A poet pining over the death of his lover finds a young girl on a lake shore. He soon discovers she is possessed by an evil spirit and decides to protect and save her.
“Bad writing and a few scares, 1920 Evil Returns is a substandard horror film. Skip it.”
Review 1920 - Evil Returns & earn 20 DM Points.*
Vikram Bhatt and Ram Gopal Varma are hell bent on keeping the horror genre alive in Hindi films. which is a good thing only if they would get it right. Since the time Vikram Bhatt tasted success in this genre with Raaz (2002) he has kept on making horror films. This one is produced by him and is a sequel in spirit (pun not intended) to 1920 (2008) which was directed by him and is the only horror film of his which I liked. The only common theme between both the films is that it is about a woman possessed.
Smriti (Tia Bajpai) is possessed by an evil spirit (who loves the smell of perfume) but we get to see the effect of her possession only after interval point. Till then cinematographer turned director Bhushan Patel bores us with a depressive Aftab Shivdasani (why did he return?) and the forever scared Tia Bajpai.
The overuse and abuse of background music shatters your ear drums but then it was expected in a film like this. The pace picks up in the 2nd half but by that time you are so bored looking at Aftab and Tia that you just twiddle your thumbs and wait for your misery to end. Getting scared is least of your worries by then.
Since the film is set in the 1920's somewhere close to Shimla but shot abroad you get to hear some minor gems as dialogues. Sample this, a doctor tells Aftab and Tia " xray se hum insaan ke aks ko dekh sakte hain".
T.V actor Sharad Kelkar makes his Hindi film debut with this film and makes you wonder why did he choose this film?
Making a horror film is a difficult art. The Ramsay's got it right for that generation. We are still searching for a filmmaker who gives this genre the respect that it deserves. The search is still on...
Word of mouth - 1920 evil returns will scare you out of the theatre that is if you are brave enough to enter one.
Rating - 1.5 (bad)
Ticket meter - not worth it.
