Horror Story (2013)

Horror Story is a Bollywood horror film written by Vikram Bhatt (RAAZ, Haunted, 1920: Evil Returns) and directed by Ayush Raina. The film stars Ravish Desai, Hasan Zaidi, and features the Bollywood debut of television actor Karan Kundra. It was released on September 13, 2013.The plot revolves around a night spent by seven youngsters at a haunted hotel.

Bhatt has stated that he did not want Horror Story to contain any songs or any sex scenes. He also remarked that he wanted to avoid casting “big stars” in the film, as he believed that they “cannot turn the audience fearful” in what he termed as a “hardcore horror film”. Ravish Desai has commented that the movie will be the first in a franchise and that planning for further films has already begun.

Plot:

A group of seven youngsters – four guys and three girls decide to spend a night at a reportedly haunted hotel to celebrate the farewell of one of them leaving for the USA. Despite people’s warnings and other “signs” trying to ward them off from there, they enter the hotel, and then the truth dawns on them…

Reviews:

“Horror Story isn’t a masterpiece, yet it is one of the better movies to come of this genre. It offers cheap thrills, goose-bumpy moments and genuine shrieks unlike the giggle inducing comic moments other proclaimed horror movies. At the end ultimately it depends on how much you revel in movies of this nature. Are you spooked easily? Do you eye-roll at flying chairs, random screams and hackneyed false scares? Do you believe in ghosts/spirits? Whatever your take is, you may not hate or like this one in its entirety, but you won’t be bored either. Yes it’s not a great film, that doesn’t make it a completely bad one either.” Pooja Rao, Bolly Spice

“Debutant director Ayush Raina shoots the grisly goings-on with the minimum stress on conventional sounds and visuals associated with the horror genre. Belatedly the horror genre has chanced upon the relevance of austerity in putting forward the panic and terror of youngsters trapped in a situation where they cannot escape from a satanic annihilation.” IBN Live

“Horror Story is less than two hours long, mercifully has no songs or blossoming romances, and unfortunately no skin show or scares either.” Aditya Mehta, Mehta Kya Kehta?

“The film uses too many ideas from popular films like The Ring and lacks tremendously on elaborating the writer’s imaginative bent! It is a brazenly written, uninspired work lacking originality and freshness. You can easily give this one a miss unless you are desperate to scare yourself, in which case I assure you, the film will need a great deal of effort from your side to numb you off!” Mohar Basu, Koimoi.com

Indian horror on Horrorpedia: 1920: Evil Returns | Aatank | Aatma (2006) | Agyaat | Bandh Darwaza | Bees Saal Baad | Bhoot Returns | Bollywood Evil Dead | Cape Karma | Darling | Darwaza (1978) | Dracula 2012 | Ek Thi Daayan | Horror Story | Khooni Panja | Purana Mandir | Purani Haveli | Qatil Chudail | Veerana (1988)

Wikipedia | IMDb