One thing is clear: horror is not exactly the strong side of Bollywood. And what is more: it is not exactly the strongest side of Ram Gopal Varma either. Although I admire him both for his work and his courage (let's face it, he is at least one of the very few who try), it cannot be denied that his horror flicks are still far from what a decent horror movie should look like. That said, Vaastu Shastra is definitely one of the better ones. In my opinion, it's neither better nor worse than films like Bhoot and Phoonk.
The storyline is weak. There's a lot I can buy in a haunted house story - scary-looking ghosts loitering around among its new inhabitants, a little boy obviously able to seem them while others can't, you name it. But in this case, the story utterly lacks consistency. For a long time, it seems unclear what these ghosts actually want, even after they have murdered Rohan's evil nanny. They haven't done any harm to the family, so it just might be that they are protecting the boy. But then, they suddenly murder his young auntie and her lover. We've seen it coming, alright, but still we don't know why, or why now and not earlier. And we will never find out. But that's not the worst. At first, the ghosts are present, but pretty much invisible. Later, they suddenly become visible to anybody. As it turns out, they aren't ghosts at all, but merely zombies, and not just one little family of them, but a whole army of zombies who all live in a dead tree. One the tree is burned down, the whole bunch of zombies disappears - except for a few of them. Again, nobody knows how, or why. From that point of view, Vaastu Shastra is a mediocre hodgepodge of clichés and effects that are obviously considered more important than a remotely consistent storyline.
Effects are heavily overdone. I admit, it is a matter of taste. Vaastu Shastra is a horror flick from the very first till the very last minute. Both the camera work, the music and the sound effects are done in such way that you can never relax... there is always a sense of an invisible spectator, of some unknown evil approaching, of something going to happen within second from now. It is as if the movie constantly tries to convince you to be scared all the time. Agreed, it is an approach, but it kills the surprise. If you ask me, it works much better when the movie makes you feel comfortable first, and only then the horror comes out suddenly, completely unexpected. Then again, it is a matter of taste. Still, I think numerous sound effects - slamming doors, roaring predators, ghastly giggling - are gravely overused.
That said, Vaastu Shastra also has something positive to offer. The acting work by Ahaas Channa (the little boy) and Sushmita Sen (Mr. Rao) is excellent. As a matter of fact, the first half of the movie is fairly well done. I'd even say: a pretty good watch. It's only after the worst inconsistencies start crawling in - say, when it turns from an average haunted house movie into a bad zombie movie - when the level really goes down. Notwithstanding that, I've enjoyed watching it, even though it won't stand any comparison to horror from other parts of the world.
The storyline is weak. There's a lot I can buy in a haunted house story - scary-looking ghosts loitering around among its new inhabitants, a little boy obviously able to seem them while others can't, you name it. But in this case, the story utterly lacks consistency. For a long time, it seems unclear what these ghosts actually want, even after they have murdered Rohan's evil nanny. They haven't done any harm to the family, so it just might be that they are protecting the boy. But then, they suddenly murder his young auntie and her lover. We've seen it coming, alright, but still we don't know why, or why now and not earlier. And we will never find out. But that's not the worst. At first, the ghosts are present, but pretty much invisible. Later, they suddenly become visible to anybody. As it turns out, they aren't ghosts at all, but merely zombies, and not just one little family of them, but a whole army of zombies who all live in a dead tree. One the tree is burned down, the whole bunch of zombies disappears - except for a few of them. Again, nobody knows how, or why. From that point of view, Vaastu Shastra is a mediocre hodgepodge of clichés and effects that are obviously considered more important than a remotely consistent storyline.
Effects are heavily overdone. I admit, it is a matter of taste. Vaastu Shastra is a horror flick from the very first till the very last minute. Both the camera work, the music and the sound effects are done in such way that you can never relax... there is always a sense of an invisible spectator, of some unknown evil approaching, of something going to happen within second from now. It is as if the movie constantly tries to convince you to be scared all the time. Agreed, it is an approach, but it kills the surprise. If you ask me, it works much better when the movie makes you feel comfortable first, and only then the horror comes out suddenly, completely unexpected. Then again, it is a matter of taste. Still, I think numerous sound effects - slamming doors, roaring predators, ghastly giggling - are gravely overused.
That said, Vaastu Shastra also has something positive to offer. The acting work by Ahaas Channa (the little boy) and Sushmita Sen (Mr. Rao) is excellent. As a matter of fact, the first half of the movie is fairly well done. I'd even say: a pretty good watch. It's only after the worst inconsistencies start crawling in - say, when it turns from an average haunted house movie into a bad zombie movie - when the level really goes down. Notwithstanding that, I've enjoyed watching it, even though it won't stand any comparison to horror from other parts of the world.
