Tag Archives: twist

Black

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: I am sure that this movie is about darkness.

Vampire Bat: There is no darkness that we do not know.

Vampire Owl: I feel that this would be pitch black.

Vampire Bat: This could actually be about the colour.

Vampire Owl: Nobody focuses on a colour like black.

Vampire Bat: Black is our national colour, so focus is already there.

Vampire Owl: Do you think that this movie would have unlimited dark horror?

Vampire Bat: The biggest of horrors are not dark or black, but much more.

Vampire Owl: You are talking about different colours of horrors in a witch’s cauldron.

Vampire Bat: Those are just potions and elixirs that cause stomach upset horror.

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

What is the movie about? :: In 1964, one a rainy night, three people drive on the road, two eloping lovers and their friend who are trying to stay away from the city while they get married on the very next day. The friend who also had love for the same girl comes back after leaving, and finds both of them murdered, and is surprised at the name of the one who committed the murder. Back to the present, Vasanth (Jiiva) and Aaranya (Priya Bhavani Shankar) are a couple who recently do not have a good time together due to their busy schedules at work and some occasional fights. There is also a fight at a pub which leads to Vasanth beating up a man who retaliates by breaking the glass of their car. To make things better, he proposes a vacation, but Aaranya suggests a weekend trip to their new apartment in a peaceful coastal area. Being the first residents in the villas, they are alone for that night except for the one security who is there for duty. There is a mysterious statue of an angel which has been there since 1964, with different relocation attempts failing one after the other, and it was something that was present during the earlier murder of the couple in that year.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The couple buys some supplies from a nearby supermarket and decides to settle in for a calm and peaceful night. They are surprised to find that the security of the villas has gone missing, and there is also a strange painting delivered to the location which is only known to their best friends. As the supermoon rises in the night, the power goes off and some strange sounds are heard. With no one to switch on the available power backup, they go to the parking area and manage to get it done. Aaranya feels that someone else was there in the parking area, but ends up finding nobody. A friend shows up and tells them that they made a call asking him to come over, which both of them denies. Vasanth and Aaranya, who have made no such call, are baffled but bid him goodbye saying that they have no problems. As he goes back to his car and finds the call on his mobile phone, he is confused, but has no option but to drive away from the area.

And what more is to follow in this world of chaos with something strange all around? :: Later, they find out that there are lights in the opposite villa, even though they were told that they were the only occupants in the group of villas. They find out that the opposite villa is exactly the same mirror image of their villa, but not just with the structure, but having identical furniture, drinks, and even the newly arrived painting. The painting which was once broken, appears okay when they return home, and the same also happens with the curtains which had caught fire. They try to escape in their car, only to find themselves reappearing in the same area after crossing a dark area. Panicked, Aaranya calls emergency services for help, but gets disconnected after telling them a bit. They find themselves in the opposite villa, shocking them about their own existence. Suddenly, an intruder comes in and attacks Vasanth, and it is another version of him, whom they both somehow manages to drive away. They have no idea what is happening and wonder how they can survive the night – can they?

The defence of Black :: The movie nicely explores parallel timelines or alternate realities, complex loops and identity confusion unlike what is usually seen around. Fans of the movie from which it is adapted – Coherence, will surely find it engaging, as they see the world of that movie of Hollywood beautifully recreated with the necessary changes to suit our world. Also, there will be a lot of people who have not watched that particular movie, which will make this experience feel to be fresh and very much new. That dark set of so much similar-looking houses provide us with the feeling of other science-fiction movies like Vivarium from where escape for so much more than just impossible. The environment is just perfect for the movie, and even though not a horror movie, there is terror right in here. Jiiva shines in the movie with multiple identities, while Priya Bhavani Shankar who was also seen in Demonte Colony 2 remains too good here. It has something to keep us engaged and on the edge of the seats at all times, as the mystery thickens and fear is generated from the hopeless situations faced by the protagonists. There is also a lot left to the imagination, which would work for the people who wish for more than what meets the eye. After all, we are the Avengers and Justice League multiverse – parallel worlds fans in heart.

The claws of flaw :: The movie does not seem to solve all its complications, as some confusions do seem to remain – ambiguity stays on without holding back. Multiple versions of characters with overlapping timelines being brought to limited expositions make it a hard thing to follow for casual viewers. The moments at the generator are as ambiguous as the ending, and the attempt to escape in the car also provides that strange feeling. There are also so many characters which remain underdeveloped and one wonders if they exist just to be around. The questions about which version of which characters come at which moment, and who all are matched with each other, keeps people wondering, and explanations are just basic, with visuals not giving that many deep ideas. For people who are not serious with science fiction, too much of time is wasted thinking about what is happening around here. The connections do not feel to be perfect, and sometimes, the movie seems to be a little bit stretched beyond need too.

How it finishes :: Black, despite said to be the adaptation of an English movie, feels like having undergone a transformation to reach this situation which seems to be well-suited for this environment. There seems to be a lot of variation from that tale too, and most of us have not really watched that particular movie either. This version also has quality written all over it, as there is a fine presentation of the idea, even though we cannot deny the existence of some confusion in between, as the blending of time travel, alternative realities and science fiction are not that easy to work with, especially with some strange phenomenon coming in out of nowhere – even the audience would not be ready for the same. But we know that the effort is so good, and this divergence has been the need of our times. Without such thoughts, would movies like Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra and Minnal Murali be around in Malayalam movie industry? Our movie’s twisted realities remind us of the earlier Pechi which was dealing with another genre, but brought the complexities of multiple realities as if hallucinating in an uncertain world. This one here is surely worth your time.

Release date: 11th October 2024
Running time: 117 minutes
Directed by: K G Balasubramani
Starring: Jiiva, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Vivek Prasanna, Yog Japee, Sindhoori, Shah Ra, Swayam Siddha, Raja Rudrakodi, Bharath Sivarajan, Mahimai Raj,Dharma Raj, G V Krishna, Pop Suresh

<<< Click here to go to the previous review

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

I Heart Willie

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: This particular person looks like the Frankenstein monster.

Vampire Bat: The Frankenstein monster has been on the missing list for a long time.

Vampire Owl: Dr Frankenstein once told me about his location.

Vampire Bat: Mr Frankenstein has never told anyone any truth.

Vampire Owl: Truth is often what human make. We create realities.

Vampire Bat: Do you remember the last time when you created another reality?

Vampire Owl: It was a mistake. The alternate reality lives on under our control.

Vampire Bat: That reality has transformed into something like a cartoon.

Vampire Owl: It is just a really cool place like a fantasy world.

Vampire Bat: I still do not know why you made it an elf-halfling-dwarf-hobbit place.

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

What is the movie about? :: Four friends Nora (Maya Luna), Nico (Micho Camacho), Daniel (Sergio Rogalto) and Jess (Daniela Porras) are four friends who have been trying to make a movie for YouTube within a scary setting in the woods, which has an old mansion and a past which would keep most people away, and is off the limits according to the police and administration. There is the tale about a boy with a mouse-like head believed to have inspired Mickey Mouse who lived there long ago, and is associated with a tale of horror hat have scared many generations. Jess seems to be someone who fantasize about monstrous villains, wearing black clothes and lipstick, more of a Goth who loves to travel to these locations. Nora is more of the one who wishes to help everyone, loves Mickey Mouse and tries to be nice to everyone around, showing a great amount of concern whenever anyone has a chance to get hurt. She seems to have joined them more to help than anything else.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Daniel and Nico have been good friends who often take similar videos, making them viral on YouTube and Instagram, and Nora used to be in a relationship with the former for some time. While this former relationship brought Nora with them, the interesting in being viral with something spooky, like she had done with Ouija boards and dark spaces brought her here – she has also been best friends for Nora for about half of her life. They decide to start shooting immediately, but end up finding a burned man who scares them out, only to find an abandoned van outside which has rather too much blood for anyone’s liking. Jess who finds this an opportunity to get closer to the newly single Daniel, seduces him, only to find her desires paused by a presence outside. A certain person seems to wander around outside with a weapon, which it seems to use to carve people, and the only chance for them to survive is to stay together in the area without network coverage, but can they?

The defence of I Heart Willie :: If there was a psycho killer movie with a perfect protagonist as much as antagonist, it is this one with Maya Luna at its heart. Her transformations not just in the personality but also with the looks in the movie really leads us through a journey which advances so well. One would need to watch how she changes, and her final moments are nothing less than magnificent. Daniela Porras’ performance also provides a few reflections of the strong horror slasher elements, as she surprisingly rises above other main characters at times, creating her own moments. The setting is really good, and the atmosphere adds to the overall fear elements. The inverted Steamboat Willie the psycho killer in the form of the childhood hero turned super-villain who slashes people into pieces has its own impact. The ending is for you to remember and spawn a sequel, as this is the one twist which is nicely built and executed well, with a shot of mickey and his minnie mouse that will further raise the level of the movie.

The claws of flaw :: The movie often hesitates to use its strengths to the best advantage. When there is a psycho killer on the loose and that person seems to have extraordinary supernatural strength, one would surely expect more. A certain amount of budget limitation can be felt in between. The fight against evil is rather too weak, as we look around here – even the basic tendency to escape from a certain doom seems to be missing, with the characters not understanding the terror early enough and by the time they do, they are just too weak. The hunting could have been done in a more frightening way too, as the running and hiding are also too less here – maybe having a horror movie in less than one and half hours, that too when establishing a new universe, seems to be a little too less to be on the screen. Some quick scares here and there could have strengthened the fear factor to a very much higher level as the dark world in the woods is surely there to be taken, maybe the sequel would do it.

The performers of the soul :: The movie is led by Maya Luna who might be the greatest scream queen any slasher movie has produced in some time. From the beginning itself she creates a certain interest among the horror fans, and becomes that character who makes the slasher more interesting than it could have ever been. There are some fine moments that she provides, and shows that her acting skills can make any slasher horror better. She shows the multiple faces of the character and its adaptations as this is one dynamic character in horror that we do not usually see. She is unforgettable in those final moments, in her underclothes and covered in blood, with that grin that is going to stay with the viewer for long. Daniela Porras is not that far behind in that scream queen status, but remains the usual kind of horror character for a slasher, and has the usual dialogues and scenes for such a movie, and she perfects the same. The others only come as supporting to this work, while the antagonist by David Vaughn also excels.

How it finishes :: I Heart Willie takes a different approach to slasher horror despite tendency to become a Wrong Turn, and deviates well especially as it moves towards the end, and has one of the more classic endings which could have cult following, and inspire a number of sequels which could be even more twisted. One can wait for them, and until then, enjoy this particular movie which leaves new doors open. Steamboat Willie, the 1928 American animated short film and the first public debut of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, has been nicely deviated to make a serial killer at work. As the particular cartoon entered the public domain on January 1, 2024, the movie has nicely made the same transform into something unique – it is something that we will remember for the deviation now. Well, Mickey Mouse could always be evil, as it is the cat who should be on the human side – we know who is the real villain in Tom n Jerrry as we have grown up now; a mouse is better suited to the other side of neutrality. Watch the movie, and you will be sure about it.

Release date: 8th November 2024
Running time: 89 minutes
Directed by: Alejandro G Alegre
Starring: Maya Luna, Micho Camacho, Sergio Rogalto, Daniela Porras, David Vaughn

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Woman in Cabin 10

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: I hope they are not talking about Cabin 10 in the castle.

Vampire Bat: We do not have cabins here. We have resting places.

Vampire Owl: Okay, then it should be Resting Place 10.

Vampire Bat: I also do not think that there is the number 10 in the castle.

Vampire Owl: You mean those young vampires cannot count?

Vampire Bat: No, we start with the number 13. It is our lucky number.

Vampire Owl: You mean to say that you do not count downwards either.

Vampire Bat: Then, we will have to stop at zero or one.

Vampire Owl: Dr. Frankenstein usually counts through the negatives.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein does things in the most ridiculous ways.

[Gets a Milk Bikis biscuit and three cups of Munnar tea].

What is the movie about? :: Laura Blacklock (Keira Knightley), known in the field of journalism as “Lo”, is one of the best-known figures of investigative journalism, and is recovering from the trauma of witnessing the death of one of her informers, and her co-workers keep asking her to take a break, at least a short one so that they could come back stronger. As she could not be completely out the job, which she never wishes to be, she gracefully accepts an invitation from terminally ill billionaire named Anne Bullmer (Lisa Loven Kongsli). She is asked join her and her husband Richard Bullmer (Guy Pearce), along with their extremely wealthy guests, on their high luxury superyacht which is sailing to a fundraising gala in Norway. She is never really out of the journalism job, as she has to write about the Bullmers’ new charitable foundation while she is there, and get it to the public through the media. Laura finds this to be a good break from the office for a change, and is offered the best of amenities.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: There she meets Ben Morgan (David Ajala) again, a fellow journalist and photographer who used to be her lover, and has been assigned to cover the programmes with his camera. Dr. Robert Mehta (Art Malik) who is also on the ship to help Anne, feels that she does not have much time due to the spreading cancer. While trying to avoid Ben, Laura ends up in the cabin numbered 10, and sees a blonde woman, but the meeting is short-lived. But when she feels that there is someone who fell off the ship, and drops of blood from a distance, she feels that the lady in that cabin might have fallen off, but Captain John Addis (John Macmillan) assures her that there was nobody in the cabin, and it has been empty all the time. But she is sure that she saw someone, but everyone assures her that it could be the trauma. She also feels that she was pushed into the swimming pool, and that someone wrote something on her bathroom’s glass when she was naked and taking a shower, as if someone is keeping a watch on her all the time after talking about the cabin 10. Now it remains to be seen if she is hallucinating or if there is something more sinister around.

The defence of The Woman in Cabin 10 :: The sense of mystery remains central to the main idea of the movie as it keeps us guessing, even when the pace is not that much to be taken here. The cast seems to be rightly suitable for the movie, as we see them rising above the simplicity of the movie here. The luxury yacht setting works well to build atmosphere even though there is not much focus on the facilities of the ship as it could have been done. The contrast of emotions facing different realities going between what is seen and what is not, goes on well. The movie remains suitable for the OTT streaming, and as it released directly to Netflix, it does feel like the right one for the platform. Based on the 2016 novel by Ruth Ware, this is one movie which seems to keep that kind of a mood, even though that freedom to visualize could have meant more. The setting that provides the view of the luxury yacht keeps working well, even though that much focus is not provided there. The twist is pretty good even though revealed easily and without providing a powerful impact when it is known.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is just too slow for this kind of a run, and it often seems to walk slowly with utmost care. The drag is felt on so many occasions, and there is nothing much to keep us interested in between, as we just keep moving around without the real sense of danger or any kind of fun, making this one not dark, but rather dull in between. This one surely needed at least some moments of terror or some classic visuals – after all, we have such a good-looking luxury yacht, and the makers could show some parts of it so that those who might never travel in one can enjoy the beauty; that could make the whole thing more interesting. The failure of the movie to do anything special and instead go on a path as if to bring that final suspense and twist which comes in as end nears would not make a movie become a favourite, even with some fine performers around. The movie does need to know itself more as much as its audience. After all, we are all looking for something extra in a movie.

The performers of the soul :: The movie gets the advantage of having Keira Knightley around at the top. As we have always known, even after these many years, she is one performer whom we have trusted to do the job. Her presence itself is an assurance that the tale will go on well with the support of fine performances that will automatically come. She provides a true reflection of what happens on the ship. Guy Pearce also stays solid in a very serious role as we see multiple character depths on him, while David Ajala adds on well, and is a more relevant character than one would think about. Art Mallik adds a certain amount of depth to the whole thing. Gitte Witt can be seen adding some more good work too. Other performers like Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Hannah Waddingham, John Macmillan, Paul Kaye, David Morrissey, Kaya Scodelario, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Daniel Ings and Christopher Rygh add on further. Lisa Loven Kongsli’s smaller role is notable than one would think. There are not too many characters with that much of a depth for us check in detail with the performances.

How it finishes :: The Woman in Cabin 10 is that kind of a slow thriller with its suspense and thrills coming on slower and slower as the finish is near. There is no denying its ability to bring the suspense and twist and keep it thrilling as the end comes, but the way in which it does the same cannot be interesting to many people. I have found this one to be something of interest, but not by that much. I would not deny the fact that I have been looking for the secrets to be unveiled as the movie progresses, but remain surprised how it ended just as if it had to end, for there are many more things that could be done. For now, this seems like a movie meant to go be identified as a thriller, but not done without that much of an effort – if this was a Malayalam movie, it would have identified as a drama movie, with some extra additions becoming part of it. As it is on Netflix, it would not hurt to watch it when there is spare time, and come up with some explanations on how it could have been better, and enjoy the journey as much as it can be, without too much of expectations to go with it, for we will survive.

Release date: 10th October 2025 (Netflix)
Running time: 95 minutes
Directed by: Simon Stone
Starring: Keira Knightley, Guy Pearce, Art Malik, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Hannah Waddingham

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

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

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Oddity

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: I would like to say that we are all odd.

Vampire Bat: We are odd for the humans indeed.

Vampire Owl: We have called odd by Dr Frankenstein millions of times.

Vampire Bat: Mr Frankenstein knows nothing about vampires.

Vampire Owl: Yes, he is a man of science and an expert in the same.

Vampire Bat: He is a man of pseudoscience like no other.

Vampire Owl: Well, humans call us as part of this pseudoscience too.

Vampire Bat: The lack of belief in God is slowly eating humans from inside.

Vampire Owl: I have heard that the demons of the night are also burning them.

Vampire Bat: I know that there is a great war coming among humans, bigger than they have ever known, and the godless world of theirs which twists religion for politics is going to burn.

[Gets a masala bonda and three cups of tea by Fort Cochin Beach].

What is the movie about? :: Dani Odello-Timmis (Carolyn Bracken), wife of Ted Timmis (Gwilym Lee), a renounced psychiatrist, moves to a new country house which is located in the middle of nowhere. As Ted works during the nights, and as the hospital is short-staffed, she decides to stay at the new house through the night and arrange a few things even though there is a lot of work to be done. She tries to call her twin sister Darcy Odello (Carolyn Bracken), who is a clairvoyant, but is unable to get to her on the phone. Olin Boole (Tadhg Murphy), a former of patient of Ted visits Dani on the might and asks her to let him in so that he can help her with the people who had gotten inside her home. Even though she feels that she heard some sound inside, she is reluctant to get him inside and asks him to go away. Olin tells her to call the police and seems to walk away. She is scared, but decides to stay inside and not open the door. But in the morning, she is found dead, and Olin is believed to be the murderer.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Soon, Olin is also found dead in the mental hospital where he was admitted, and he seemed to have met his death in the most brutal manner. One year later, a woman named Yana (Caroline Menton) starts living with Ted as his new girlfriend. She is not happy about living in home in the middle of nowhere which had seen that one mysterious and brutal death. She feels that there is something sinister at work there, and she gets visions of the dead woman all the time. Even though she credits the same to sleeplessness, she wishes to moves to the city as her new boyfriend is always at the hospital during nights in the name of extra work and too many patients. Meanwhile, the twin sister Darcy, who has been talking to the spirits, seems to be in need of investigating the murder as she feels that there is something more to that particular murder. She decides to visit the house where the murders took place – what will she find there? Is there anything to find out?

The defence of Oddity :: The movie remains highly atmospheric, and this country mansion in the middle of nowhere is the perfect place to live as long as you are looking for horror. The setting justifies everything else, as we have the feeling that the supernatural is always around, even though the presence of a human killer or a psycho is also around to be felt. The movie has its own unsettling moments, and there are some red herrings which comes right out of nowhere. The movie does feel clean, with nothing unnecessary being put into use here. There is a lot of evil that runs through the background of the movie which can be used for a sequel too. The supernatural elements of this one can have another movie or even get multiple spin-offs. There seems to be a limitless journey like The Conjuring in store here, but due to the nature of this movie, we need to doubt such an existence. Maybe, this is only a beginning which will stay fine at the beginning.

The claws of flaw :: The movie remains too slow and continues to lag even with such a short run-time which could have been a boon here. There are too many moments when nothing much is happening, or at least make us feel so. Too many dialogues also send the movie into a struggle, as there are too much words and less action. There could have been some big action at least with those hallucinations, but that is not so. There are moments which are predictable, and at some point, we have already guessed a number of main things here – for a movie like this, it is not too acceptable. There are some elements and some characters who needed a detailed exploration, but that focus is certainly not here to be taken. The lack of focus comes back to haunt the movie at times, as the emotional attachment also leaves us on the way due to the same reason. Something at the centre of all these, also needed some explanation instead of coming alive in the end.

The performers of the soul :: The movie is led really well by Carolyn Bracken who plays two roles, one of an unsuspecting lady who is excited to move to a new house and loves her sister and husband very much, while there is the second sister who is blind, but is in contact with the supernatural as the one sister who is more determined than ever, and yet makes one feel that there is something strange as well as psychotic about her, along with being psychic. These are the characters so well-played that we fall in love with both, and there is that nice divergence from each other that we love to have. Gwilym Lee comes with the classic work as the man who does all the job, and is the man to look out for. Tadhg Murphy plays a memorable character and does it in a convincing way even though not present throughout the movie. Caroline Menton plays her character in a believable way with no pretentions. Steve Wall also stays in a notable role which becomes more relevant as the movie reaches the final moments.

How it finishes :: Oddity had so much scope to be something bigger, but it resists that tendency to search for grandeur with ease. The movie takes too safe a path here, and the same is evident at times. The movie could have been a psychological and supernatural masterpiece with elements from both sides, but that heavy load is not taken here, as there seems to a certain reluctance to go big. Therefore, as it is, this is one movie which works, and gives us some fine moments to remember, but there is nothing much that would extend its stay. This one is not going to be a Sinister, Insidious, Oujia, The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Nun or The Curse of La Llorna, establishing certain evil that we are going to remember for long. Instead, it is that common safe route horror movie which brings some innovation and shoots the scares that work with an abiding mystery all around. Let us watch this one and keep guessing on what is to happen next with its own suspense creeping into the classic space for horror.

Release date: 30th August 2024
Running time: 98 minutes
Directed by: Damian McCarthy
Starring: Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton, Jonathan French, Steve Wall

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Pechi

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: Are we now looking for witches again?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Agni

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: Are we looking for vampires of fire?

Vampire Bat: There are none, as fire burns and ends us in seconds.

Vampire Owl: I was talking about the fire inside us.

Vampire Bat: Well, we are going to need firefighters in that case.

Vampire Owl: I would let the fire burn right inside us.

Vampire Bat: None of us vampires require fire, as we are the dark chilling frost.

Vampire Owl: The darkness in us resists the fire and brings the frost.

Vampire Bat: The northern witches have spread the darkness throughout the realm.

Vampire Owl: The magic in the world has been darker than ever and creating more shadows with the shades making an entrance.

Vampire Bat: The pure evil darkness has replaced our original dark, nocturnal world. Now there is darkness during daytime too.

[Gets a kadai chicken pizza and three cups of iced tea].

What is the movie about? :: Vitthalrao Dhonduba Surve (Pratik Gandhi) has been serving as the Chief of Parel Fire Station in Mumbai, and is disturbed by the fact that there are too many fire outbreaks in his area, leading to restless nights. Sr. Inspector Samit Sawant (Divyenndu), his brother-in-law, is asked to investigate into the matter by the authorities. The two are not in the best of terms, and searches in their own ways. Their wives Rukmini Surve (Sai Tamhankar) and Sayali Sawant (Sakhi Gokhale) are not really happy about this lack of understanding, but there is nothing that they can do about the same. Fire Officer Avni Purohit (Saiyami Kher) finds out that not everything is right around there due to the illegal constructions and lack of enough facilities to fight the fire. But there seems to be something more sinister at work, as Vitthal finds out that there was something about the fire, and it seems more than just a usual one. It seems to spread and cause destruction like no usual accident has been doing.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Senior Fire Officer Mahadev Nigde (Jitendra Joshi) and his own family asks him to take care of his health, as he struggles to breathe at times, but that does not stop him from trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. As time runs out, Samit arrests a businessman, and blames the whole thing on him. He is appreciated by the government, but Vitthal feels that he has captured the wrong person, and the accused might have done many things, but not this particular crime. His son Amar (Kabir Shah) also appreciates his uncle more than his father as he is a decorated police officer. Now, what all awaits the city, and someone knowing this all wander in the streets looking forward to burn the world? Can this particular person be identified and stopped in time? Will there be a final showdown with burning buildings or an arrested criminal who had his strange reasons to get people killed?

The defence of Agni :: The feeling of realism in Agni is too good, and there seems to be no traveling through a journey of nonsense that has plagued Bollywood for a long time. The special effects, cinematography and sound design used here are normal and never makes us feel that it is overdone. There is a lot of fire in this movie, but there is nothing that keeps us away from reality. The performance also feels real and so do the situations. At no moment does this movie try to do the unreal, and that is the beauty of it. It explores the bravery, sacrifice and underappreciated service that the firefighters have been providing, but without gaining that much of an attention. The question remains about how many firefighters do we know even though we might know enough police officers – the fact remains that a mock drill by some of these officers can actually help us in the case of a possible crisis. The main firefighters of this movie are those who will stay in our minds due to what they have been working with here.

Positives and negatives :: The movie does not bring the special around here, as it seeks to remain the usual to stay close to reality. One might feel the need to bring a bigger twist around here, but as the reality element comes into the picture, the same is often forgotten. The flames here become symbols that will stay with us for quite a long time, as it feels like a reflection of lives. The movie is also a reminder on the fact that things are not really what they seem, and that the system will make its own villains, as there might never be a thing like perfect or near-perfect system. Well, it shows that the world can never be fair, but does bring that feel-good factor in the end so that some poetic justice can come to the picture. It leaves us with the faith, belief and hope that efforts and goodness will be rewarded, and the other side would not always have its way. It does the same without preaching and makes the same happen. There is a certain amount bliss that we will feel at the end of the movie, and even if seemingly placed, seems suited. Yet, we long for more, I wonder why.

The performers of the soul :: The movie is led forward by a perfect performance from Pratik Gandhi, who never stays behind in coming up with realistic moments of his portrayal of the main character who stays human and not as a superstar who needs to evoke the dumb masses. The silent intensity that he displays with the determination against hopelessness, will keep us going. He becomes the common man’s hero, and not that wretched superhero of unreality, something which the stars of Indian movie industries have struggled to become. Divyenndu is not far behind in doing the same either, as he goes through the work in a classic manner and not as if there is a mass to be treated into nonsense. They do make a good combination, and we would end up wishing for more of them to do with the investigation together. Among the ladies, it is Saiyami Kher who stands apart, and elevates the movie in her own way. Sai Tamhankar and Sakhi Gokhale follows well. Jitendra Joshi and Udit Arora have some memorable characters too.

How it finishes :: Agni becomes a breath of fresh air among those polluted movies with so called superheroes who fly around murdering villains as if they are sleepwalking. It is a shame that such mass entertainers even bring awards to the actors when they performers do nothing of substance in such cinema which means nothing, but appeals to the dumb. This one reminds us of the Malayalam movie Fireman, but is surely better than all those flicks with the content which stays at a classical level with no heroism at all. This is the kind of movies that need, and such movie elevate Bollywood to such a level which not many so-called superheroes can get it. Against such mindless heroes of mass masala, let movies like this one rise, and also leave with a message that we will remember, and in the end, we respect the right heroes, and when we look closely, none of them are celebrities, and no human among them would want to be celebrated that much. There can only be a few Stree, Bob Biswas, Baby, Te3n, Ek Villain, Wazir, Madras Cafe etc that really thrills without going overboard.

Release date: 6th December 2024 (Amazon Prime Video)
Running time: 124 minutes
Directed by: Rahul Dholakia
Starring: Pratik Gandhi, Divyenndu, Saiyami Kher, Sai Tamhankar, Jitendra Joshi, Kabir Shah, Udit Arora, Sakhi Gokhale, Anant Jog, Pramod Pathakm, Paritosh Pathak, Kanchan Pagare, Abhishek Kandekar, Sushant Shetty

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

<<< Click here to go to another movie dealing with firefighters.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Scream VI

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: Do you have a count of the number of serial movies we have watched?

Vampire Bat: I even have a count of the number of Ghostface films we have watched.

Vampire Owl: The Ghostface is not that scary a face.

Vampire Bat: Not for us vampires, but they are for the humans.

Vampire Owl: The spoof movies have killed that fear effect.

Vampire Bat: Well, spoof movies also have the fear factor.

Vampire Owl: They are supposed to be funny, right?

Vampire Bat: Yet, there is something scary coming from within.

Vampire Owl: We do not get scared that easily.

Vampire Bat: Yet, we have enough to be scared about, including some mean humans.

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

What is the movie about? :: It is a Halloween night and things seem to go really smooth with some fine trick or treat times. Laura Crane (Samara Weaving), a film professor is murdered in the alley by one of her students wearing the Ghostface costume who feels that she has been blaming him too much for failing. But the same person after returning from the act of cruelty is brutally stabbed multiple times to his death by another person in the Ghostface costume who gets into his home. Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), the two sisters who escaped the attack of the Ghostface killer have now moved into New York City with the latter attending Blackmore University where Laura also taught about slasher films from the last century. The other survivors Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding) are also there. Quinn Bailey (Liana Liberato), Anika Kayoko (Devyn Nekoda) and Ethan Landry (Jack Champion) are the other three students who are close to them and they are more like one group.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), a survivor of the earlier murders is now an FBI agent, and gets herself assigned to the case. Wayne Bailey (Dermot Mulroney) is the original police officer assigned to case, and has no clue about what has been happening. Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), the survivor who wrote books about the Ghostface-related murders is also there as reporter again. The situation seems to be more complicated than ever, as the killer is not just out to kill the two sisters, but also prove that they were always the real killers. Gale had also found an abandoned theatre, which was set up like a shrine for the killers wearing Ghostface masks. The survivors decide that it is time to finish the Ghostface forever, with Wayne and Kirby on their side. They set up traps for the murderer, but the person seems to be smarter than that, and there seems to be surely more than one killer wearing the costume. So, how will they find the killers with the Ghostface mask without being killed? How much of the mystery can they manage to solve before most of them get brutally stabbed by the person in black?

The defence of Scream VI :: As a sequel to a slasher franchise that goes a long way from the past’s nostalgia to the present, the movie maintains the standard which we were assured with the earlier films. The first scene is surely among the best, as even with some deviation, there is that murder at a time when were less expecting it to happen. Samara Weaving in the beginning becomes part of that talk which brings the early twist with blood and gore back to the track. There is no better sight than a Ghostface coming after another. You are reminded that Ghostface is forever, and there is no going back from this particular serial killer – we have others for sure, but this is one killer that rises above them all without any superpowers and by not truly coming back from the dead. The final scenes are really well, and we have some nice moments in a train too. The hunt feels very much dangerous, and we know that there is something more to be revealed here. This time, the villain is not just about the movies, as things well be more personal than ever. You will also be screaming for more, as we look forward to a sequel to take this forward even further.

The claws of flaw :: We are looking at another Scream movie here, and after so many films in the franchise, we expect the flick to be a lot better. The case of repetition does not make things better, even though there was the chance to move away from the common ideas – it could have focused on horror which takes a side-seat instead of coming to the front. There is a certain amount of weakness in the horror elements which goes back instead of bringing the terror. There are some movies which focused on slasher horror so well, placing that element over the others, like There is Someone Inside the House and the three movies of Fear Street. Even the reboot of Wrong Turn came back with the elements so well. We have always remembered this movie for slasher horror, but there are so many occasions when we see that this flick tries to go back to the past and feed on the nostalgia even at a time when there is none. The twist is not that much working, as one could successfully guess some part of it. The common slasher elements could have been brought in there to increase the impact.

The performers of the soul :: Melissa Barrera continues her good form as the scream queen here too, and maintains the legacy of the Scream franchise well. The final moments provide her with the opportunity to get close to that legacy and she manages that with ease. The action in the end has her as a possible action heroine at some point, like Kate had its female assassin in full strength. Jenna Ortega does well as the second most important character, the sister who finds trouble again and fights it well with the sibling. She would make no lesser scream queen either. Courteney Cox does the same thing again, as she has been doing for a very long time – while adding to the nostalgia, the feeling of repetitiveness feels a little too much. Hayden Panettiere has been a crush for a lot of us during the 2000s, and it is good to see her again, leaving us with some more of fine nostalgia to add here. Her work remains a highlight in this movie too. Samara Weaving could have had more screen space though, as she was the one who started this film so well. Another seemingly interesting scream queen is Liana Liberato, and the rest also nicely contributes to the slasher.

How it finishes :: I have never been far away from slashers, as they have been part of my journey with horror movies for a long time – I would be teaching them with a lot of happiness if it was part of the syllabus in a university. Here, it can be seen that the one franchise with which we have the nostalgia associated, has another movie to keep us interested in the serial killer whom everyone remembers and uses as a common model for Halloween celebrations regularly. Ghostface is to live forever through different killers, and the murderers of this movie also makes it count. Yet, we feel that this could have been better, and that the movie could have elevated the whole thing to another level through horror. There could have also been some music to add to that horror, and darkness could have also contributed better. It does misses out with the horror as it can be seen here, and we call for sequels of Sinister, Evil Dead, Insidious, Annabelle, The Nun or The Conjuring to serve for the same, as they have done with the first of their series.

Release date: 10th March 2023
Running time: 122 minutes
Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Starring: Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Mason Gooding, Liana Liberato, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda, Jenna Ortega, Tony Revolori, Josh Segarra, Samara Weaving, Hayden Panettiere, Courteney Cox

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Killer Book Club

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: This would be an interesting book club.

Vampire Bat: You mean to say that there are new book clubs in the castle.

Vampire Owl: Who reads that many books these days?

Vampire Bat: Well, I do read many of them.

Vampire Owl: I am sure that you do not count as an external reader.

Vampire Bat: I do take external book club cards.

Vampire Owl: You can read all the best horror books in the castle.

Vampire Bat: I would read these books like a non-vampire would do.

Vampire Owl: So, it is a fine method to be scared of vampires too.

Vampire Bat: I do not see why we should not be scared of ourselves.

[Gets a butterscotch cake and three cups of tea with kulfi].

What is the movie about? :: Angela (Veki Velilla) is a college student who wishes to be a critically acclaimed and popular writer, now trying to write her second work. Her professor Antonio Cruzado (Daniel Grao) who used to help her with writing seems to have an infatuation with her, and makes advances to her. As Angela’s friends come to know about it, they suggest that they get back to him, and for the same, they choose a killer clown prank which would leave him scared enough for the rest of his life. The group which includes Sebas (Alvaro Mel), Nando (Ivan Pellicer), Sara (Ane Rot), Rai (Carlos Alcaide), Virginia (Priscilla Delgado), Eva (Maria Cerezuela) and Koldo (Hamza Zaidi), plans the whole thing perfectly after sending a fake e-mail to Antonio. But the prank goes terribly wrong, as they end up causing him to fall down from the top of the building and get impaled on the spear held by a statue of Don Quixote below, leading to his instant death.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Even though their instant reaction is to blame Angela for what has happened, they decide to keep all of these a secret and make a promise that they would never talk about this to anybody. The very next day, as everyone comes to know about his death, the popular opinion is that he committed suicide as his wife had left him, and the police also goes with the same conclusion, leading them to believe that things will get back to normal. But soon, they find out that a masked killer clown is stalking them, and wishes to take them down one after the other as the person wears the same mask as they were wearing. After murdering each person, the clown would write a chapter about the brutal death and post it online, and the readers also have a chance to vote on who will be murdered next. The readers do not have any idea what this is really about, as the original names are provided. The group decides to stop this madness from continuing, but has no idea about whom to suspect. Is this a silent stalker or someone among them?

The defence of Killer Book Club :: Slasher horror movies are welcome to bring new serial killers into a world of chaos in which humans have never hesitated to kill one another. There have been more classic slashers being produced in almost every language these days, even though Hollywood have come up with less interesting ones in the last few years. This one is based on a book, which means that it has promises to keep for the readers. The visuals are really good, and the setting feels like the right one, including the dark corners inciting horror and the architectural beauty that stays alive. The statue of Don Quixote comes as a fine reminder for the connection between the movie and literature, as the horror itself comes from writings here, and the publication of books and online content remains a priority throughout the film’s run-time. This also remains a short movie, as the run-time works to its advantage. The final twist over the twist remains interesting, and the power of mystery has run through this quite well without giving away the chance at predictability.

The claws of flaw :: Killer Book Club might feel like too similar with many other titles, and following the formula, but not well enough to elevate the same. There are enough murders happening here, but none of them creates a terrifying or divergent impact which could have made the environment better. The scares are not that much present as we would have wanted. A killer in a clown mask can achieve wonders – you know what the clowns do, whether in It and its sequel or in Terrifier; the horror in such cases is of a different level, with blood and gore assured. But this one seems to take the safer route, and the need to take the less travelled path among the diverging roads is not taken into consideration here. You are left with the feeling that there could be more, from the early stages itself. You keep looking for more, but that extra ingredient never really arrives. With the scope for a sequel still there, we can hope that this will arrive later.

The performers of the soul :: Veki Velilla leads the proceedings in the movie, and makes the scream queen who is intended to survive till the end, but has the realization that this has been caused due to her for some other reason, which makes the character more determined. She blends into this situation really well, from the author who has a certain amount of writing block to the girl who wishes to survive in a world of chaos created by an unknown killer. Priscilla Delgado remains a notable presence here too, and contributes to the whole thing even when least expected. Ane Rot and Maria Cerezuela also add to the interesting scream queen list here, and one would love to see them in more of similar flicks. Alvaro Mel and Ivan Pellicer become the main male performers here, and they remain important from the beginning to the end. Daniel Grao, even though present for only a few minutes, also leaves an impact. Carlos Alcaide and Hamza Zaidi also comes in as required. For most of us audience, these new names will be staying.

How it finishes :: Killer Book Club seems to be derived from other slasher horror movies that we have known for a long time, with Scream and The Cabin in the Woods being a few of them. The non-English movies were not far away from such inspiration either, as Poland’s Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight and A Classic Horror Story in Italian along with the Indonesian Ivanna are some of the examples. Here, in Spanish, we have a similar work of slasher horror. The group of friends from a college being murdered one after the other, especially after doing something they were not supposed to do, comes as nothing new. But this one also maintains the entertaining and thrilling side well enough with the final twists to keep things interesting. You are always looking for more addition to slasher horror, as they have not been that easy to create effectively during this time period. Based on the Spanish novel El Club de Los Lectores Criminales by Carlos García Miranda, the films becomes another interesting adaptation which brings us back to watching Spanish movies again on Netflix.

Release date: 25th August 2023 (Netflix)
Running time: 90 minutes
Directed by: Carlos Alonso
Starring: Veki Velilla, Alvaro Mel, Ivan Pellicer, Hamza Zaidi, Ane Rot, Priscilla Delgado, María Cerezuela, Carlos Alcaide

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Pendulum

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: I have heard a lot about this movie being different.

Vampire Bat: One of the most divergent movies in Malayalam indeed.

Vampire Owl: I earlier had the feeling that this would be horror.

Vampire Bat: A mystery thriller need not be horror in any way.

Vampire Owl: Nothing would be better than a combination of all of these.

Vampire Bat: When it comes in Malayalam, there is a special feeling.

Vampire Owl: We need all the variety that we can have.

Vampire Bat: Let us thrive on such variety like never before.

Vampire Owl: The acceptance of audience would remain a question though.

Vampire Bat: The best movies would not be accepted well by our audience.

[Gets a marble cake and three cups of ginger tea].

What is the movie about? :: A truck driver named Antony (Shobi Thilakan) finds a strange man named Amir (Binoj Villya) on his vehicle, and despite his best attempts, the man does not get down, and seems to be mentally challenged and without most of his memories. Alex (Sunil Sukhada), the owner of the warehouse to which the truck supplied the goods tells them to keep him with them, and let him get down where he wanted to. Antony is surprised to find a number of snails around when Amir is there. Amir also predicts a number of things which would happen including heavy rains and hitting a dog on the way. Antony becomes more careful as Amir continues to reveal more. At the same time, Dr. Mahesh Narayan (Vijay Babu), a reputed surgeon returning from Australia after many years of service, joins a famous hospital in Kerala. He is accompanied by his wife Shwetha (Devaki Rajendran) and daughter Thanmayi (Aavani) who are happy to be back home from the concrete jungles of Australia’s cities. One day, he meets an old man in the hospital who tells him to find out where his son is, a case which he refers to the psychiatrist, feeling that the man is crazy.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As Mahesh and his family goes on a short trip to Marayur, he gets a feeling of déjà vu for no reason, and Thanmayi locks the key of the car inside the trunk while they were having tea on a roadside shop. They decide to stay there, and while he was trying to get signal for his mobile phone, gets hit by a truck, and this is proven to be the one driven by Antony with Amir in it. Shweta finds him unconscious on the side of the road, and only he remembers that he was hit by a truck. Just before he was hit, he had found him in a dream of Amir and his friend Angel without invitation, and the old man had also asked him to find his son again. There seems to be something strange about all of these, but only he feels that all these have actually happened. His friend Dr. Jain Joseph (Ramesh Pisharody) seems to have some belief in what he has been saying. He asks Mahesh to talk to a man named John Master (Prakash Bare) who has had some interesting explanations for strange events which have happened all around the world. But as the incidents of the dreams have happened with a huge time gap in between, can there be an actual solution and a chance to extract what is required from the dreams?

The defence of Pendulum :: The ideas of time travelling and lucid dreaming come as new concepts to Malayalam cinema, and they have been used with effectively to create an impact like never before. This entry of the elements of science fiction into our movies with quality is to be remembered for long, as we hope for more of similar movies after watching this one. We should always be looking for experimentation here, and hope that this is only the beginning of some fine variety which is to follow soon enough. Maybe such movies will be made in big budget instead. The quality of making is also to be noted here as we move forward. The dreams are presented very well, and nice visuals support them. The mystery that prevails in this movie keeps us going, like no other similar film. After all, we are all set in a series of time loops in our own lives, and there seems to be no end or chance to escape – the realities that we create do not come to our help. The film often feels like a reflection of our meaningless lives which seem like busy realities. The music serves the purpose well enough as the mystery only gets sharper and thicker as we move forward.

Positives and negatives :: There is no doubt about the fact that the movie could have used more refining as some more of attention to details would have helped this one to connect to its audience better. There are times when the film seems to be confused about where it is heading. After all, there was the need for more explanation as the concept is new for the audience – we do have a lot of explanation here for sure, but not in the way that there is a perfectly defined conclusion to things. As time is not linear in this movie, such an explanation could have done a lot of good to the non-complicated, unsuspecting viewers. There is still the need to understand how the main character is involved in all of these, and how things have actually turned out in the end. It leaves us with the feeling that we have watched something special, but the chance to become a classic movie is not there because of the absence of some focused writing in relation to the complication between time and dreams in a world that walks on a bridge between real and unreal.

The performers of the soul :: Vijay Babu nicely leads a complicated movie with twisted characters all around. The sinister and seemingly unsolvable problems faced by the character is nicely shown by Vijay Babu who seems to blend in to the doctor facing unexpected terror. He has to go through an Inception-like world living through magically created world, and at the same time, relive his life multiple times like in Edge of Tomorrow. The helplessness is displayed really well by the actor. Ramesh Pisharody comes up with an interesting role here, as a doctor and support. Devaki Rajendran plays the main lady character here, and keeps us hoping to see her more around. Anumol is playing the other lady character of relevance, and handles her moments really well with a touch of mystery following her. Prakash Bare has another strong role well played here as we go deep into a world of mystery. Indrans plays a strange character without enough attention provided to characterization, but it is nice to see him in another classic role. Shobi Thilakan also has a strong presence here. Sunil Sukhada and Neena Kurup also have some small, but notable roles.

How it finishes :: With lucid dreaming and time travelling making its way nicely in here, this becomes a landmark movie in Malayalam movie industry. It is just strange that it had gone unnoticed among the common audience – one can blame the absence of the required kind of advertisement and also the missing superstar at least in the form of a leading lady for the same. The cast that we see here is surely able to hold the movie universe together, but we needed that special ingredient which could have appealed better to our audience, and in its absence in advertising has left this film mostly unwatched, which is rather disappointing. Maybe some people still fail to understand the basic idea behind this movie. Yet, it is brilliant as the attempt, and I would say that this is a fine New Year movie which one could watch with the presence of what seems to be a blend of science fiction and magic. So, we go on and watch this one and wish each other a Very Happy New Year. May this new year bring the best moments in your life, as world never ceases to have enough to offer.

Release date: 8th December 2023 (Saina Play); 16th June 2023 (Theatre)
Running time: 106 minutes
Directed by: Rejin S Babu
Starring: Vijay Babu, Ramesh Pisharody, Devaki Rajendran, Anumol, Prakash Bare, Indrans, Shobi Thilakan, Deepu Navaikulam, Sunil Sukhada, Neena Kurup, Jolly Chirayath, Aseem Ibrahim, Biju Sopanam

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

<<< Click here to go to the previous full sci-fi review.

<<< Click here to go the review of latest thriller.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Terrifier 2

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: We are the most terrifying ones.

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

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

Vampire Bat: They do count for the humans.

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

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

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

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

Vampire Owl: There are no vampires of the day.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Orphan: First Kill

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: Do you remember watching the first Orphan movie earlier?

Vampire Bat: I do not remember like that. I remember back in centuries.

Vampire Owl: You are not supposed to go that long back with memories.

Vampire Bat: Well, Uncle Dracula goes back longer than that.

Vampire Owl: He can go back as long as the vampire elders can go infinitely.

Vampire Bat: You know the elders. They don’t count.

Vampire Owl: They have been further violent during these years.

Vampire Bat: It is quite natural, considering their loss of fangs.

Vampire Owl: The lost fangs can be recreated with the help of the witches.

Vampire Bat: I hope it is not left in the hands of Doctor Frankenstein.

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

What is the movie about? :: Leena Klammer (Isabelle Fuhrman), a thirty one year old woman with the appearance of a ten year old child has been locked in psychiatric hospital in Estonia for a long time, but has been planning an escape for a long time. She finds a way by hiding inside the car of Anna (Gwendolyn Collins), an art therapist, whom she kills after breaking into her house. She temporarily finds a new home in her place. She looks up for missing girls in the United States of America, and finds that she looks similar to a girl named Esther Albright. For her, it also seems to be an interesting home to live. This gives her a new idea, and she pretends to be the same American child who had gone missing a few years ago. She gets herself found in a children’s park by a police officer who has absolutely no doubts about her, as she has planned the whole thing really well. Allen Albright (Rossif Sutherland) and Tricia Albright (Julia Stiles) get the news that their disappeared daughter has been found in Eastern Europe, and couldn’t get any happier as they were sure that she was lost forever.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As Tricia brings her home, she begins to have doubts about her soon enough, as she has forgotten that their grandmother died, and has developed some painting skills which she never really came close to possessing. Detective Donnan (Hiro Kanagawa) and the child psychologist Dr Segar (Samantha Walkes) feel that there is surely something wrong about her, but they don’t really know what it is. She seems to be rather too different, and doesn’t act like a child at all times. She doesn’t seem to get along well with the brother Gunnar Albright (Matthew Finlan) either. Soon, it turns out that there are family secrets that are being hidden in the house. Leena keeps getting closer to her newly discovered father-figure, which upsets the others in the family. Soon, she will be facing her family which suspects her, but she has her plans to rise above those doubts. But how long can she go on playing this role which only seems to get more and more difficult for her? She would have to get rid of the detective soon enough, but is that an easy job to do? How can she achieve this without being deported back to the mental asylum back in Estonia?

The defence of Orphan: First Kill :: This movie is powered by that antagonist who continues to be a favourite among the horror lovers, and that stays as an advantage. The atmosphere here is interesting, and the setting provides an assurance that there will be some nice moments to remember. The early setting of the mental asylum is more than just interesting. We keep feeling that there could be something more coming up at all times in the first half, the big reveal only set things up well for a grand battle of women. The movie’s hesitation often has it lagging, but it does manage to make things better in the very next scene or so. The cast members do manage to overcome them all, and this selection of the leading performers comes as an advantage. The movie is also a reminder for us to not fall a prey to the cute ones, especially children who are not too far away from the Lord of the Flies situation of William Golding. Well, the cutest among them all might be the one diabolical evil creature which needs to be feared at all times.

The claws of flaw :: Orphan: First Kill doesn’t raise the level from the original movie at all. There were so many opportunities with this idea when going back, but that much is not taken here. This one has also come too late for anyone’s liking, as the gap between the original and this prequel is rather too much. The antagonist does seem to have a more artificial look in comparison to the looks in the first flick. Yet, there are also too many similarities with the first movie, and we also have the absence of surprises here, with twists not getting the required strength either. We know too much about the main character as we have watched the earlier film, and bringing a certain secret ingredient was a necessity. We could have also had some creepy sequences around here which could have managed to balance the situation, but such an attempt is also not made here. It is only with another prequel set almost completely in a mental asylum in Estonia that the bar can be raised now.

The performers of the soul :: Isabelle Fuhrman continues to make Esther an interesting character, a role which she had performed at a young age, and made it a thing of quality. Isabelle does have a challenge in here, as despite the experience that she may have earned through the years, she is still not of that same age anymore. In comparison to her other roles, her work as Esther or Leena is something that has her raising the bar each and every time. Julia Stiles makes another strong character here, and two main lady characters show their strength even further when they are standing against each other, even when not showing the hatred that much. Rossif Sutherland also has his moments here. Matthew Finlan comes out strong in the later stages of the film, and that too when less expected. Gwendolyn Collins makes an initial impression well, and it is sad that she had to disappear too early. Hiro Kanagawa also leaves a mark, and needed more time on screen.

How it finishes :: Orphan: First Kill cannot be compared to the original movie which set something up so well, and it was also something which felt much innovative at that time. The fans would have been expecting a film which would score better than this one. After all, Esther has become a horror icon like no other, and the earlier movie’s twist was something which people didn’t really except. But the prequel has been organized well, and we can see that at the end of the movie, things come together well to bring the possibilities of the next one on to the scene. This one does deserve to become a much longer franchise with a deeper idea about the origins of the main character given. A fine psychopath of the antagonist’s level can do magic for the genre. After all, movies like these serve as those the reminders that we cannot trust anyone, especially someone with the cute side on display – this is a mad world indeed, and has the worst in store for us.

Release date: 19th August 2022
Running time: 99 minutes
Directed by: William Brent Bell
Starring: Isabelle Fuhrman, Rossif Sutherland, Hiro Kanagawa, Matthew Finlan, Julia Stiles

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Enkilum Chandrike

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: Are we going to have more of feel-good?

Vampire Bat: I am expecting the same with a better touch of humour.

Vampire Owl: Feel-good often destroys the possible humour.

Vampire Bat: There is still something called feel-good humour.

Vampire Owl: It is because there is nothing like feel-bad humour.

Vampire Bat: We can always feel bad with the humour.

Vampire Owl: Well, there can always be exceptions of all kinds.

Vampire Bat: But we are always expecting more and more.

Vampire Owl: We keep having the problem of awakened expectations.

Vampire Bat: Expectations do not begin or end with immortality, or work towards infinity.

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

What is the movie about? :: A series of interconnected events happen related to arranged marriages in a remote village somewhere in the district of Kannur in the north of Kerala. Among the simple people of the village, Pavithran (Suraj Venjaramoodu) is a chronic bachelor who is desperately trying to get married, as if it delays anymore, he would not be able to be in a wedding alliance for even a longer time period according to his horoscope. He is only recently rejected by a young lady whom he sees as part of a proposed alliance from their families, Sujina (Tanvi Ram). But she calls him back on another day to meet in private. He has a certain amount of infatuation for this particular lady whom he finds to be the most beautiful among the women whom he had seen for the purpose of marriage. She tells him that she wishes to marry him as she knows that he is a good person. But she adds that she wants him to get the arranged marriage of her younger sister cancelled in one way or the other; otherwise, Sujina will be forced to marry immediately before her younger sister is to be married. Her younger sister Chandrika (Niranjana Anoop) is also not willing to get married.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Pavithran is infatuated by the beauty and words of Sujina, and is determined to stop the marriage of Chandrika from occurring at any cost. At the same time, Abhi (Saiju Kurup) has been in love with Chandrika since his schooldays, and wishes to break this marriage alliance a long time before the date of wedding. He even has her name tattooed permanently on his upper arm. It turns out that the person whom Chandrika is going to marry is Bibeesh (Abhiram Radhakrishnan), and they have been keeping this upcoming wedding as a secret because Sujina is not married yet. Kiran (Basil Joseph) decides to help Abhi to win his love, as he is interested in scriptwriting and direction – he would write some twists for his good friend. The plan which begins with the use of a stranger named Shambu (Maniyanpilla Raju) to spread rumours becomes a failure, but they come up with other ideas. At the same time, Pavithran has other plans to stop the marriage, but it would require more. The question remains about what awaits Sujina and Chandrika in relation to their weddings and future lives.

The defence of Enkilum Chandrike :: This is the kind of a movie that has the side of humour which makes us smile rather than laugh, as the comedy itself has something more than the usual. It takes the simple things in life, makes it bigger, and has us feeling the impact. There is also the beauty of the visuals of this particular village that adds to the charm, as we are never away from the charming nature that lies with a rural area that is caught in camera. It is with the beauty of nature that Tanvi Ram also steals the show as the village beauty who provides the words of wisdom to Suraj Venjaramoodu, the man who holds the movie together. Along with the cuteness of the village that Tanvi provides, and is supported by Niranjana, the performances are to be remembered for the lovable nature of them. Along with the humour, there are the fine emotions which runs through as this becomes a feel-good on the lines of films like Thattathin Marayathu which have multiple elements of feeling better including humour and romance which run parallel to one another. The climax with feel-good twists does leaves one satisfied as there is the goodness factor working well out there too, with the fine slang.

The claws of flaw :: Enkilum Chandrike doesn’t try that hard with the material that it possesses, and it often feels like a restriction. It often makes something bigger from the simple elements, sometimes more than what is needed. It could have focused on speeding up things too, as we do feel that it losses the focus at times. The movie could have also become a Kunjiramayanam with the humour in the village, but that much of a strength is not there in the funny side. The movie does not try to push the comedy or the emotions too hard, as it just moves forward with the available strengths. One would feel that the female characters played by Tanvi Ram and Niranjana Anoop would have more to do, like the former talks about regarding their lives – Tanvi should have surely had a full song, something which could have stayed with us for long. Despite the movie being about the titular character, it is Tanvi’s charm from the beginning that started the series of events of relevance. It is a movie about two women who surprisingly have so less screen space. There are moments which could have elevated all of these too.

The performers of the soul :: Suraj Venjaramoodu leads the way once again, as there is something serene about his character here and the way he plays it. We feel the seriousness here as much as the humorous side that lies in waiting. This is also the one character for whom the audience will feel throughout the movie’s run-time. Basil Joseph also runs through his strengths in the movie, and we know his capabilities with comedy as he has displayed earlier too. Saiju Kurup also runs in strong with the comic side, which is given the boost with some of his fine mannerisms, as he has done so well in earlier films. Niranjana Anoop is the female lead, and the lady of concern for which everything happens around here, but Tanvi Ram has all the dialogues and moments which have our attention. With some different looks, she has effectively transformed into this role in multiple ways. She has all the points to be noted down from her words, and blends into the character in a lovely manner. With this work, even though with smaller screen space, we can be sure that she is indeed capable of playing those bigger roles in much bigger movies consistently. Neeraj Madhav’s cameo nicely works by the end of the movie, and Maniyanpilla Raju does a similar thing twice in the movie.

How it finishes :: Enkilum Chandrike might be a lesser known film on the long list of movies which released during the same time period. But it has a much bigger soul within, staying close to the life of the commoners from a cute little village. When you have Suraj Venjaramoodu around playing both a funny and serious work together, you know that much can be expected. Then you never doubt the capabilities of Basil Joseph to make it funnier. And you also realize that Tanvi Ram is an underrated actress who can work wonders even with the divergent roles provided to her. This is another movie which comes from Vijay Babu and right out of Friday Film House like those much memorable Adi Kapyare Kootamani, June, Aadu, Philips and the Monkey Pen and Home, and we remember that these are the type of cinema which catch our attention in one way or the other, despite not having that much of hype or the boost of superstars. Enkilum Chandrike nicely uses its strengths to its advantage, and it is how it rises above the other movies which deal with the same situations – you see the scope to improve, but you also see how well it has managed its resources to create something so simple, yet so enjoyable with its core unlike films like Romancham which often depends on silly and not so clean humour.

Release date: 1st April 2023 (Manorama MAX); 17th February 2023 (Theatre)
Running time: 126 minutes
Directed by: Adithyan Chadrashekar
Starring: Suraj Venjaramoodu, Basil Joseph, Saiju Kurup, Niranjana Anoop, Aswin Vijayan, Tanvi Ram, Rajesh Sharma, Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Maniyanpilla Raju, Unni Raja, Neeraj Madhav (cameo)

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Jalsa

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: I am glad that they are still releasing movies on OTT platforms.

Vampire Bat: Yes, otherwise, we would go to some air-conditioned theatre and catch the corona virus pandemic.

Vampire Owl: And we have Amazon Prime Video getting one more.

Vampire Bat: It is indeed the best platform as more people have Prime.

Vampire Owl: Well, the theatres can have the mass masala movies.

Vampire Bat: Yes, we can have the dumb fans limited to the theatres that way.

Vampire Owl: Well, we all know the taste of the brainless.

Vampire Bat: Well, the human brain is more ridiculous than ever these days.

Vampire Owl: You mean to say that you have ever trusted a human brain to be good.

Vampire Bat: If you are talking about good as in good v/s evil, the answer is a clear no.

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

What is the movie about? :: Maya Menon (Vidya Balan) is a very successful journalist based out of Mumbai. After many years of success, she continues to be among the biggest names in the field, as her name is on many hoardings and she also brings trouble to the big names which she interviews. Ruksana Mohammed (Shefali Shah) works as domestic help at her home, and focuses the most on cooking. Shefali’s daughter, Alia Mohammed (Kashish Rizwan) happens to be that kind of an eighteen year old daughter who pretends that she is always studying very hard at night, but spends most of her time with her boyfriend, as her father also works at night like her mother. On that eventful night when she hopes to enjoy her life on a lie, she is hit by a car after running away from her boyfriend all of a sudden and landing in the middle of the road. The boyfriend gets on the motorbike and gets away as soon as possible, and so does the person who was in the car.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Rohini George (Vidhatri Bandi) is a trainee who works at the same online news portal where Maya is leading the team. She joined the team just recently, and is hoping to crack some case which will make her really popular, and lead to an increase in her salary. Hailing from Cochin, Rohini wishes to bring her mother to Mumbai after she has settled down there. She lacks in confidence, but is determined to make a difference. She follows the same case, and gets to know about the boyfriend. Maya is angry about the same and asks her to stop investigating the case. But it won’t move out of Rohini’s head at all. At the same time, there is the remorseful boyfriend who wanders around, and Maya’s boss who is adamant on letting this episode go behind. The police officers ask them to take some money and leave the case. Everyone here seems to be worries about something, but Maya and Ruksana are more worried that anyone else – where will this problem end?

The defence of Jalsa :: There is a certain amount of serenity about this movie even though the tension is there at all times. It deals with the moral conflict in a very smooth manner, as none of the characters here seems to be evil, with everyone trying to come up with a solution which is good for everyone. Everyone is facing that moral problem due to different reasons, and we can feel the strength of the anxiety related to the same. The emotions are running strong in the background for sure, even though it never comes to the front that often. It is also that kind of a movie which starts strong, and then focuses on the proceedings slowly, and bring everything back to where it started by the end. The performances are what makes things better, as there is always someone around here to raise the level of the movie. The movie also keeps away from the usual Bollywood things, and without adding those extra unnecessary elements, it becomes something realistic, and a movie which is for the intellectual emotions.

The claws of flaw :: The movie has a little bit of complicated collection of events which seems to be stuck together. It gets quite slow at times, and often has moments which we could have done without. It also comes to a much expected end too slowly, and one often feels that there is a little bit of too much time taken to reach this particular end. A stronger and more emotional ending was the need of this film. The movie is also not something that can run for more than two hours – this is the kind of thing which should be over in one and half, and the rest is just a stretch. With this length, it keeps adding something or the other without strengthening the stronger points. Even though this is a fine deviation in Bollywood, it should have more courage to get it deeper, and with the same, a few dull and unnecessary moments of not much worth could have been removed. It could have also explored the story of the young and inexperienced reporter even more. Some better visuals of the world other than the very expensive flat could have also helped.

The performers of the soul :: Vidya Balan is once again doing the job so well with sincerity and quality. He plays the confident journalist who leads with a trauma with morality tormenting her more than anything – it is something which she seems to do with ease, and if the pace of the movie was better, she could have come up with something even sharper. Shefali Shah plays the mother figure to many children really well too – duped by her children, but always seeing the best in all kids. But these performances were quite expected, and the one which stands apart is that of Vidhatri Bandi who plays a young girl from Cochin who has come to Mumbai to become a famed journalist – the girl does remind one of so many similar people in Kerala itself, those who needs a boost of confidence while going through the tough times. I do feel that I would exactly be like here when caught in such a situation. The movie begins with Kashish Rizwan’s work, and despite playing a character in bed for most of the film, she remains notable from the beginning. The actors who play the police officers also come up with some believable work.

How it finishes :: Jalsa makes a solid point with its proceedings. There are moments that make one think and wonder about different elements. Kaanekkaane is a movie which dealt with similar themes, as its world also revolved around one accident. It was a much more emotional tale with even bigger performances, as we look back at it. If you have watched the movie C/O Saira Banu, it also deals with a similar accident from another point of view – these are the movies which you should watch, and you will feel that this particular movie has surely had some inspirations from there. Just like those two movies, this movie is also an emotional thriller, and has the emotional moments helped by a few twists which serve as interesting subplots. Well, the tale that we have at the centre will surely remain something of relevance, and can bring more movies in Bollywood – we can hope that there is no superstar leading the way in them though, as in that case, it would get to be really absurd, leading to a wrong turn.

Release date: 18th March 2022 (Amazon Prime Video)
Running time: 126 minutes
Directed by: Suresh Triveni
Starring: Vidya Balan, Shefali Shah, Rohini Hattangadi, Vidhatri Bandi, Manav Kaul, Iqbal Khan, Surya Kasibhatia, Shrikant Yadav, Ghanshyam Lalsa, Gurpal Singh, Shafeen Patel, Kashish Rizwan, Vijay Nikam, Junaid Khan, Trunshant Ingle, Monu Gurjar, Uday Vir Singh

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

<<< Click here to go to the previous Amazon release film review.

<<< Click here to go to the previous Amazon release Indian film review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Woman in the Window

Posted on by

Vampire Owl: There is a vampire in the window if you look around from here.

Vampire Bat: It is only a picture of the vampire in that mansion.

Vampire Owl: Why would someone put a picture up like that?

Vampire Bat: Maybe it is someone who wishes to be popular.

Vampire Owl: I should put my picture on the window too.

Vampire Bat: We are not that kind of vampires.

Vampire Owl: We are still the kind vampires around here.

Vampire Bat: Why should vampires be kind?

Vampire Owl: Kindness is a quality which can be used to fool people easily.

Vampire Bat: Vampires do not fool people. Humans do. They lie, cheat, steal and murder all the time.

[Gets a vegetable puffs and three cups of white tea].

What is the movie about? :: Anna Fox (Amy Adams) lives alone in an apartment in Manhattan, New York after being separated from his husband Edward Fox (Anthony Mackie) and daughter Olivia Fox (Mariah Bozeman). She always try to cheer herself up despite the loneliness, and has good support through the phone. Anna suffers from agoraphobia, leading to a lot of anxiety about her surroundings and she observes her neighbors from a second-story window, and that includes the Russell family who recently moved in across the street. She has a large number of medications to take on a daily basis, and also goes on with a lot of alcohol consumption. David Winter (Wyatt Russell) is her tenant who lives in the basement area of her home, and often helps her with some househould work as well as repairs. She does feel lonely at times, and has talks with Ethan Russell (Fred Hechinger), the boy who lives as part of the Russell family, and is upset for some strange reasons – she tries to use her skills as a former child psychologist here.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Anna continues to see the world around her in suspicion and feels that her neighbours are up to something all the time, and that Ethan suffers due to the same. Soon, she also comes across Ethan’s mother, Jane Russell (Julianne Moore), who has some good moments of talk with her, making her happy and relieved. This leads to her believing that Ethan has an abusive father. One night, Anna hears a scream from the Russell family home and then sees Jane being stabbed to death in the living room, but she is not able to find who exactly did that. She has a camera, but forgets to take a photo in panic. She contacts the police, but they do not believe her, and tells her that everyone in the family is just fine. At the same time, Alistair arrives at her home along with his wife, who is a different woman from the one she had met earlier. The police as well as the neighbours tell her that she is hallucinating and making up things, and David also has the same opinion. But she decides to keep spying on the Russells, but it won’t be an idea which will help her.

The defence of The Woman in the Window :: Here, we do have a murder happening, without the surety that it is real, and one would wait for the twist which is to happen at some point of time, as there is the feeling that something is not right, throughout the movie. It puts almost everyone in the line of doubt, and one keep guessing, only to find out that there are not enough clues to completely focus on one suspect. The movie does mix agoraphobia well with the happenings, and we know that it is something that needs serious attention. It is the kind of thing that many of us do feel, and while reading about the same, I have felt that I did have similar problems on many occasions too. I have felt my world to be unsafe with no escape, and had continuous fear and discomfort with regular nightmares for months, as I kept at home for a very long time, and very rarely, I did go out, and that too only with people by my side. Therefore, I was able to connect to this lady very well, and there are moments which make us believe that one of them could be speaking the truth, but that person actually changes as movie progresses.

The claws of flaw :: The Woman in the Window is quite a slow movie, and that is indeed strange, because there were so many occasions here where some more material could have been added to strengthen it further. It could have also focused completely on agoraphobia, and also divide the world into reality and hallucination – it instead focuses on dialogues and what the main character is doing without focusing on the relevant. The time that it takes to start moving is also a little too much, and the revelations could have been made in a more powerful manner, for here we just have it done quickly. It could have also speeded up things at least during those moments which are rather thrilling. The focus on the killer is also a little too less, and we end up not watching enough of his actions of terror and the murders also stay a little too much outside focus. The whole movie focuses on one place with one type of action being focused, thus maintaining the unity of action and the unity of place among the three classical unities talked about by Aristotle, but by doing the same, this movie doesn’t really focus that well on both to elevate the movie, and thus rather brings it down.

The performers of the soul :: If there is a movie starring Amy Adams, I would rarely choose not to watch it, and a thriller does suit her as much as the many genres which she has explored in the past in her career. Nocturnal Animals and Arrival had some fine work being done by her, and both of them were movies which were slow enough too, and you do remember her as a Disney princess too. The superhero movies fans would recognize her more from Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League – well, she is a well-known actress in this part of the world too, and she surely deserved a quicker movie rather than this one. Gary Oldman plays the man who seems to be full of mysteries, and also the one the protagonist feels, is a murderer. He surely has his secrets, and the role is played with a certain amount of class being added there. Julianne Moore seems to be there more as playing a guest role rather than anything else, but we remember her for that scene. Fred Hechinger plays the boy well enough, while Wyatt Russell has his moments. Brian Tyree Henry has memorable times as the detective too.

How it finishes :: The Woman in the Window is the slow thriller that just manages to keep you interested by throwing something in here and there, serving well as the psychological thriller that it is. You do have the doubt about whom you should doubt, even though there is no specific assertion on where you should concentrate that particular feeling. My first thought was that this could be a movie like The Voyeurs, but that is not the case – being a psychological thriller, that path could have also been taken, but The Woman in the Window takes the safe one, lacking in courage and thus being not ready to take the tougher step. But it is nice to see that it still works, and has enough steam to keep it going – the usage of the word “steam” is more relevant than it seems, as it is not innovative or better equipped as some of those newer films are. Well, it can always do better, and if you are standing at the window, witnessing something terrifying, this won’t be the rest during most of the times. The Woman in the Window doesn’t seem to think that further on the same.

Release date: 14th May 2021 (Netflix)
Running time: 100 minutes
Directed by: Joe Wright
Starring: Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Fred Hechinger, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Julianne Moore

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

No One Gets Out Alive

Posted on by

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.