Scream Stream: The mind-boggling twists and turns in Demonte Colony keep you hooked till the end

Ajay Gnanamuthu's horror thriller was a breath of fresh air in Kollywood when the industry was churning out a lot of mindless horror-comedies,

A still from the film

Demonte Colony is one of the finest examples of slow-burn horror movies in Tamil film industry. What initially appears as a light-hearted plot about the friendship between four friends gradually shifts gear and creates tension through intriguing sequences. The tension which escalates every moment finally comes crashing down on the viewers leaving them stunned towards the climax.

The 2015 horror thriller directed by Ajay Gnanamuthu is one of the favourite films of movie lovers who are fans of the genre as the film is devoid of regular revenge plots, songs and a female lead who exist for the namesake.

Unlike other horror movies, the film begins on a joyful note. Four friends who are also housemates, (played by Arulnithi, Ramesh Thilak, Sananth and Abhishek) struggle to make both ends meet. Arulnithi gets paid for providing non-sexual service to a house wife while Sananth is an aspiring filmmaker who wishes to make a successful horror movie. Ramesh is an average graphic designer and Abhishek is an electrician who is unhappy with his job.

One evening, the four of us meet at a liquor shop after their work schedule. Sananth suggests that they visit Demonte Colony, a haunted place in Chennai city. Though the others do not show interest initially, they too join him to have fun. But little did they know that visiting the dilapidated bungalow would change their fate.

The next day, they visit a popular astrologer in town to know about their future. His revelation about one of them leaves Arulnithi stunned. Quite confused and worried about life, the four of them go back to their room where Sananth opens up about Russian Alexandrite, a valuable gemstone which he stole from the bungalow to his friends.

The legend has it that those who possess the gemstone will go through a dangerous phase in life after which the jewelry will find its way back to the bungalow by itself. Things start becoming scary when they decide to watch a Japanese movie in television. When the movie starts playing, they find themselves in the movie. The series of scary events that follow leave them dumbstruck.

The terrific use of limited space in a small house and convincing performance of the four friends are the major attractions of the movie which is considered to be one of the effective horror films in Kollywood in the last decade. The engaging cinematography by Aravinnd Singh and impressive background score by Keba Jeremiah aid the racy screenplay and staging, sending shivers down the spine of viewers.

The presence of an Ouija board and the evil spirit of a Portuguese businessman who lived in 19th century in their room elevates the already existing spooky mood of the movie. A spine-tingling twist in the climax related to Arulnithi's character is the icing on the cake, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.

With a run time of less than two hours, the film leaves no stone unturned in entertaining horror movie fans once the story takes a serious turn a few minutes before the culmination of first half.

Demonte Colony has its Tamil and Telugu versions streaming on MX Player while the Hindi version is available on SonyLIV.

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