Alone (2015)

Looks like Bollywood isn't all that bad with horror movies! Though this is more of a love story than a horror story, starring Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover as the passionate Anjana and Kabir.

Bipasha plays Sanjana as well - her disjoined sister, who upon their returning to Anjana's family house starts to haunts her. Slowly remnants of a sad past she's tried to lock away are brought into the light, and she struggles to keep her sanity in check. Their relationship falters, and who could blame Kabir's doubt, when things get so out of hand Anjana accidentally stabs him in his sleep (keeping a knife under her pillow really didn't seem like a good idea from the start)?

First they call a therapist, then an exorcist, but eventually they're left to fend off the demons themselves, and settle everything once and for all.

Though some scenes aren't all that convincing - the spinning bed in particular, the movie does manage to keep the darkness close, and the setting somber and ghastly. From the moment they arrive at the house you can almost touch the tension, and isolation, and eeriness of it all. Scenes that don't require special effects are all nicely choreographed, and most of the other ones too. The actors? They manage the passion well, even if they're a bit excessive with their fear. For the most part they just do their best to look good. It's that kind of movie after all.

The culmination of all encounters: a fiery fight before a raging wall of flame (clearly greenscreened, unfortunately) was pretty heated. I wasn't sure if I should give this a 2 because of certain flaws in filming, or a 3 because of the mood and intrigue (and one good dance scene), but it's the latter that matters right? It had it's moments - both good and bad, but compared to many a Western horror story it definitely had something new on offer; a twist like only Bollywood could. Good watch.

 rated 3/5: not bad