If you haven’t made trick-or-treating plans for Halloween, here’s a list of scary movies you could watch instead at home to celebrate the spirit of Halloween. While horror-comedies are dime-a-dozen in south Indian languages, this list has some of the most interesting horror-thrillers made over the past five years.
Game Over, 2019 (Tamil)
Tamil cinema has had a weird fixation with horror-comedies in the recent past with at least two such films being made every year. However, Ashwin Saravanan’s Game Over, based on home invasion, is a brilliant horror/thriller to have been made in a very long time. This film will literally have you at the edge of your seat, especially in the second half. Starring Taapsee in the lead, Game Over is one of the best scary films to have released in Tamil recently.
Aval, 2017 (Tamil)
This trilingual (Gruham in Telugu and The House Next Door in Hindi) has creepy moments almost all through its runtime. Starring Siddharth and Andrea in the lead, the film is centred around a seemingly haunted house located in the mountains. Aval comes with well-timed scares and manages to keep you riveted almost to the very end.
Maya, 2015 (Tamil)
Another Ashwin Saravanan horror/thriller, Maya starring Nayanthara in the lead keeps you guessing from the very beginning. Maya has all the elements of a perfect horror film and hits you with an unexpected twist when you’re least expecting it. Although Maya’s story is not really new, the film has well-executed jump-scares to keep you hooked.
Pisaasu, 2014 (Tamil)
The tone of Mysskin’s horror film is written all over the protagonist’s appearance. A young man slowly starts realising that a supernatural presence is taking over his life. The scares are carefully executed in a style that can only be done by Mysskin. The film received widespread appreciation upon its release and was even remade in other languages.
Bhaagamathie, 2018 (Telugu)
Starring Anushka Shetty in the lead, Bhaagamathie is your typical Telugu horror movie full of popular tropes such as a haunted bungalow, flashbacks and the soul of a powerful woman refusing to rest in peace. Anushka alternates between playing the gentle Chanchala and the vengeful Bhaagamathie with ease in the film and manages to capture our interest all through its runtime.
Praana, 2019 (Malayalam)
Directed by VK Prakash, the movie has only one actor in it – Nithya Menen who plays Thara, a writer who sets off to prove that a so called haunted house is not haunted. VK Prakash has successfully decoded that what really sends chills down your spine is the anticipation of something horrible about to happen more than what actually happens.
9, 2019 (Malayalam)
Directed by Jenuse Mohamed, 9 is about a father (Albert, played by Prithviraj) and son (Adam, played by master Alok) who must stick by each other for better or worse. Like the Biblical Adam, the son is easily led to temptation. Not towards eating any kind of fruit but to indulge in a bit of violence when he is frustrated. His astrophysicist daddy can understand the mysteries of the universe but not what lies inside the little boy’s heart. The horror film that explores some disturbing questions can also fall under the science fiction genre.
Athiran, 2019 (Malayalam)
Athiran by debutant director Vivek begins with all the elements necessary for a scary thriller – Ghibran’s background music comes with a perfect timing, as the camera jumps in and out of faces, showing four dead people in various parts of a house. The suspense of a whodunit that takes place in a mental health centre with weird goings-on is doubled when Fahadh Faasil walks into the place and finds Sai Pallavi in one of the cells. The movie does the job of holding your interest pretty well.
Varathan, 2018 (Malayalam)
The first half of Amal Neerad’s Varathan, starring Fahadh Faasil and Aishwarya Lekshmi, is gripping. A couple moves into a house with creepy neighbours, all their leering eyes on the young woman. You get many chills as you fear the inevitable attack in this thriller, though the second half of the movie makes it a different picture altogether.
Bhinna, 2019 (Kannada)
In this horror/thriller, the protagonist Kaveri (Paayal Radhakrishna) plays the role of a budding actor who is obsessed with method acting. The film is a juxtaposition of Kaveri’s life with the hallucinations she suffers from. Deriving heavily from the 1971 Sandalwood classic Sharapanjara (meaning a cage of arrows), Bhinna’s characters are also named after the ones in the older film.
Trunk, 2018 (Kannada)
The film is directed by newcomer Rishika Sharma, granddaughter of the critically acclaimed filmmaker GV Iyer. The narrative, as the title suggests, revolves around a trunk and how it is connected to the main characters of the film. It has two parallel tracks that also involves ghosthunters. Trunk was largely appreciated upon its release and was hailed as one of the well-made horror films in Kannada cinema.
Kataka, 2017 (Kannada)
This film is based on black magic but uses all the associated clichés to its benefit. Child artiste Shylaga Saligrama won all accolades for this horror, spooking audiences with her onscreen transformations.
U-Turn, 2016 (Kannada)
This horror/thriller comes with a message but not without scaring you first. Starring Shraddha Srinath in the lead, U-Turn revolves around a series of apparent suicides whose only connection is that all of the victims had committed a “minor” traffic violation. Rachna (Shradda Srinath), a trainee journalist pursuing a story on traffic violations, gets embroiled in this series of deaths and sets out to solve the mystery with the aid of police officer Nayak (Roger Narayan).
(With inputs from Theja and Cris)