incredibly happy for her, and hopes that she will get well soon for the next mission, with NASA and Pentagon working very closely together in making significant discoveries which would change the world as they know it. She feels that things are just okay as she only got a few bruises.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Sam does not remember most of the incidents in space, and continues in quarantine for decontamination. She is visited by her husband, Mark Walker (Gabriel Luna) and daughter, Izzy Walker (Scarlett Holmes). But for her own safety, Sam is confined alone to a rural cottage somewhere in Virginia, where diplomats and very important people are supposed to stay in secret when there is some danger with their lives, or just to stay away from media. It is seen that the next house or shop is kilometres away, and the place only has woods on all sides and some meadows in between, with almost no traffic at the closest road passing around. As Sam adjusts to her new lonely situation, she also goes through a series of medical tests to make sure that her mental and physical fitness are okay, with a new journey to the space station coming up. Sam and Mark are having some difficulties trying to cope as a family, due to her frequent journeys to space and the quarantine that comes before and after that. It is revealed that the child is also adopted, as they hoped that it would make things better between them.

And what more can happen here as there seems to be some mystery to be resolved? :: While walking outside and close to the nearby woods, Sam notices that the entire premises have some hidden cameras, most of them directed right towards the home. This makes her wonder about her location, as she had already felt that somebody did open the door and enter during last night, thus also making the floor a little messy. William shows her that the hidden cameras are linked to a certain underground bunker in the house, from where the whole place can be watched in detail. If anyone try to breach the property, it could be known with ease, and there could also be a lockdown which would prevent anyone from getting in. Strange occurrences continue, and later that night, the power is cut off, and the alarm system is triggered, locking her inside the house. A dark creature seems to have entered the home, forcing her to lock herself inside the bunker. Now, it is to be seen if she can survive these nights, and with nothing on the cameras, will people believe her theory that something followed her from back to Earth from space?

The defence of The Astronaut :: The twists in the movie are pretty much unexpected, even though not that interesting, and that surprise takes the movie to a higher level, even though slowly and steadily. The film builds on with a tense, eerie mood with its quiet, minimalist approach to horror, that seems to work for most of the time. The combination of psychological thriller, science fiction and paranormal horror got the arrangement right, as we look at it. The isolated safe house with dark woods all around and continuing psychological tension are effective with the possibility of twists always being present. Kate Mara has things in control here with emotional weight as she moves forward in a world of conflicts. Morgan–Fantastic Four actress seems to have changed a lot, and maybe it is we all ageing together. Her movement to the twists in the end works so well that we even hope for the world to be extended in a sequel at that moment. Laurence Fishburne is a big strong presence here, and his roles like this have remained too good in the past.

The claws of flaw :: The movie drags in between even in a one and half hour movie which deals with aliens – it would not have been that difficult to deal with such a safe topic during normal circumstances of Earth and space. The struggle with pacing feels so much, especially in the second half when it seems to try too much, and yet the narrative keeps its trouble going through. Some of these narrative changes and interesting developments come too fast and leave unanswered questions, as the science fiction elements continue to stay in the background without that much of a detailed happenings on the screen. One keeps wondering why it immediately took that deviation, even though it was the twist that came quickly – there could have been other ways to bring the same to keep on with the route of the overall movie. Sometimes, one would wonder if the combination could have been kept better coherent at all times. The predictability is also present in between, even though not with the final twist.

How it finishes :: This is one of those movies which were less known, and surprisingly, in spite of staying close to the genre, I never really knew about this movie’s existence. Despite losing the pace in between, and narrative also making that struggle, the movie maintains a level, not losing it on the way completely even when there seemed to be the chance. This would mean that the mixed reviews are quite justified, and its journey through Amazon Prime Video might also be complex. For a quiet, atmospheric psychological science fiction with strong leading cast performances and high-level tension coming out of the mood and atmosphere with dark woods ready to pounce upon the terror, this would be the right choice. There is no questioning that kind of an ability around here. But one can see that there are no clear explanations of these alien elements, and the lack of traditional horror thrills would continue to affect the interest of people. Otherwise, this would nicely work for a smooth, slow and steady journey with something coming in the background.

Release date: 17th October 2025
Running time: 91 minutes
Directed by: Jess Varley
Starring: Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Luna, Ivana Miličević, Macy Gray, Scarlett Holmes, Reza Diako, Daniel Quirke, Daiana Madeira, Christine Abernathy, Ezrael MacTire, Erin Gill, Gareth Battersby, Aidan O’Sullivan

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The Bhootnii

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Vampire Owl: Bollywood continues to have its ghosts, I see.

Vampire Bat: There are rarely the kind of ghosts that we accept among us.

Vampire Owl: Yet, even in human world, ghosts are real.

Vampire Bat: Let their ghosts be theirs and ours be as we need.

Vampire Owl: Dr. Frankenstein once researched on a new ghost realm.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein can research on nothing that really exists.

Vampire Owl: Frankenstein can do anything when provided the scientific equipment.

Vampire Bat: The only thing he can get is a ban from Uncle Dracula.

Vampire Owl: Scientists like him will rise again with new paranormal inventions.

Vampire Bat: Pseudo-scientists who claim to create life from lightning are not included.

[Gets a set of idli and three cups of Vagamon tea].

What is the movie about? :: In the campus of St. Vincent College, there is a particular strange tree known as the “Virgin Tree,” which is believed to grant true love to everyone who prays under it on a Valentine’s Day. But on the day of Holika Dahan, a student mysteriously dies, and people say that it is claimed by an evil spirit and that the tree as well as the area around it remains haunted. Shantanu (Sunny Singh) who is heartbroken after a recent breakup, creates a mess around the Virgin Tree, asking for true love while threatening to give up his life. He does not know if there was a result to his prayers, but the truth is that his earnest plea awakens Mohabbat (Mouni Roy), a vengeful and obsessive spirit bound to the tree. As Mohabbat’s obsession grows, she begins to haunt anyone who has a chance of coming between her and Shantanu, as she takes a human form in front of him, making him fall for her. Sahil (Sahil Arora) and Nasir (Aasif Khan) are his two best friends who are surprised that he is having a new girlfriend all of a sudden.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Shantanu’s longtime friend Ananya (Palak Tiwari) comes back to the campus after a programme and tries to help him get better after the earlier heartbreak, but quickly becomes a target for the spirit who understands that she has always been in love with him despite never accepting the same. As strange things continue to happen in the campus, and a few days after protests erupting in relation to a student’s suicide, the management is forced to find a solution, and they call a former student who has been dealing with similar problems all around India, a para-physicist Krishna Tripathi known only by the name Baba (Sanjay Dutt). He reaches the campus, and while seeing the protests against the tree, understands that the problem is not with the tree doing anything, but with some evil presence tied to the tree wandering around on campus. As the spirit begins to set an example with Ananya whom it captures with its never-ending vines, can she and other students be saved in time by Baba?

The defence of The Bhootnii :: The movie has some good humour all around, and the same works above most of the other horror comedy works with only a few exceptions in Bollywood that manage to raise the level. The performers also seem to be good with the humour and the leading ladies also with the romantic side added to the comic side. Sanjay Dutt remains a towering figure of the same, as he is the one name among the cast which we who watch only the big movies of Bollywood can recognize with ease. As Mouni Roy plays that demonic presence with conviction and Palak Tiwari becomes the cutest romantic interest around, we feel the danger and the need to do something soon for the characters, as scares take over from the humour. The setting of the college is really good, and the atmosphere has been nicely built around here. Except for the tree, the institution looks lovely as much as lively. There is a certain amount of Gothic-like beauty in here which makes one feel both the horror and romance suitable for this particular world. Then, the final moments leading to the end is nice with a twist which leaves us with a fine feeling.

The claws of flaw :: The movie does not keep away from being silly, and this particular silliness would keep the audience wonder if it is going the wrong way. There are moments when we feel that this is not going to end well, and some of the jokes get nowhere. Despite setting the horror, humour and romance mood well in the beginning, there is a struggle right after the first dance song, and then the situation gets better only when Sanjay Dutt faces the ghost for the first time and leads an escape – there is quite some time in there between the beginning and this, which is one-fourth of this, when things seem to be less interesting. Some of the special effects could have also used some more attention. The “true love” idea does not work at all, as we keep feeling that the same is far-fetched element in this one. The idea of love being misunderstood as friendship is also a little bit too old for this age. Considering the loss of pace in between, it is only safe to say that the movie could have indeed been a shorter one.

The performers of the soul :: Sanjay Dutt as Baba is the character who has to save everyone, and he plays the strong slayer of ghosts well, and reminds us of those whom we have been seeing in Hollywood, but this time with an emotional twist. There is no problem with him playing this particular character, as it suits his looks and the efforts here are surely working. Sunny Singh as Shantanu remains stable in a role where he has to be the campus lover affected by a ghost, and that also works well for him. Mouni Roy does a fine job as the spirit, and she manages to show the multiple sides of the ghostly presence with beauty, charm, terror and even a little amount of humour, as there is that stunning appearance that makes an impression every few minutes after the first introduction. This is the first movie I am seeing her around in a big role, and this is a memorable one indeed. I am also seeing Palak Tiwari for the first time in a movie, and she scores with a certain amount of cuteness and humour added with romance or even when facing the horror. One has to say that she suits well for this role, and she is indeed an actress who deserves more big roles as most of the other Bollywood actresses would overdo this one, but she maintains grace.

How it finishes :: While watching the movie, I could not stop wondering if this could be a sequel to Adi Kapyare Kootamani, a Malayalam movie with so much humour and a little bit of horror coming up in the final few moments, and there is no shortage of trees and search for true love there either. But we know that such a sequel could be a lot better with the fine ending maintained there. Back to this one, it works more as the comedy and less as the horror flick, something which we have seen throughout the Bollywood attempts at the same, from Stree, Munjya, Thamma and even those sequels of Bhool Bhulaiyya which might have lost the focus. Some of the horror elements of these movies were also unintentional horror in one way or the other. As far as our movie here is concerned, it is that horror comedy with romance that tries better than other movies of the same genre which do not have a franchise to go with it. With some stunning visuals and classic moments of humour established through one-liners and somewhat good scares, this one catches our attention despite somewhat losing its way in between.

Release date: 1 May 2025
Running time: 130 minutes
Directed by: Sidhaant Sachdev
Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Singh, Mouni Roy, Palak Tiwari, Aasif Khan, Sahil Arora, Meherzan Mazda

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Eesha

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Vampire Owl: Looking for recent horror movies, we have to go into another industry.

Vampire Bat: Well, not all industries have all movies exactly as they project for outside world.

Vampire Owl: I think that the best movies are those which are not known to many people.

Vampire Bat: True. They do not release the best movies in the theatres.

Vampire Owl: Yes, the theatres are for heroes who fly and beat up thousands of people.

Vampire Bat: They do even worse things, and it is strange for our world, not for theirs.

Vampire Owl: Can’t one of these movies become highest grossers instead of that mass masala?

Vampire Bat: Well, mass has the advantage because theatres are for the masses.

Vampire Owl: Yes, strange humans and their love for the mass thing.

Vampire Bat: This is the exact reason why humans are not allowed inside the Dracula Castle. Even the worst of the witches or fully drained zombies would not let them in.

[Gets a Chicken curry puffs and three cups of Wayanad tea].

What is the movie about? :: Kalyan (Thrigun), Naina (Hebah Patel), Vinay (Akhil Raj Uddemari) and Aparna (Siri Hanmanth) are four youngsters who try to find the truth behind supernatural situations and expose fraudulent spiritual leaders who try to extort money out of unsuspecting believers – they find out that the easy targets for spiritual practitioners are those who feel that evil has possessed their own people or homes or maybe even believes that some curse has been unleashed, and death or hell awaits them. As they were childhood best friends, and Vinay and Aparna had managed to get married some time ago, and is expecting a child. But this has not stopped their plans to expose more people who are involved in spiritual practices and they become well-known for the same in the city. But they extend their plans to go for something much bigger, far away from their city, but Aparna is hesitant about it. But with the support of the rest, who are firm believers in rationalism, they set out to investigate the case of Aadidev (Babloo Prithiveeraj), a former neurosurgeon who has turned into a spiritual healer.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Aadidev has been treating individuals who claims to be afflicted by supernatural forces at an ashram which he found in a remote village in the border between Andhra Pradesh and Odissa. He had left his job as a reputed neurosurgeon who conducted so many surgeries which saved many lives after the death of his wife. The friends find a video of the woman before his death and feels that she was just mentally disturbed and the attempt at exorcism killed her. As they travel to the remote area on the border of two states through a twisted road on the hills, they almost meet with an accident when coming against a motor-bike carrying a family, but the woman who was sitting on the back of the vehicle dies as she falls down the cliff. But the friends remain unaware of the same as they reach their destination. When they reach the ashram, they are attacked by a strange man, but Aadidev saves them. But the friends call all of these to be staged with paid actors and Aadidev faces such strong lack of belief for the first time.

And what more can happen in this world of faith against another one which lacks the same? :: This makes him take the friends to an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. He tells them that the place is haunted with spirits and after three days of living there, the friends will start believing in life after death. The friends accept it as a challenge, but he tells them that it is no usual place, as there have been so many deaths including murders and suicides right in the building. He also has his disciples write some incantations for protection along with leaving a few religious and spiritual items there. He also asks them not to cross a certain area which would take them out of his protection and the same would be extremely dangerous. They do not really care about the same as they find the spiritual man to be a fraud who uses the faith and belief of the locals to his best advantage – they feel that he had chosen this particular way of life as it seemed as the easier and influential job through which he could earn the most with the least efforts while taking no real risk. Can the friends stay there for three days and come back alive or will they lose all their rationalism and might even be killed by the evil spirits who roam in the area?

The defence of Eesha :: The movie has some very impressive visuals which serves the purpose or horror very well. The darkness, shadows, and the shades give the film an eerie, high-quality visual beauty of horror. The atmosphere is nicely created and some fine settings serve like a special boon here. The background score nicely supports the same. The beginning itself had nicely set the mood here. Babloo Prithviraj’s work is a big bonus here, and we see that even though not on the side of the protagonists, he scores so well that we like him from the beginning even when the heroes talk about him. Hebah Patel as Naina plays the biggest sceptic of the movie really well, and she reminds us of the actions and talks of Gayathrie Shankar playing Meena in the Tamil horror movie called Pechi, but there is no similar twist for this one. Siri Hanmanth as Aparna has her moments, while the male cast seems to be more in support with the two women seemingly deviating into their thoughts well. The dramatic twist which comes in the end remains a strong one, and it is something which make on think, and is not limited to one world.

The claws of flaw :: The movie leaves too many gaps in the tale as it seems to have some trouble about understanding what it really wishes to achieve. There is a certain amount of confusion about the dead person’s spirit coming back as revenge instead of anything else, but then the situation of the four friends explained in the end does not seem to match with the same leading to multiple confusions in the thread that binds all of them. Then the rationalist friends also act a little too strange even when they see things that could make even the most sceptic people believe in all of these, and after exploring so many fraud cases, they cannot seem to feel a difference here, as the act of being brain dead makes it appearance at times, but we knew that this was coming, but they surely manage to solve some of those problems in between, not aggravating the whole situation in any manner. Adding more cases and their comparison with this, as well as revealing the modus operandi of the friends to such situations, would have made the whole thing more interesting; yet we just have them just going through the whole thing with no real plan.

How it finishes :: The movie manages its horror with a difference, and the deviation from the usual can also be seen around. It can be considered a visually striking, technically superior horror film that feels like being pulled down by its own ambitions to make it more twisted than it should have been, especially considering the overall mood going on another path. When the standard paranormal terror strikes with that divergent twist, the narrative struggles to get them together. The concept of a rationalist group facing the consequences of their arrogance is still interesting, but the overlapping of reality, hallucinations and spiritual possession often asks for more, but we are happy with what we get here. One can thank the mood, background scores, and high-quality visuals which brings that creepy experience, as we horror fans get the horror we have always wanted. After all, for a horror movie, it is more about what is one the screen, and what experience we are going to have, with hope for fear more than anything else.

Release date: 25th December 2025
Running time: 127 minutes
Directed by: Srinivas Manne
Starring: Thrigun, Hebah Patel, Akhil Raj Uddemari, Siri Hanmanth, Mime Madhu, Babloo Prithveeraj

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Project Hail Mary

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Vampire Owl: I feel that this movie is a little bit too complicated for my liking.

Vampire Bat: It surely has some extra amount of science added to it.

Vampire Owl: I was wondering if I should connect Dr. Frankenstein to understand it.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein has understood no real science so far.

Vampire Owl: Frankenstein was also nominated for Best Undead Scientist Award.

Vampire Bat: He used a fake recommendation letter from Uncle Dracula.

Vampire Owl: You are just jealous because he found the presence of aliens in your room.

Vampire Bat: I am pretty much confident that it was a cockroach from the human world.

Vampire Owl: Do you think that cockroaches can scare our vampire friends?

Vampire Bat: Well, it has been centuries since they saw one, and so they can feel a certain amount of scared confusion.

[Gets a gobi paratha and three cups of Yercaud tea].

What is the movie about? :: Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up from a temporary coma status in an interstellar spacecraft named Hail Mary, and suffers from memory loss, only slowly realizing that the year is 2032. Soon, Grace realizes that he is the only survivor of a three-person team of newly trained astronauts that was traveling towards a constellation known as the Tau Ceti system, about twelve light-years from Earth. This keeps him confused about what is next for him as memories come back to him slowly and steadily. As it goes on, he keeps enjoying his solitude while going back into flashbacks and he gets close to the destination. But soon, he is surprised to find an alien spacecraft docking with the Hail Mary despite him trying to evade it after disengaging autopilot. The spacecraft is made of a solid form of xenon, which Grace considers to be xenonite. The ship has only one occupant, and is revealed to be a rock-like, five-legged alien from what is known as Erid, a planet in the 40 Eridani A system that goes a long way further from their location.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Grace recalls that scientists had discovered a line of infrared light stretching from the Sun to Venus and a substance running through the line, called astrophage which was getting on the Sun’s surface, dimming the Sun at a rate that could cause so much cooling within thirty years that human life would cease to exist. The head of the Petrova Taskforce, Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) had recruited Grace who was a middle school science teacher and a former molecular biologist to study the astrophage as she has seen his works and could understand his ability to think beyond the usual limitations. After a few days of work, Grace discovered that astrophage was full of certain unicellular organisms which absorb electromagnetic radiation from the Sun and expel it at great strength for propulsion, and he also figured out how to breed these organisms and create more of the same kind. Grace further remembers that he had joined Project Hail Mary, an international near-impossible mission to send a crewed spacecraft to Tau Ceti, the only star in Earth’s solar neighborhood not affected by astrophage, and is shining brighter than ever.

And what more happens here and complications are sure to come in space? :: Grace who was able to breed astrophage a lot, which was to serve as fuel for the ship, also helped the crew in learning to deal with the same. The flight to Tau Ceti was to be a suicide mission, as the ship could only carry enough astrophage for a one-way trip, and all findings were to be sent back inside smaller space probes. With most of his memory back, Grace names the alien as Rocky, and manages to communicate with it using a machine translation system which is able to convert Rocky’s strange noises into English. It is revealed that Rocky is a mechanical engineer, and the only survivor of the Eridians’ mission to save their world from astrophage infection. Grace understands that others from that spacecraft had died from radiation poisoning, while Rocky was unaffected due to being shielded by their astrophage supply, which was kept around Rocky’s workshop. Both starts working together towards that common aim of saving their stars and planets. But can they find what is different with this particular star and can the same be applied to their respective planets?

The defence of Project Hail Mary :: The movie’s best part, without doubt is the interaction between the human and the alien – the contact feels like happening in a more realistic manner than what we usually see in any movie with an alien around. The relationship between the two are beautifully depicted, and this is the kind of connection which humans would hesitate to have in our world of chaos and hopelessness. Then there are the stunning visuals, with a nicely detailed interior of the ship and the vastness of space giving a spectacle for us. The visuals of the Eridian homeland at the very end of the movie feels like a perfect example of creating something to remember just with the view itself. The final moments are not just visually satisfying, but also leaving us with a feel-good effect. Well, there are not many alien movies which can bring that effect, and not many space movies can be this kind of effective in multiple levels. Ryan Gosling’s performance makes sure that that the emotional side works with so much efficiency, and in a world which is almost all about him, he manages to come with that performance we would not forget with ease.

Positive and negatives :: The movie can feel a little bit too long, and the beginning itself is a little bit slow – the moments back on Earth feels like dragging, and one cannot stop oneself from feeling that there should have been less flashbacks, with everything happening at exactly the one place where the big action takes place. The science also goes a little too much forward for the common audience, but the movie cannot do without the same. Any more complication would have left the audience not interested in the movie, as most of us do not go for this kind of science anymore, and our knowledge about such things could mean a deep struggle, as evident from our visits to the different science cities and museums of natural science. But these are the kind of movies which will create fine science enthusiasts out of interested children who improve themselves at school. The fact that the movie also has some fine humour in there makes it more interesting for the young and keeps the light mood at a time when the world as we know could come to an end sooner or later.

How it finishes :: The movie becomes a classic on the lines of some big space movies, Gravity, The Martian and Interstellar, and this one proves that we do need all kinds of films set in space. As an adaptation of a book, the faithfulness to the original can only be spoken about by the fans of the original work. The emotional core and the visual splendour never really leave the movie, and this journey’s grandeur is not limited to one side. For the common audience, this is indeed a space triumph that one has been waiting for with great expectations. As it goes through that successful exercise of sci-fi world-building, there is no point that makes the viewer doubt its process. One would have loved to watch this movie on the big screen with all that we have as a spectacle, but we are so much past those days when we frequent the theatres – Amazon Prime Video has enough of this movie of us, and that should do. After all, we have come to that stage when no multiplex can raise our chances of watching anything on the big screen, but if there was a movie or two to be watched like that, this is one of them.

Release date: 20th March 2026
Running time: 156 minutes
Directed by: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, Milana Vayntrub

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Silent Night

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Vampire Owl: We have always wished for silent nights in favour of vampire activity.

Vampire Bat: Vampires have always hoped for silence to keep on hunting, that too in a flash.

Vampire Owl: For vegetarian vampires, we do hunt really well.

Vampire Bat: We have hunted evil better these days.

Vampire Owl: Yet, humans consider us to be evil.

Vampire Bat: There will never be bigger evil than humans. Their evil returns every time and rises like a phoenix.

Vampire Owl: Well, we are yet to find a good human during our visits to their lands.

Vampire Bat: But serial killers are too easy to find, especially on the 11th day of terror. We are watching them at all times.

Vampire Owl: They call these people psychos, but this cruelty comes natural to them.

Vampire Bat: There are always much bigger modes of cruelty among humans. Just make a call on the vampire phone.

[Gets some tacos and three cups of taro tea].

What is the movie about? :: On a Christmas evening, a child is seen traveling by car with his parents from his grandfather’s place and their vehicle is seen as stopping on a remote road. A man dressed as Santa Claus arrives in another car and murders Billy’s parents in front of him. The killer, who is also stabbed, is revealed to be Charlie (Mark Acheson). As the child comes into physical contact with Charlie, an electrical surge appears to pass between them, and there seems to be something which has passed on from the dying killer. As the child grows up, known to the society as Billy Chapman (Rohan Campbell), he is seen as taking over the duty of committing murders while wearing the costume of Santa Claus during the Christmas season. The idea goes like this – during each Christmas, he begins hearing Charlie’s voice urging him to punish people who have been evil, and from then he would need to commit a murder for each day leading up to Christmas. There will be no failure to follow this particular procedure.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: After committing a quick murder at a motel, Billy escapes from the scene to avoid suspicion and arrives in the town of Hackett. There he becomes instantly interested in the beautiful, but angry lady of the town Pamela Sims (Ruby Modine) and her father Dean Sims (Lawrence Brown) who runs a gift shop. He gets a job in the same shop, and gets closer to Pamela, finally beginning an intimate relationship. But he never really losses his skill in murders as new victims is found and killed without remorse. A local police officer and Pamela’s abusive ex-boyfriend Max Benedict (David Tomlinson) is not happy about Billy being around her, and also develops suspicions about the new person moving into the town after which too many murders happen at the same place. But it is revealed that there is some other series of incidents happening in the same area, with little kids going missing one after another. There is a suspected abductor referred to as “the Snatcher”, but it is to be seen how the incidents go on as Christmas gets closer.

The defence of Silent Night, Deadly Night :: The slasher horror mode activated very quickly with this one, not really wasting that much time. The protagonist here is a tragic anti-hero who is forced to go through what he does, rather than the usual supernatural or psychotic villain, and that surely brings a change from the usual. There is time spent in exploring his trauma and motivations, which makes the character more relatable. To add to it the same, there is a mythology, supernatural elements and mystery involving missing children. The horror effects work well with the blood and gore, as one would expect from a slasher horror movie, and deaths become natural part of the film with ease. The killing are also justified for a change, instead of making the whole thing random or a case of revenge like some other flicks. The holiday mood can also be felt with the Christmas elements around, and the ending nicely supports a sequel which could have further variety with the kind of serial killer it develops with the finish.

The claws of flaw :: Silent Night, Deadly Night feels absurd even for a slasher horror movie with its content which does not innovate, or chooses not to bring some nice creative elements. There were many moments which it could have made more interesting, especially by adding usual elements of the genre which have been going through a classic path for a very long time. The question about what special elements this one brings or what it brings as part of the genre, would need better answers here. There is also a certain amount of extra complication that comes with some of these additions here, and the background tale with the mythology is not that much thought about. There is the slow pace and drag that comes in between, and the romance is also not going too deep, and never being emotional enough. The strange ideas are not that much explored, and we feel the need during regular intervals. Many viewers could feel that there is something missing around here, as the movie seems to just go on as it wishes to, and thinks not that much about connections.

The performers of the soul :: Rohan Campbell makes the main character memorable, and worth being the Christmas killer that we would need to follow. There is something more than a serial killer or a murderous psychopath about him, as more aspects of the character are nicely shown by him. A man with a deeply damaged childhood and never-ending emotional conflicts also with the trauma and violent impulses, remains safe in his hands while going through vulnerability and terrifying menace. Ruby Modine makes her character interesting, and there is something about the same all the time, and might have even more to contribute later in a possible sequel – there is a lot that a scream queen in a slasher can do. There are violence and darkness in her, which she manages to display with a charming ease. Her scenes bring some of the most emotionally grounded moments to the movie, and elevate the whole thing. Mark Acheson has a more unusual role, but contributes nicely to the film’s dark and supernatural elements.

How it finishes :: This serves as the second remake of the 1984 film with the same name, after the 2012 reimagining of the same. The audience who enjoys traditional slashers focused mainly on the brutal kills and other elements may find the added mythology and the strange emotional storytelling distracting, as deviation from the usual ideas is surely present here. This is not your classic old slasher of nostalgia and memories for sure. But those who are willing to accept its strange mix of genres are likely to find a surprisingly engaging work with a divergence. Despite not sticking to a classic tradition, it remains a solid Christmas horror film that will probably appeal most to a certain kind of audience. One would guess that making it interesting for all kinds of viewers was never really the idea with this one. Still, we are having the slashers in this world which is going after nonsense because it pretends to be funny, and that much is hope with feathers. Something more sinister might still be coming in a sequel.

Release date: 12th December 2025
Running time: 96 minutes
Directed by: Mike P Nelson
Starring: Rohan Campbell, Ruby Modine, David Lawrence Brown, David Tomlinson, Mark Acheson

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Gorge

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Vampire Owl: I know such a gorge at the end of the vampire world.

Vampire Bat: It is the border of the known vampire lands.

Vampire Owl: Where do we reach if we cross that?

Vampire Bat: They call it the whisper to infinity.

Vampire Owl: There is no infinity in this world. Everyone ends.

Vampire Bat: Our immortality is subject to market risks. It is not the same for everyone.

Vampire Owl: You are talking about the vampire elders.

Vampire Bat: There could be creatures lurking under the border gorge.

Vampire Owl: Yet we leave that area unprotected.

Vampire Bat: Well, if any zombie is going to fall into it, let it better be underneath rather than at the surface. The shadow demons have already crossed over to the surface from the shadow world.

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

What is the movie about? :: Levi (Miles Teller) is former United States Marine Sniper who is recruited by a mysterious woman for a special mission which requires his special skills as a record-breaking sniper on the enemy lines. He is taken on a flight to a remote location where he gets down on a parachute in the middle of nowhere. There he meets Drake (Sope Dirisu), a former British Royal Marine corporal, who was in charge of guarding a tower on the west side of a gorge. He explains that the location is kept hidden from the outside world by powerful cloaking antennas and he is not supposed to talk to the outside world about it. He adds that both the west and east towers are armed to contain some strange, monstrous creatures within the gorge, which they have nicknamed “The Hollow Men”. There is also the warning about “Straydog”, an unknown emergency protocol. He talks about the towers’ history which had that battalions of soldiers sent into the gorge in the late 1940s and none of them had ever returned. Drake who leaves the gorge is picked up by helicopter, but is not taken home as he is shot dead.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy), a Lithuanian sniper who is involved in covert operations assigned by the Russian forces gets a special offer for a year. Her father Erikas (William Houston) who was once associated with KGB, is now dying due to cancer asks her to go on despite Drasa not feeling that good about so many sniping killings from a distance. The offer that she gets is the same as what Levi had received from the mysterious person whose name is revealed to be Bartholomew (Sigourney Weaver). She is given charge of the eastern tower opposite Levi’s tower, fully armed and meant to stop the creatures coming out of the gorge, a position which has been held by so many people throughout the last few years. Levi who suffers from nightmares coming right out of his trauma tries to live by the rules including the ban on having any contact with the person on the other side. But Drasa contacts Levi with a writing which tells him that she does not care and that it is her birthday. With a birthday wish and following contact, they keep fighting the creatures coming up from underneath along with a lot of continuous talks getting them close to each other. But the secrets of the gorge might be the end of them, or will they survive this?

The defence of The Gorge :: The movie’s world is the first thing that catches our attention, as it is really well-created. The feeling that the two towers with horror in between keeps us excited from the beginning itself. A certain romantic side and the feeling of danger keep making an impact from two sides, while there are many heart-warming sweet moments as well as the surprising terror, making the two sides of the coin work so well in balance. The first point of contact between the two snipers is one of the most charming moments that one would ever see, and the quick twist see the danger, and then we see some more of those lovely situations which stay in our minds. The on-screen chemistry between the two is something that lasts since the first point of meeting itself, through the dangers, between all the shooting and explosions and more. As this one blend sci-fi, horror, action, thriller and romance in an unusual way, there is so much of freshness added here and we keep feeling the same throughout its run. The mysterious gorge setting, visual effects and creature and underworld designs are nothing less than classic in nature. What lies beneath gets the best of design as much as the view of the top.

Positives and negatives :: The movie could have had more moments of romance, and the cuteness factor often leaves too early. But we see that the action scenes are so engaging with romantic possibilities never leaving either. The final moments seem to get to that end too early and the climax gets a little bit predictable with a quick finish. Even though the background tale is nicely revealed and remains strong, it is not something new or that innovative – yet, they have made the whole thing look so good and made in a way in which it will remain strong and interesting. The birthday and dance moments are the cutest moments of the movie, and there is also that satisfying lovely ending which would make you hope for a sequel with these two. The battle underneath definitely makes the whole world gain in strength, and such a world could not be made with such quality and style in another movie. The setting itself is the one thing which made this happen. If these protagonists of the movie are not the most likable ones around as they set new meanings for long distance relationships, one can only wonder what else can be.

The performers of the soul :: The movie thrives on its performances as the leading cast make the whole thing so lovely and believable. We have known Miles Teller from Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant making a trilogy, and that version of Fantastic Four which is not remembered in compared to two other more famous ones. Here, he comes up with a performance to remember for very long. Meanwhile, Anya Taylor-Joy is so lovely in such a way that she stays in our minds like a beautiful memory of a lost world. She was someone who started so well with her first flicks, The Witch and Morgan, followed by being a part of Split and Glass, and she made Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga a movie known as much as for her performance as it was for the action and world building. We know that she is also part of the Dune series, and we are sure to have more of her around. She could be the perfect Resident Evil protagonist, but Umbrella Corporation’s people seem to have other ideas even with reboots. She could also be in an Underworld reboot with the action skills. These two protagonists share such an onscreen chemistry that it is the viewer who falls in love. The two are just remarkable also in the action sequences as they were with those cute moments of romance together.

How it finishes :: The Gorge is the one movie which comes out of nowhere to make a huge impact while blending its genres as it hesitates to be limited to one thing or even two. While the film’s mystery leads to some genuine suspense in the first half, the later revelations and action-filled climax keep the movie at the same level, while never losing the romantic side in the process. The blend of romance, horror, action, thrills and impressive visuals make it a worthwhile watch with some genre-bending science fiction. The combination of Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy is something that we will remember for a long time, as the movie keeps itself emotionally strong, with no dull moment at all. I would consider this movie as one of those rare flicks which appealed to us as part of all genres which it represented. The same is not an easy job, but it has been achieved with such ease, thanks to the performances. I would recommend this for fans of different genres and almost everyone, and I would have loved to watch this one on the big screen.

Release date: 14th February 2025
Running time: 127 minutes
Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver, Sope Dirisu, William Houston, Ruta Gedmintas

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The Whisper

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Vampire Owl: Have you heard about vampirism spreading through whispers in the wind?

Vampire Bat: Vampirism is supposed to spread only by biting.

Vampire Owl: Dr. Frankenstein knows about scientific vampirism.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein does not know science or vampirism.

Vampire Owl: Well, we only have one scientist and he is Frankenstein.

Vampire Bat: It is a shame that we immortals are to trust a duplicate from another realm.

Vampire Owl: He is the original certified scientist who is also a half-vampire.

Vampire Bat: Still, you shall find the vampires of this movie as stranger.

Vampire Owl: I do not see why they would not be strange in comparison.

Vampire Bat: You cannot expect all vampire depictions around the world to be the same.

[Gets a thattu dosa and three cups of Ooty tea].

What is the movie about? :: Lucía (Ana Clara Guanco) has fled from her home with her young brother Adrian (Marcelo Michinaux) as the situation in their home with their father Victor (Luciano Cáceres) would need them to follow a family vampire tradition. Victor has always been telling them that Adrian is just like him and will turn into a vampire, but Lucia who cared for her little brother did not listen to the same. Leaving Victor behind, they arrive at a secluded mansion deep into the woods seeking refuge and hoping that one day, they will have normal lives. But this attempt to stay normal is shattered when a cat which lives in the area brings them a human finger, revealing the fact that there is something terrifying going on in the area. There are movements around the house at night and something keeps triggering the car alarms, while the switches and electricity are not working properly either. The night seems to be difficult to go through, but she keeps asking Adrian to keep the headsets in his ears and forget all of these, while a group keeps kidnapping girls to kill them on camera and then sell the snuff videos for financial gains.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: She finds the worst when they find a girl being killed by some masked people on the camera on the collar of the cat. She checks for information online and finds out that many girls have been kidnapped from the area and one of such incidents happened on the road that goes in front of their home. She feels that they could be attacked any moment, and as she takes a file out of the camera and plays it on her desktop computer, she realizes that the house has been entered and they had tried to take her, but her brother had gone missing. Desperate to save him, she goes out and finds the men killed by her brother who seems to have bitten them and even turned one of them into a ruthless vampire. As they try to escape from the rest of the members of the group, she finds herself and the boy kidnapped and tied up in a warehouse. As she is unable to come up with an explanation what had happened to the other gang members, the group focusing snuff videos, decides to make her their next victim as they strip her down to her bra and panties and chain her to a bed to brutally kill her on the camera. Can the siblings escape in time?

The defence of The Whisper :: The tale of a brother and sister escaping an ancient family curse while also fighting a group of criminals makes such an interesting premise with a lot of possibilities, often endless and most of time very interesting. The isolated home with woods creates a bleak, eerie atmosphere that keeps viewers engaged while being emotionally attached to the brother and sister. The abiding sadness which surrounds the character of Ana Clara Guanco will keep us emotionally attached to her. An air of melancholy surrounds her at all times, and the depth of the same is reflected not just on her face, but in her movements which feels more motivated by perpetual sadness rather than fear. A crime thriller, supernatural horror, family drama and mystery come together towards the same here. The visuals of the setting are nicely captured to increase the tension and the feeling of danger. One can also note how well the cat in the movie serves the purpose, and how the initial scenes had set things in motion. The darkness has been effectively used as the movie’s ally too.

The claws of flaw :: The non-linear path which is taken here does not serve the purpose that well. The psychological side does not work that well here, and the terror could have also been shown in a more detailed manner with the cruelty felt even more. The slowness of the movie could also be seen as a concern as the movie brings down its pace a lot in the middle, which basically makes us feel that nothing much is to happen here and there would be just some forced ending to follow. The multiple ideas and genres followed here, despite having something in each, might not satisfy everyone as it goes through all of them without full focus on anything. Some subplots could have also been better explored and some character development for the characters other than the protagonist would have been much appreciated. Even the other two clearly named characters could have had more focus, but as Ana Clara Guanco does a brilliant job, most of it is just forgotten and not claimed as a big problem. The fights could have also been shown in a better manner and the vampire attacks misses out on fangs and claws while there were so many opportunities for the same.

The performers of the soul :: Ana Clara Guanco as Lucía does that kind of a work which we will remember for her being that tragic heroine who is ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for her brother. For him, she is ready to leave her home and all possibilities of a better life, moving to the middle of nowhere with no assurance of doing any better for herself and she does not even care for her safety. She plays the sibling whom every little brother would wish for, and the same is done in a believable manner. It can be seen that she runs to save him when he seems to be in some kind of trouble and when there is some problem, she tries to protect him with all her life. This reluctance to bring any harm to the boy lands her under the knives of a butcher, stripped to her underwear and chained to be hacked to death brutally in front of a camera. In the end, she would have to make the ultimate sacrifice and as the tragic heroine, embrace the worst. It is a very emotional performance which is there to stay. Luciano Cáceres as Victor has more than what we think he has to do, as he brings a lot more as the movie goes towards the end. Marcelo Michinaux also plays some good work as the little brother. The rest just have to follow the flow.

How it finishes :: The idea of escaping a violent world, stumbling into a world of snuff films and confronting a terrifying family curse at the same time is an idea that had a lot of scope. This definitely works, but one cannot say that it is at his best of strengths, and losses the power at regular intervals in between. This is still another interesting vampire movie and the one movie which it reminds one the most is Byzantium, but that was a more superior movie in all aspects; this one can only follow with most elements. Throughout the movie, we are still reminded that vampirism is one of the lesser evil that we can encounter, and there is always the bigger evil, which comes from humans who might know no way to stop themselves from turning pure evil. We are reminded that evil always finds a way and being attacked by a vampire is the least of your problems as human horror is always ready to be unleashed as darkness becomes more of their ally than that of any known nocturnal creature from myth or reality. With an emotional side, this one brings that particular reminder well, as we watch this one Amazon Prime Video.

Release date: 22nd January 2026
Running time: 100 minutes
Directed by: Gustavo Hernández Ibañez
Starring: Luciano Cáceres, Ana Clara Guanco, Marcelo Michinaux, Darío Lima, Horacio Camandulle, Rasjid César, Joro Gorfain, Machu Gutiérrez

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✠ The Vampire Bat.

Seetharam

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Vampire Owl: I remember hearing about the previous movie of this franchise.

Vampire Bat: Well, we have started hearing about more movies in different languages.

Vampire Owl: We have not reviewed enough Kannada movies either.

Vampire Bat: Well, we are still with a lot of chances to do the same.

Vampire Owl: Do you think that this is the twilight of our movie reviewing times?

Vampire Bat: Twilight and vampires are no longer related at all.

Vampire Owl: Still, nobody really reads the movie reviews. They only watch YouTube.

Vampire Bat: You know how lazy the humans are. They will stop reading completely.

Vampire Owl: As if they are reading anything right now.

Vampire Bat: Well, the lower number of students taking BA English clarifies on their lack of wisdom.

[Gets some Enchiladas and three cups of Agua Fresca].

What is the movie about? :: Seetharam (Vijay Raghavendra) is an honest sub-inspector who takes strict measures against criminals, and was only recently transferred from Haveri to a rural area where the Aanegadde police station is situated in Shivamogga district of Karnataka. The village appears calm like any other place which is far away from the busy cities and intermediate towns, but it has been experiencing a series of smaller crimes, burglaries and violent incidents that had created problems for him, but the biggest crisis was yet to come in the form of some gruesome murders. His investigation often suffered due to the lack of higher-level support and the reluctance of residents to cooperate with the police, but this time, everyone knew that things already went out of control and it was up to him to save them. This series of brutal murders without clear pattern except for the brutality continues to worry the village. As bodies continue to surface, forensic analysis suggests that these murders might be done by a psychopath and not by someone simply seeking revenge.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As Seetharam and his team continue to try and identify the motives along with the patterns which could establish some connections that could lead them to the killer, they arrest Sebastian (Gopalkrishna Deshpande), a former headmaster who lost his mind and murdered his daughter’s boyfriend, but still thinks that his daughter who committed suicide lives with him. But after they arrest him, they find out that more killings continue in the same pattern, and Sebastian seems like a man living in hallucinations and causing no harm to people outside except for filing fake cases in the police station. At the same time, Seetharam is having his problems with reconciling with his sister and brother-in-law. As each breakthrough only mean more complications or a dead end, his frustrations combined with his personal problems make it more difficult for him. Now it is to be seen if he can solve this mystery and find the killer before more people are dead.

The defence of Second Case of Seetharam :: The movie has its suspense maintained well, and the mystery holds its ground with red herrings nicely doing the job of bringing new paths. The serial killer mode has us interested since its inception. The village settings work in favour of the movie as the sinister feeling never leaves the environment and one can remember that there are many areas for a serial killer to be present, and the possibility of finding a serial killer in the darkness has never been this high. There is danger in every corner, with the clues that lead the police to a psychopath or the other never really ending the problem as the killings continue without any chance seemingly there to stop. With violent killings of unexpected people in acts which are not just of random revenge, this keeps on the level of Forensic more than any other, as random killings without any big reason keeps us close to the true psycho killer mode rather than the usual tales of vengeance which has lowered the level of movies like Anjaan Paathira and Pappan during the later stages. There seems to be something special about investigating such a case in rural area with fine visuals and all the greenery and a grand twist.

The claws of flaw :: The movie does make us feel that it is another version of similar movies, and there are moments when we feel that it is going to be another Memories – the family elements and some possible red herrings point to something similar, even though the same does not happen in the end. The feeling that we have seen these before seems hesitant to leave us. The movie does not have that much of a pace, and we often feel that the brother-sister angle did not help to improve on the same much. The stretch seems to have kept this movie at a longer run-time than it should have ever had. The emotions are not working at all times, and sometimes we feel that some moments were not used well enough to create that feeling of disgust and anger as in some other movies dealing with similar topics. The action is minimum and even a consistent talk about clues being found is rather minimum here when compared to other movies with police investigation at the core. When dealing with psychological elements, the movie keeps on struggling too, as we just have the killer established all of a sudden.

The performers of the soul :: Vijay Raghavendra as Seetharam goes through the police role with ease, and along with the investigation, we see the emotional side being safe with him, as such a man’s struggle with the unsolvable problems and a family which is not there for him. The flashback helps to assert the same very well as much as the past of the serial killer. Even though not the main antagonist, Gopalkrishna Deshpande as Sebastian makes quite an impact which would make him more significant than the rest of the characters, as he is also a tragic hero. Both of these characters have been performed with some fine maturity and intensity which makes them some perfect examples of their own kind. There are multiple layers to their performances too, as they are both family men as much as what they have become, one for duty and the other madness. Sagar Puranik and Usha Bhandary provide good support, contributing meaningfully to the emotional to the overall work. The supporting cast, even though much limited in screen time, performs their roles convincingly, never really moving out of the film’s realistic tone. They enhance the film, making the mystery and emotional moments more engaging and impactful to the audience.

How it finishes :: The mixed opinions for the movie might be more or less justified, as the movie seems to keep itself at a specific level, never really going above with innovations in the genre. It surely had the scope for future, even though that much does not get close to being achieved by the makers. A combination like this one which has mystery, suspense and emotional depth will work well for most of the audience, but it is to be noted that Malayalam movie industry has the best thrillers, and they are there to be watched. Before this, Movies of the Soul only had two Kannada movies reviewed, Murphy and Mythri, and the former was such a wonderful experience. The truth is that I have never managed to get that many recommendations about some good movies in the language except for those which have some action which does not work with the willing suspension of disbelief with seemingly superpowered people. Those would be less explored, less commercialized gems, and I would be looking for them rather than those big budget movies. Until then, there would be three movies in the same language from the industry and the hope for more would stay.

Release date: 20th February 2026
Running time: 120 minutes
Directed by: Devi Prasad Shetty
Starring: Vijay Raghavendra, Gopalkrishna Deshpande, Sagar Puranik, Usha Bhandary, Pradeep Anche, Madhusudhan Gatte, Aravind Shetty, Rajesh Keelambi, Mathew Surani. Ananth Bhat, Manjunath, Shanmugam, Nataraj Aralasurali, Sridhar Shimoga, Sudheendra Rao, Latha Rajkumar, Aishwarya Nagaraj, Sushma Honnalli, Fathima Rodrigues, Manaf

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

<<< Click here to go to the biggest movie of last year.

<<< Click here to go to the most awaited sequel of the year.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.