The House Next Door: Review, Cast, Story, Director

Film: The House Next Door

Cast: Siddharth, Andrea Jeremiah, Atul Kulkarni, Anisha Victor

Director: Milind Rau

Rating: * * *

This generic horror thriller simultaneously executed in Tamil (Aval), Telugu (Gruham) and Hindi is definitively speaking, one-of-a-kind. It’s a masterful telling of a stereotypical story with a bounty of genuine spooks- as never experienced before. Helmer Milind Rau may not have created something original in the strictest sense-because most of his tricks and treats are borrowed from either Hollywood or Japanese horror films, but the manner in which he has arranged this spook-fest, is definitely something worthy of high praise.

The story is simple yet complicated and at times convoluted too. A young couple Krish (Siddharth) and Lakshmi (Andrea Jeremiah) who are passionately in love with each other, living in a two-house enclave deep in the Himalayan region, have no option but to get embroiled in the sinister mysticisms occurring in their house next door – where their new neighbours, The D’costas (Paul, his wife Lizzy, their two daughters, Jennifer/Jenny and Sara and Paul’s Father) have just moved in. The teenage daughter Jenny (Anisha Victor) of private power plant builder Paul D’Costa (Atul Kulkarni) has a crush on the young brain surgeon Krish, and soon enough gets possessed by the ghost of a Chinese woman, who had once, long ago, lived in that house with her young daughter and husband.

There’s a disturbing history behind that possession and Milind Rau makes it binding on the audience to invest their interest in order to arrive at the final revelation. It’s a sordid saga of treachery and superstition, turbulent emotions and unhinged reactions, embellished by ace camerawork, terrifying sounds and tricky VFX.

Set amidst the canvas of the breath-taking Himalayan range, this terrifying tale takes on vicious meaning when possession, exorcism, tantra, religion and scientific logic fail to bring relief to the victims. It’s a smartly written and executed horror spiel that employs traditional genre tricks that work in its favour. The music is ingratiating but it’s subsuming-not overwhelming. The pacing is just right, allowing for us to invest in the love story and feel the horror of their inadvertent plight.

Atypical of the Hindi horror genre, there are no songs to lift the narrative to a melodious haunting. The Director’s deft handling and the script’s written-in manoeuvres don’t leave much room for that kind of relief. It’s all done with a smart economy that will leave you all shaken and stirred. The gritty performances and the efficient blood spilling aid the build-up of horror moments, significantly. This is definitely one of the best horror movies in Indian cinema- all credit to Milind Rau!