lust – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: It has been a long time since love was seen as bloody.

Vampire Bat: Well, all relationships beyond marriage are bloody.

Vampire Owl: Yes, people do fall in love and die.

Vampire Bat: It is quite natural, as we know the same news.

Vampire Owl: So many people die due to this romance.

Vampire Bat: Yes, such Ishq not in marriage is bloody and terrifying for sure.

Vampire Owl: Are they bloodier than Romeo and Juliet?

Vampire Bat: Well, at least they were really true to each other.

Vampire Owl: We cannot really have the dead people to talk, can we?

Vampire Bat: Not if they do not become vampires or at least zombies with a little bit of brain activity left in their heads.

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

What is the movie about? :: Neha (Avika Gor) is a young woman who has only recently had a near-death experience by drowning, and had lost her memory. She had fallen in love with Romesh (Vardhan Puri) and married her only a few months ago, and they had fallen in love when she was in Scotland, undergoing her studies. Now, they live in their large mansion on a deserted Scottish island, and as it is a grand old building, which he hopes to transform into a grand hotel by lakeside. Romesh assures her that she will regain her memory slowly and steadily as she goes backs to the same mansion and do things as she used to do. She also feels that she is going to heal in the mansion by herself while he goes to the mainland and work goes on in the building. But soon she feels that there is something hiding behind the grandeur of the mansion in its dark corners which seems to have something for her, as scary situations keep happening against all odds. She feels that there is something paranormal and that the house is haunted.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Now, it seems that she cannot go out of the island as she has developed a fear for water. But inside the house, there seems to be some spirits trying to communicate with her and there are doors which seem to be locked forever with the strongest of locks. There are arms coming after her with some of them bloodied, a naked woman is on her bed with moaning sound heard, and glasses of the house seem to break for no reason and there are weird noises which seem to suggest something out of this world and intending to cause her harm. It is then that she is visited by Devdutt Sinha (Shyam Kishore), an officer from the Scottish police department, who tells her that her husband is the prime suspect in the murder of her father-in-law. She feels that death is also wandering rather too close to her and her falling in water might also have some other explanation to it. Fear and confusion seem to be regular part of her life, with hope seemingly far off.

And what more would happen here as the supernatural is ready to have its final say, making humans feel irrelevant? :: A woman who claims to be her best friend Ayesha (Jeniffer Piccinato) tells her that her husband is a liar and has rather to many secrets hidden within him. She tells Neha to find out the truth before it’s too late. Abhay (Gautam Sharma), a paranormal investigator lets her know that he had come to their mansion with Tanisha (Arshin Mehta), a medium who was possessed temporarily by an unknown spirit at the same building, and he adds that it was a terrible experience. Tanisha was seriously injured during the incident and due to her lasting trauma, do not go for any paranormal investigations anymore. Soon, Neha comes to know about deaths that had happened in their mansion and also understands that the death of her father-in-law was not an accident. There is some mystery surrounding her husband and there is more to the place than what meets the eye. Can Neha find out the truth before time runs out or will the mixture of truth and lies consume her slowly and steadily?

The defence of Bloody Ishq :: There horror stays alive in this movie, and there is fear generation that stays strong. The setting of an old mansion on a remote island with nothing else around, is a location which supports the horror environment so well, and the building itself does the rest with the support of darkness, lighting and antiquity which stands apart. The choice of Scotland is even more interesting with that landscape and the Hollywood feeling provided on the visuals. It also remains a stylish world, and the spirit is also something that generates interest. There are some nice twists around here, and the paranormal suspense is nicely maintained around here. The use of twists over twists work, as they are not that huge and just following the flow of things. The psychological tension is always present and it becomes as significant as the supernatural which gets the support further. Avika Gor leads the way here, as the leading actress who try to find meanings out of lost memories. She seems to nicely suit the horror genre as much as romance. The background score keeps us interested, and the songs are soothing.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is not something we have not seen before, and the feeling of repetition is definitely there. There are moments which provides the feeling that it has happened before, and we have seen enough of this. A lot of things around are there to be guessed correctly, and the twists are not enough to keep us away from knowing some of these truths early enough, even though the protagonist is not smart enough to know the same. The predictability seems to have come from some inspiration that might be from the earlier movies. There are times when things get rather exaggerated, and there is too much of time in getting to that area which could have been reached with so much ease. There is a little bit too much of melodrama here, and that is also stretched towards ending, where the twists towards end lose the steam. There is no real grand terror on the screen by the end as one would expect after this big buildup. The loss of steam in between is mainly due to the romantic side being weak, and never really getting up after falling down multiple times.

How it finishes :: Bloody Ishq takes on the horror genre in that manner which makes one think that this one could have been another sequel to that good old horror genre – Murder with the supernatural or even Raaz. Love and deaths are common elements, and this one was also going to be a step closer to Hate Story it had come from another angle. In a perfect setting, this one tries, and even though never really managing to go in full power, gets an interesting thriller here – entertaining horror target has been achieved without that much of a difficulty. Even though there is certain lacking, this is not as bad as these reviews would say – this one is indeed a very much watchable romantic-horror thriller with good performances and a fine mood despite running predictability. If you enjoy Bhatt-style thrillers, this is for you, but not if you expect to anything new or even has the scope of innovation around here. After all, romance and blood come together in romantic thriller with added horror. Let us hope that Bollywood gains further power to improve on the usual and come up with something bigger.

Release date: 25th July 2024
Running time: 138 minutes
Directed by: Vikram Bhatt
Starring: Avika Gor, Vardhan Puri, Jeniffer Piccinato, Rahul Dev, Shyam Kishore, Coral Bhamra, Arshin Mehta, Gautam Sharma

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl: This was the name of that artifact which the northern witches used.

Vampire Bat: You mean to say that they were in contact with the demons?

Vampire Owl: Well, aren’t they supposed to be so?

Vampire Bat: They are usually in contact with those who rise from the grave.

Vampire Owl: Well, this is just one portal away from that.

Vampire Bat: Yes, but the demons are not really the undead in any way.

Vampire Owl: You do have something against some popular demons.

Vampire Bat: No, I am not talking about those tik-tok using humans.

Vampire Owl: At least, that episode is over for now.

Vampire Bat: You should know that demons, the masters of hell are not to be treated without extreme care.

[Gets a chocolate cake and three cups of white tea].

What is the movie about? :: Sadie (Kate James) haven’t been in good terms with her father John (Darren Day) for a long time, and never really picks up his call, until one day, she decides to do just that. But she hears some stranhe noise from his room, and he quickly cuts the call, citing an emergency. This is the last time when Sadie sees her father, and the next thing he knows about him is that he is dead. Much to everyone’s surprise, he is supposed to have committed suicide by hanging. This forces Sadie to come back to the house, which is in a remote location, and has nobody else to take over the same. There she meets the man with whom the house keys were left with, Dan (Robert Hamilton), and Sadie feels strange to be at that house which has her old dolls and cameras being set in every room, corridor and staircase. Dan also leaves a job for her in a newspaper, passed on to her by her father who had worked there until his death.

So, what happens with the events here? :: She is immediately hired at the newspaper as a photographer, and finds Dan in an awkward position with Faye (Ellie Goffe) who is supposed to be his fiancee. Dan and Sadie get their first assignment to interview Craig (Liam Fox), a local man who is supposed to have seen The Burning Girl (Alannah Marie) – it was part of a folklore which was supposed to have become reality for some people. There is the legend of the Demon Eye that goes with it, as a girl was burned as a witch a long time ago in the name of causing a famine which she had predicted with the help of an amulet some time ago. But on the way, she sees a fire and a person standing in it, and as she tries to take a photo, the battery goes down. Even while interviewing, she gets into a fight with the man whom she was supposed to interview. She is confused about all the information she had managed to get from different people about her father who she hated. Is there a secret to be unveiled in relation to her father’s death?

The defence of Demon Eye :: We have been falling short of some interesting horror movies, and then this one comes up. It is that movie which deals with its subject in a slightly different way, and the subject itself has more than one angle to take care of. The quick scares are all there, and the most effective one is with a severed head in the bath-tub, then there are hands coming from under the bed, hellish hound kind of thing and the usual burned face with all the creepiness that it can have. The length of the movie is also less in comparison, not going to even ninety minutes, and it does make the most of it, with not having much from the dull moments there. The atmosphere is also good, with a setting in the middle of nowhere, with vast landscapes inspiring dark folktales all around. There is always something about focusing on the folklore, whether it is real or not. This setting will impress you, and with moments to remember, makes its point really well.

The claws of flaw :: Among the horror movies these days, Demon Eye is the one which is rather less known, or not known at all at this part of the world. It should have still achieved more with the premise – you know that with the title itself and also with the idea which is being explored here. Whenever there is a demon involved, you can take it further with ease. The demons might have been less scary in comparison to pandemics, but they are not yet completely out of the equation. We have so many moments which could have been something bigger, but manages to adjust with what it has, not trying to raise the bar. The effects of the low budget are there too, even though they have partially overcome that. The ending of the movie also felt a little rushed, because a horror movie like this requires something bigger, and the case of the climax is also the same. The main character also required to make more out of the situations here.

Performers of the soul :: Kate James plays the protagonist in this movie, even though IMDb hasn’t really listed here at the top, or with a photo. Even though there is some struggle in the beginning stages, she plays the character really well, and only gets better in the later stages. She is part of almost every scary scene in this movie, and the best one is that of the bath-tub with the severed head, even though more could have been done with a character like hers. Her portrayal of the troubled character who need psychiatric help from the early stages is believable, without being melodramatic. The other actors don’t seem to try too hard, but manages to hold on. She is way ahead in that case, when we look closely. The other young lady in the movie is the next person to catch our attention, even though she is not there for too long on the screen – Ellie Goffe does a very good job too. Robert Hamilton, Darren Day and Liam Fox, all of them manage just enough here.

How it finishes :: There are always some interesting horror movies of interest, if we keep checking for them. Demon Eye can be on the list too, depending on your preferences, even though you can’t expect it to do too much with its content. This is the kind of horror movie which you watch on Friday nights for some fun scares, and for that purpose, this film is successful, leaving no doubts behind. With a fine premise, from a situation in which things could have gone much worse, the movie takes itself back to make sure that as a whole, it is a pretty good work. There might be a few things left unexplained though, but through the same, it leaves the scope for a sequel, even as we are not really supposed to expect one, considering the response it had received otherwise. Do add this to your horror collection, as one more demon, this time with another witch-hunting past, will bring the entertainment to you.

Release date: 26th April 2019
Running time: 87 minutes
Directed by: Ryan Simons
Starring: Darren Day, Liam Fox, Kate James, Ellie Goffe, Jimmy Allen, Alannah Marie, Robert Hamilton