We check out the new horror/thriller It Lives Inside from director Bishal Dutta and starring Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Mohana Krishnan, Vik Sahay and Gage Marsh, but is It Live Inside as scary as it looks.
Sam is desperate to fit in at school, rejecting her Indian culture and family to be like everyone else. When a mythological demonic spirit latches onto her former best friend, she must come to terms with her heritage in order to defeat it.
I have seen the trailer for It Lives Inside several times during my visits to Cineworld so I was looking forward to finally checking this movie out and as I am doing my Shocktober movie watch this time of year it fitted in well with my watch list of horror movies.
The film is certainly a little different when it comes to most films of this genre in that we are brought a horror that brings us a demonic creature taken from Hindi folklore and the main characters are Indian. They bring their culture to the production with language etc which is great to see.
When it comes to the characters they are interesting in some aspects of the film, but the one thing I was hoping for with any creature feature was the horror from the creature that I was expecting after seeing the trailer.
Sadly the creature isn’t seen until the last part of the film which I did find disappointing, although we get to hear the demon a lot courtesy of some nice sound design that does make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up slightly.
But I did find myself losing interest on several occasions throughout It Lives Inside which is a shame as I was expecting more, the idea of the ancient Dharmic flesh-eater Pishacha which is formed by and feeds off the negative energy of its victims is certainly something new, but I wanted more creature and bit more horror with some jump scares.
There is some good cinematography during the film, such as the demon in the shadows with the slight glimmer of the eyes in the darkness. There are also some nice effects when it attacks its victims and all we see is the victim being thrown around but no creature.
I’m not really sure if I am quite accustomed to horror movies more as I’ve got older and watched so many or that horror movies just don’t have that touch that we used to get many years ago that would have you looking away or having you jumping in your seat and setting your heart racing. It Lives Inside didn’t make me jump once which is a shame as the trailer gave me some high hopes.
On the plus side, the film is something a little different, but I think horror movies may need to up the ante a bit to bring back the scares.
It Lives Inside stars Megan Suri (Atypical), as protagonist Samidha, who is most well-known for her role as Aneesa in Netflix teen-comedy series Never Have I Ever. The horror also stars Neeru Bajwa (Jatt & Juliet), and Mohana Krishnan (I Am Frankie). It Lives Inside won the “Midnighters Award” at SXSW Film Festival 2023 (Austin, TX).
Sadly lacks the jump scares
Movie title: It Lives Inside (2023)
Movie description: An Indian-American teenager struggling with her cultural identity has a falling out with her former best friend and, in the process, unwittingly releases a demonic entity that grows stronger by feeding on her loneliness.
Date published: October 23, 2023
Country: UK
Duration: 99 mins
Director(s): Bishal Dutta
Actor(s): Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Mohana Krishnan
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Summary
An interesting story but the film lacks that real horror element.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
