Midnight Movies

The human race is a strange one! We are attracted to gore, violence and horror on the silver screen, likes bugs to a candle! And yet, for some reason, the horror genre is not considered a viable option in cinema. In spite of that, each year we have at least one director taking the plunge.

Yaar Nee
One of the fore-runners in this genre in Kollywood, is the Jaishankar-Jayalalitha starrer Yaar Nee. It’s a haunting tale with thrills in abundant, though in the end we do find out there were no ghosts after all. Telling a tale of ghosts is one of the most difficult things in cinema. Though the very idea of a visit from the dead, is quite horrifying in itself, on the silver screen, it takes much more than the idea to scare the living daylights of a rather skeptical audience. And Yaar Nee, did quite a fabulous job at that. The ever passive look on Jayalalitha’s face was enough to bring the shivers on, “When is she going to attack?” because we know ’still waters run deep’. In this day of graphics and animation, we still have not been able to bring on the haunting quite as well.

Unlucky No. 13
Another horror flick that went down well with the masses, was 13aam Number Veedu. The intrigue starts with the name alone. For years 13 has been branded unlucky, and if you surf the internet you will find a host of reasons why. 13 has become so inauspicious that people have gone to the extent of skipping the number completely while numbering houses or floors in buildings. And so when you have a movie named 13aam Number Veedu [House No 13] you feel that chill down your spine immediately. But the theme of this movie has been the favourite horror theme for years - a girl physically or emotionally abused, dies and returns with a vengeance. And that pretty much sums up the story line of this movie as well. In addition to some primitive, but well delivered, special effects, make up and background score, the movie offers a good deal of scares. My dear Lisa, is another one of those ‘abused girl’s spirit comes to avenge her death’, and a lot of the scary sequences did have the ‘Inspired from Evil Dead‘ watermark, but that in no way hampered the impact.

Toy Story
Vaa Arugil Vaa works on the same theme but brought in the concept of a possessed doll. The evil doll idea is of course borrowed from the Hollywood horror movie series Child’s Play, where this really nasty looking doll Chucky goes on a rampage. Coming to Vaa Arugil Vaa, it’s the story of a naive young girl, tortured by her in-laws. Her strife ends in her death. Her wounded spirit enters a doll that she used to dote on and takes revenge on her tormentors. If you watched the movie today, you might not be as intimidated by the plastic doll awkwardly wielding a knife. But back then it was a new idea for the audience, most of whom had no idea that Chucky was way more flexible and animated than her.

From singer to slayer
Uruvam starring Mohan brought forth the idea of black magic, a concept not popular in those days. What was even more amusing was to see Mohan, who had till then done endearing roles, take on the garb of a man possessed by an evil spirit. The thrills in the movie are mainly in the sound track, but the scariest sequence is probably the one in which Mohan stretches his hands in front of the altar and they burst into blisters.

Hollywood inspiration
Coming to blatant Hollywood rip offs there are but two that make the cut. Jenma Natchathiram and the recent Sivi. The former is the adaptation of Omen. Making a movie that portrayed a child as Satan in human form was quite a big risk in the Indian scenario, given that children are considered at par with God. In another movie Pillai Nila, a little girl is possessed by the spirit of the woman in love with her father. The woman had died because her love was not reciprocated. But in Jenma Natchathiram, the kid is pure evil, slowly eliminating everyone that stood in his way, culminating in the murder of his own mother. Given our audiences’ traditional ways, it’s quite laudable that they gave room for such imagination. And the movie was a remake well done. Talking about evil children and Hollywood inspiration, there is one movie, that was well made but not acclaimed - Thanga Paapa. Macaulay Culkin, starred in The Good Son, as a child who takes pleasure in hurting and killing others. It is not exactly a horror movie, but the theme inspired the making of Thanga Paapa that had a little girl instigate the death of many people through her supernatural powers.

A more recent Hollywood inspired horror flick is Sivi. Frame by frame, the movie reflects the movie Shutter which is in itself the remake of a Japanese horror movie. East Asian horror, has made a big impact on the genre, starting with the hugely successful Ring. When Ring hit theatres in Japan, within the first couple of days, there were reports of members of the audience fainting or having a heart-attack. And ever since then horror movies from the East have been received very well. Shutter is yet again based on the female spirit out to kill those who murdered her, but is told in an unique way, with an absolutely shocking climax! Director KR Senthil Nathan did a reasonably good job making the movie in Tamil, without tampering with the original story line. The all-new cast and lack of proper publicity did not allow the film to earn its due credit, given that the special effects were pretty fabulous.

Maddy’s horrific acts
The most recent horror movie to hit the cine circuit is the Madhavan starrer, Yavarum Nalam. For Maddy who out grew his lover-boy image, to wear the serious actor cape, this is the first supernatural experience. Technically Naan Aval Adhu, which releases later this month, is his first in the horror genre, but Yavarum Nalam beat it to the box office. While Yavarum Nalam revolves around a sort of haunted television, Naan Aval Adhu reverts to the tried and tested theme of the betrayed woman. Yavarum Nalam, is making a lot of noise and is getting rave reviews. The movie has hence infused hope for horror films in the future.

The Sound of Horror
When considering the making of a horror film, audiences tend to think only in terms of special effects, lighting and make-up. Agreed, all these are absolutely essential to tell the tale of the living dead, but what most of us take for granted is the sound track of the movies. Hit the mute button and even the scariest movie will be nothing more than a cartoon. Music or the lack of it, play a very vital part in making a particular scene extra horrifying. And you thought music was only to pacify the soul!

Source - http://tamil.galatta.com/entertainment/livewire/id/Friday_the_13th_Of_thrills_and_chills_23042.html

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