‘Nellikkampoyil Night Riders’ movie review: A horror comedy which is neither funny nor scary

At the centre of Nellikkampoyil, the eponymous colony successful Noufal Abdullah’s debut directorial Nellikkampoyil Night Riders, is simply a well-stocked library. Although galore sequences successful the movie instrumentality spot wrong this library, nary of the characters are ever shown approaching the shelves oregon holding a book. The shelves stay successful the inheritance of the frames arsenic specified eye-candy props. Incidentally, astir everyone successful this fictional colony holds superstitious beliefs, connected relationship of which they person irrational fears too.

Shyam (Mathew Thomas), the protagonist, is besides fearful of the dark, but has to support a brave look successful beforehand of his woman (Meenakshi Unnikrishnan), to whom helium has portrayed himself arsenic a daring youth. The sighting of a mysterious, masked fig with equine legs successful the colony adds to his fears, further complicating his already troubled emotion life. With the assistance of his adjacent friends (Sarath Sabha and Roshan Shanavas), Shyam attempts to instrumentality connected the mysterious figure.

For his filmmaking debut, Noufal Abdullah, exertion of immoderate acclaimed films, chooses to effort thing successful the fearfulness drama genre, successful which Malayalam cinema has had hilarious films similar Romancham successful caller years. However, successful Night Riders, neither does the blend of these genres hap seamlessly, nor is it palmy successful eliciting overmuch laughter oregon creating effectual horror. M Jyothish and AV Sunu, who co-wrote the reasonably enjoyable romanticist drama Pranaya Vilasam, bash not look to beryllium successful their elements here, arsenic they conflict to bring thing caller to the table.

Both the romance astatine the centre of the communicative arsenic good arsenic the taxable of the quality of a mysterious fig person a dated consciousness astir it. The protagonist’s attempts to flooded his fears is the lone thread that creates immoderate interest, but adjacent this is dampened by a half-baked inheritance communicative and the repeated appearances of a shade asking him to devour a morsel of rice, which turns into a spot of unintentional humour.

That the enigma of the horse-legged fig has nary tenuous transportation to the colony adds to the disappointment astatine the end. Much of the recognition for keeping immoderate passages of the movie successful the watchable territory goes to Roshan Shanavas and Sarath Sabha, who some bring immoderate vigor to the lifeless scenes.

When the fearfulness is laughable and the humour horrific, it is wide that the movie didn’t enactment the mode it was intended to. Nellikkampoyil Night Riders does not permission 1 with thing memorable.

Nellikkampoyil Night Riders is presently moving successful theatres