wings – Movies of the Soul

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

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

What is the movie about? :: Irshad a.k.a. Ichappy (Amal Shah) and Haseeb (Govind V Pai) are friends from a neighbourhood in Mattanchery, and also goes to the same class until the former fails in a subject to stay back in the class for an year. Their main time-pass together is breeding pigeons for the big pigeon race which is held every year. With different gangs with older people trying to do better in the competition every year, the two boys find it tough to keep their birds from being stolen or the cages destroyed at night by some other gang. Still, they don’t back down, and also don’t miss some chance to have fun with romancing a new beautiful girl in the school, participating in the usual sporting events, or watching one of those movies which they are not allowed to watch. But in the end, everything comes to the pigeon race, which stands tall over other sports, whether it is cricket or football.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: While the newer generation seems to have some fun out there, we have the youth, who have had a terrible flashback. The same which includes Shane (Shane Nigam), Hakeem (Arjun Ashokan), Mujeeb (Jacob Gregory), Imran (Dulquer Salman) and a few more, has had a brutal and bloody side written all over it with one incident on the beach with a group of drug addicts (Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi and others). Such an incident wasn’t known to happen in the locality for so many years. This has kept Shane silent and uninterested in almost everything which has been going around for a long time, including the fights with the rival team leader in the pigeon race (Shine Tom Chacko). The same had left Irshad as the last hope for parents, and his hope is on his pigeons. What would happen when things get intertwined?

The defence of Parava :: There is the bold choice of subject being taken here, on the lines of Guppy, which is not known for its box-office success. The visuals of the place takes over, and with some nice music, gives us the feel of the neighborhood. Yes, these locations like Mattanchery and Fort Cochin, or even Thoppumpady and Kumbalangy can give that kind of a feeling if captured on the camera well enough. There are some cute moments involving the pigeons as well as those situations in school which evoke laughter. The funny side is strong with the kids, and the emotional side runs parallel, and gets into form when needed. The strength of the cast assures that the same happens well. We see the happenings as simple, and the movie as a feel-good entertainer, knowing its strength in its cast. Even its extended cameo is placed exactly where it could do the best impact; one would have felt the need to add it in the beginning or the end, but this one appears at the right place.

The claws of flaw :: Parava does stretch itself a little too much than needed, as it should have been shorter with the realistic world which it gets to have – but the positive thing is that it holds ground, and never gets to be the long dragging thing which was Annayum Rasoolum. There is also the absence of notable female characters who are able to make any impact on the flow of the tale, other than being the reason. There is no real heroine in this one, and there is no leading actress to talk about either. Also, when there was the chance for the movie to become another Maheshinte Prathikaram or Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum with its reflection of reality, it just doesn’t take it, and floats away. Even Guppy was simpler, with simple people and their simple dreams. The movie could have also shortened the final fight scene and finished it with a final shot of them playing on the ground; this one extends both scenes.

Performers of the soul :: As it was Chethan Jayalal for the movie which was less watched in the theatres, but appreciated later, Guppy, we have Govind and Amal doing the job. Among the two, one can’t stop noticing the shades of Chethan in the former. You feel the strength of the skills from an upcoming generation right here in this movie, as the two handles not just the funny moments, but also the emotional side without holding back at any moment. Whether it is about those lighter incidents at school or those harder situations in the reality of life, they remain solid, and holds the movie together. They rise above everyone else, as they have more screen presence as well as more situations, none of which goes missing from them. You see scope to make more movies with children at the centre after this one, maybe even come up with many sequels of Philips and the Monkey Pen.

Further performers of the soul :: Among the elder cast, it is Shane Nigam who shines, taking it to the next level from Kismath and C/O Saira Banu, two fine movies which he has been part of, after the smaller role in Kammatipaadam. He has his best moments with one of sadness and final release of anger. Dulquer Salmaan who is restricted to less than half an hour, gets a strong character, but we lose him as we get to know and love him. More of Dulquer’s character would have been good, but we adjust with what we can have with a big cameo. Jacob Gregory also has less of the funny side to explore here unlike expected, and Siddique does the classic father role with ease. Soubin Shahir and Sreenath Bhasi brings the negative shades smartly, while Shine Tom Chacko is there in another noticeable role with his pigeons. Among the female characters, it is Srinda who gets the better.

How it finishes :: Parava is that kind of a movie which attracts us towards it, right from the first sequence involving the kids and the fish, and towards that final fight scene. It has to be noted that how well Soubin Shahir in his first movie as a director takes something which is lesser known in other parts, and elevates it to a higher and more popular level – there is nothing huge being added to the mixture at the same time. As a feel-good entertainer, this one makes us forget its tendency to stretch, and makes us feel as part of the place ourselves, whether we have visited the place or not. We need experimentation like this one to make sure that the wings of our industry stay stronger, as this one releases with Pokkiri Simon. After all, we expect our pigeons to improve and do better every time. Parava is that kind of a movie, which makes on feel that there is surely something to keep close to heart.

Release date: 21st September 2017
Running time: 147 minutes
Directed by: Soubin Shahir
Starring: Shane Nigam, Govind V Pai, Amal Shah, Dulquer Salmaan, Jacob Gregory, Shine Tom Chacko, Harisree Ashokan, Jaffer Idukki, Indrans, Srinda Ashab, Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Zinil Zainudeen, Arjun Ashokan, Siddique, Len Prasad