Horror Story

I could not stop laughing while watching this movie. The over-acting, the bad effects, the nonsensical plot, the random dramatic music, the overly long shots of them running just running... It was amazing. It kind of falls apart at the end but you know what? I liked it. As a comedy. As a horror it's crap. Throw this on, grab your bollywood mom, and laugh at it.

For the most part the acting is well done but it can't save weird camera direction. The deaths are not graphic enough to cater to a body horror fanbase and the ghost story is not subtle enough to cater to psychological horror fans. Its for people who are faint of heart. For them this is actually scary. Horror veterans will probably be dissapponted.

Bollywood movies are these days badly criticized for borrowing some elements or even whole concept from Hollywood flicks.Horror story too was panned as some referred it as direct copy of grave encounters and had some scenes similar to two or three other English movies..

I have also seen Grave encounters and yes the plot was quite similar..OK lets assume that the critics haven't seen any of the above English movies..I am sure then they must have reviewed the horror story positively..So why not put ourselves in that category of those who are more on bollywood side and watch foreign movies less often..

Bollywood wants to present Hollywood flicks for our typical Indian spectators in our own style..Why not think that way rather than to criticize almost every Indian horror movie..

Just forget that you have seen grave encounters or any of other English horror and watch The Horror Story..I assure you that you won't be disappointed..There are some flaws but as per horror quotient is considered it will surely terrify you..

I rate it 7 out of 10..A must one time watch for all supernatural horror movie fans

The name Vikram Bhatt, has been associated with many scary movies in the recent past and the man has been regularly coming up with films made in this particular genre quite confidently. Now though one might have an idea that most of these films were not successful at the box office visibly. But considering the fact that he has been repeatedly doing the same, it seems that the costs are being recovered easily and maybe some profits are being earned too in the long run. So following this hidden safe pattern, HORROR STORY is another of his routine spooky movies as a writer-producer, directed by Ayush Raina featuring all new faces in the cast, playing the victims.

In simple words, the film gives you nothing to explain in details since it's one of those regular (weak) inspired movies only, taking their major ingredients from the west and nothing else. This time Vikram and his director take their basic inspiration from GRAVE ENCOUNTERS series (2011 & 2012) which revolves around a reality show crew getting locked in a haunted mental asylum, abandoned from years. Perhaps the sight of a 'not in use' famous hotel in Mumbai, gave the makers this idea of adapting the western horror movie, but in any case this is probably the best way a deserted hotel building can be exploited, smartly beneficial for both the parties involved, financially.

The story begins with a suicide committed at the venue and then seven students decide to enter the haunted building as their new night adventure. The references of the building being an old mental asylum, before getting transformed into a lavish hotel reminds you of the English film right away and then several sequences strengthen the fact further. However the writers interestingly add the typical Indian flavour to its storyline towards the end, similar to many already seen horror movies from the famous 'Ramsay' era of the last millennium. As it progresses further, a big merit of the film is that it thankfully doesn't venture into any romance, love affairs or songs and straight goes into the scary mode within the first 10 minutes itself. Though once again the impact is more because of the sounds than the visuals, yet it does manage to give you that creepy feeling at times but not in any regular or high dosages till the end. Hence for the die-hard fans of the genre, this would turn out to be an experimental kind of below average fare offering nothing beyond what they have already seen before. But for just the fun, it might appeal to the few, who are quite new to the world of horror films.

Talking about the commercial viability of the project, it has been planned very intelligently keeping the minimum cost factor in mind, wherein the location is a deserted one, all debutants are playing the lead roles (who play it fine) and the duration of the film is only about 90 minutes without any songs or unwanted steamy scenes. So considering it from that angle this is in fact 'A Clean Horror Movie' from the house of Vikram Bhatt unexpectedly.

However, from the consumer viewpoint, I would like to express that if the makers are ready to give us such experimental kind of movies made in a smart, cost effective manner like HORROR STORY then kindly plan the ticket rates also into some lower amount slabs to make it equal. Otherwise it cannot be called a balanced venture at all, wherein the makers are making it as a low budget project to be on the safer side, but the viewers are still paying the usual amount of Rs.200+ for the same, like fools. Hopefully the point reaches the people who can think upon it in the coming months for our mutual benefits.

Director Ayush Raina tried a little bit too hard and failed in the attempt. For a horror movie then "Horror Story" was surprisingly shallow and devoid of anything particularly scary.

The story is about seven young people who hear the story of a business man who committed suicide at a reportedly haunted hotel by the name of The Grandiose. Being as carefree as young people are they decide to go to the hotel as a farewell to the departed. As they set foot inside the hotel, it quickly becomes clear that something is most definitely not right at the hotel, and there is something dark and evil roaming the long abandoned corridors.

I will say that the hotel itself was really nicely detailed, and had lots of interesting things to be seen, and the atmosphere was indeed one of the best aspects of the entire movie.

The dialogue in the movie was horribly scripted, and many times you sit there and think 'did they really just say that?' Most of the time the dialogue doesn't have a particularly natural flow to it and comes off as forced and artificial.

As for the acting, well, let's just say that some of the people were doing good enough jobs, while others had a tendency to over do it and put on a very theatrical act that was just uncalled for and just turned out to be too much.

The camera-work in "Horror Story" was actually quite good, and made the movie all the more enjoyable and watchable.

Oh, and before I forget, then I will also give praise to the music and sound score in the movie, because it was quite good. Lots of great atmospheric music here and great usage of sound effects.

For a horror movie, then "Horror Story" was frightfully devoid of anything particularly scary. Or perhaps I have just been watching too many horror movies, because I didn't find this movie the least bit scary or terrifying.

There are far better non-Western horror movies out there, especially from Japan, Korea and Thailand, which might be a better bet if you are looking for a good scare.