Creature Review {4/5} & Review Rating
Post a series of horror films in the past (1920, SHAAPIT, HAUNTED, RAAZ), Vikram Bhatt has tried his hand in a completely new genre of monster films with CREATURE. As the title suggests, this time, fear not just has a new face but also is more fearsome as the film is in 3D. Director Vikram Bhatt, who has earlier been at the helm of things for the aforementioned films, seems to be all geared up to give you the thrills and chills with CREATURE. Does he succeed in selling horror and the heebie-jeebies this time as well, let's analyze.
With CREATURE, Bhatt has tried to redefine horror, in his very trademark style. He leaves no stone unturned to keep the mercury rising within the specified runtime of the film. While on one hand, the film offers its share of horror, on the other, there's a synchronized drama that runs parallel in the story.
CREATURE starts off with Ahana (Bipasha Basu), playing the owner of a palatial garden resort by the name of Glendale Hotel, which is situated right in the middle of the forest. The USP of this resort lies in the fact that it lies right in the middle of a forest and offers a beautiful experience. This, combined with Ahana's warm and hospitable nature, forms the driving force for its customers who gather for the hotel's grand launch. Since the band which was to perform at the launch gets delayed, Bipasha Basu mistakes the guitar yielding Kunal (Imran Abbas) to be a band member and tells him to perform, a genuine mistake that later leads to friendship followed by love between the two. The celebrations come to a sudden standstill when the hotel staff and guests go missing one by one. The situation becomes further tensed when their amputated body parts are found by the cops. All this causes panic and unrest amongst the hotel guests. Despite the repeated pleas and requests, the local police refuses to investigate in detail and declares it to be the work of a wild animal like a lion or a cheetah. That's when Professor Sadana (Mukul Dev) enters and takes charge of the situation. He then explains the concept of this 'creature' to be that of a 'Brahmraakshas', a topic which he has been researching about. He also states that these creatures are a resultant of a curse by the Gods. Do Ahana and gang become successful in getting rid of the creature and what exactly is Kunal's identity and the purpose of his visit to Glendale is what forms the rest of the story.
The fear factor, which Vikram Bhatt started off with RAAZ, 1920 and SHAAPIT, continues with CREATURE. With this film, he has given the audience a taste of spine chilling monster experience. Even though, it will be a bit unfair to compare the film's techniques to that of the west, still, one can applaud Vikram for at least having tried to match up to those standards. One can very easily say that the visuals effects are by far the best in Bollywood and add to the thrilling experience.
As far as the direction is concerned, Vikram Bhatt leaves no stone unturned to scare the audience with this film. The 3D experience which Vikram has created, makes you feel the fear. He has walked that extra mile to ensure there are no technical glitches, something in which he largely succeeds (a few scenes notwithstanding). Vikram, who also doubles up as the film's writer does manage in delivering a neat and believable story. He has to be applauded for the simple reason that he succeeds in the challenge of writing the film convincingly, despite the fact that it is so heavy on visuals. Overall, like his previous films, this film too can be added to his repertoire of successful horror films.
The film does have a handful of melodious tracks and soulful music. On the other hand, the smart usage of background score by Raju Rao adds to the film's overall narrative. The same cannot be said about choreographer (Raju Khan) who hardly gets any scope to prove his skills in a film, where only horror and fear reigns supreme. While the editing (Kuldeep Mehan) and cinematography (Praveen Bhatt) is top rate as expected, Abbas Ali Moghul's actions seems to falter at places. Girish Dhamija's dialogues could have been sharper. The multi-talented Vikram Bhatt exhibits his exemplary screenplay along with Sukhmani Sadana.
As far as the performances are concerned, the film solely rests of Bipasha Basu's shoulders who delivers a fine performance. She handles the romantic scenes with the same amount of conviction as much as the action and fear scenes. Even though the camaraderie between her and the newcomer Imran Abbas seems shaky in a handful of scenes, still the two carry the film very convincingly. Imran Abbas is decent but has a long way to go if he plans to have a serious career in Bollywood. Mukul Dev also delivers a convincing performance (his 'forced' white hair strands notwithstanding). The rest of the ensemble cast (a few cameos by Rana, Saaqib and others) help push the film smoothly.
On the whole, CREATURE is indeed a film which is meant for the masses who yearn for some 'zara hatke' subjects. CREATURE is a good example of what Bollywood is capable of when it comes to vfx heavy films. It surely is a promising start for more sci-fi vfx heavy movies.
Fear definitely has a new face. If you want to get spooked and that too in 3D then, CREATURE surely wouldn't let you down.
