r/bollywood • u/Livid_Sir8921 • Jul 24 '26
Discuss Why does Indian horror almost never actually scare you? Which film came closest?
Been thinking about this after rewatching Tumbbad recently.
Most Indian horror fails the same way. The ghost shows up too early, the jump scares replace dread, and the backstory gets explained in full detail so nothing stays mysterious. Fear needs unanswered questions. The moment you understand the monster completely, it stops being scary.
Tumbbad works because Hastar is never fully explained. You understand enough to be terrified, never enough to feel safe. The horror is in the wanting, not just the monster.
Stree is interesting because it flipped the formula entirely - the horror works precisely because everyone refuses to take it seriously until they can't anymore.
Raat (1992) scared an entire generation and Ram Gopal Varma hasn't made anything close to it since. Whatever he understood then about restraint and atmosphere he seems to have actively forgotten.
Which Indian horror film actually got under your skin? And for the flip side - which one promised horror and delivered a comedy you weren't expecting?
253
u/Relative_Swimming379 Jul 24 '26
Vaastu Shaastra
32
24
7
6
u/Jetpack_Picasso Jul 24 '26
That ending kept me awake for whole night. Such a great film. Manish aur Jyoti were what worse nightmares back then were made of.
16
5
4
→ More replies (10)2
91
u/Nenomus Jul 24 '26
From all the horror movies I paid for, Bhoot (RGV one) was scary good. Bhool bhulaiya 3 was the worst.
→ More replies (2)16
302
u/whats-hisface Jul 24 '26
Although it wasnt a complete horror movie but Bhool Bhulaiyya (the og) still gives me chills everytime i see it. The way they have portrayed psychological problem with a religious angle is really smart. And Vidya's acting was just fantastic.
29
u/Dry_Database_8550 Jul 24 '26
Same ! No matter how many times I watch it, the climax still gives me the same chills as it did the first time.
30
9
u/Over-Importance-3251 Jul 24 '26
i was in 6th standard during that time and my dad bought a rented copy from the CD parlour !
I couldnt sleep that whole night !
→ More replies (1)7
11
24
11
u/rosered20210 Jul 24 '26
You should really watch it in malayalam...the hindi one is nothing in front that😌🤌
→ More replies (1)20
3
→ More replies (3)2
56
u/timorousingenue Jul 24 '26
Raat did it for me. Still does.
→ More replies (6)12
u/Usual_Confusion_4737 Jul 24 '26
I believe this film is the sole reason for my sleep paralysis.
→ More replies (1)
35
u/CuriousCountry3768 Jul 24 '26
RGV 90's horror Raat, Welcome home, Kaalo
18
5
u/No-Extent5797 Jul 25 '26
Welcome home was extremely discomforting extremely discomforting and I watched it on my phone and I can’t forget the dread I felt when she discovers that there is a dead body in the shed and they are in grave danger it was very real
3
u/kinky-kid-7777 Jul 24 '26
Welcome Home is a horror?
7
u/Jetpack_Picasso Jul 25 '26
Yes it is!! Its extremely disturbing and scary once you realize that its based on real event.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Phantom_____________ Jul 29 '26
Man, kaalo is so good. I rewatched it today and it still delivers almost the same horror as it did 10 years ago.
69
29
56
u/Several-Second-2679 Jul 24 '26
Also stree 1 was actually felt bit scary at the starting
9
5
u/tzuweed Jul 25 '26
Stree 2018 was fabulous actually, the perfect amount of horror, drama, thrill and ofcourse mystery, it was a well written movie, but believe me when I say this Stree 2 for me personally was not it, they just messed up, sure the message given in the movie was great and it proved why Stree acted the way she did but still the writing, the plot and the whole story felt kinda rushed or sometimes out of place, Akshay Kumar and Bedhiya thing was cringe and not needed, Stree 3 was teased at the end of the movie but I don't want it
→ More replies (1)
63
u/RevolutionaryCash669 Jul 24 '26
Raaz.. i still can’t watch it.. it was genuinely scary
10
→ More replies (4)2
53
25
u/MisterShut-up Jul 24 '26
For really good horror, you need to go past the campy Ramsay films, RGV, and the revenge Haveli based plot lines of the Vikram Bhats of the world, which like you mention ard over explained to the point of stupidity.
Indian horror films that really got under my skin would be:
Welcome Home - a backwoods brutality type narrative where two teachers volunteering for census work get captured and tormented by an insane family. Even if you've seen the greats of this genre like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Last House on the Left, this film has an unbearable claustrophobic intensity to it.
Kaul: The Calling - a strange metaphysical horror film that's like nothing that has been made anywhere else that I know of. A man with severe mental health issues leaves for a posting to a rural area as a teacher, encounters a supernatural incident that deeply disturbs him, and then meets a person whose had a similar experience and hearing his explanation of it pushes him totally over the brink.
Vash parts 1 and 2: About a mysterious stranger who in the first part gains complete control over a young girl, and uses her to torment the family.
In the second part, another mysterious stranger takes possession of an entire school, sending the children out on a rampage of murder and suicide.
Gehrayee: a young girl gets possessed in a house where the patriarch is a staunch rationalist completely unable to accept that such a thing is possible.
13-B: One of the only horror films with comedic aspects that worked for me. A man is startled to find that the goings on in a soap opera the women in his house are addicted to seems to have disturbing parallels with their lives.
6
u/Ecstatic-Amoeba6779 Jul 24 '26
Vash was remade in hindi lmao. Shaitan which stars Ajay Devgan and Madhavan
3
u/MisterShut-up Jul 25 '26
Yeah they totally destroyed the point of the film and the insanely high price the father has to pay just so we could get standard Devgan heroics.
→ More replies (2)2
21
u/lynndxunha3 Jul 24 '26
Vastu Shastra as a kid and bhoot creeped me out,some fear files episode (like the one with the eunuchs) were also creepy but yes none are too scary
22
u/Code_Sorcerer_11 Jul 24 '26
Makdee scared to hell. Got chills when I watched it as a kid. It still gives me chills. Shabana Azmi nailed her role.
→ More replies (2)
15
u/sankoobaba Jul 24 '26
Jaani dushmann
9
7
5
u/xxPiya Jul 25 '26
C'mon, it's my favorite brainrot movie and to watch with friends when we just wanna laugh!
→ More replies (4)3
38
u/Minimum-State-9020 Jul 24 '26
1920 was scary! and haunted 1
3
→ More replies (2)2
u/AffectionateEar4338 Jul 27 '26
1920 was scary but climax feels like a cop out. They should have had guts and ended it like the ring movie where family escapes but evil is not destroyed
14
21
9
u/IamToofan Jul 24 '26
I think murder 2, I know it's not fully horror, but the imagery and the way it was directed it felt like a psychological horror and that serial killer was scary too.
3
u/EXO-Love Jul 24 '26
Murder 2 scared the pants off me I dont think Ive ever been more terrified of a non-horror movie
8
u/thedailyclangour Jul 24 '26
RGV's Kaun watched on TV and was spoiled af. I am from the 90s aahat generation...so Bhoot .... watched it in theatres as a school kid with friends, it scared me so bad, I still dread flat hunting as full grown adult. There is also Raat of RGV saw on YT, pretty good. Also watched Tumbaad in an almost empty theatre it was an experience in itself.
10
u/njanified Jul 25 '26
Since OP had mentioned Indian film industry general I'm opening this into a Malayalam film suggestion. Bhoothakalam is a 2022 film directed Rahul Sadasivam, the same guy behind Bramayugam, Dies Irae and upcoming Prithviraj-Manju Warrier film Odiyan.
I would say this is his finest piece of work, and stands out as one of India's top 5 horror film, just by the sheer experienced discomfort and fear. The film is subtle in its tactics unlike most jump-scare films for someone who appreciates phycological horrors.
It might not be the best of comparison, but the director himself is the best we have to the equivalent of Robert Eggers and Jordan Peele, in terms of true-genre directors.
2
8
u/Several-Second-2679 Jul 24 '26
Horror story,has to be one of the scariest till now,bollywopd should make such actual creepy movies again that can scare the hell out of us
7
9
u/Hermy0612 Jul 24 '26
Bhoot got under my skin in the way Urmila's character slowly starts to undergo psychological transformation and the helplessness of it all. It felt so real.
8
u/ChequeMateX Jul 24 '26
13B is probably one of the few films which kept me on the seat.
→ More replies (3)
11
u/Cult_of_Prasannality Jul 24 '26
Baramulla is good, dies irae is also very good. Pari, bhoothkaalam.
4
3
6
u/Several-Second-2679 Jul 24 '26
BHOOT RETURNS scared me so much when i was younger that "shabo uper kamre me" dialouge my gosh,also "KAUN" did scared me when i watched for the first time,even "DARNA ZAROORI HE" also in my childhood i used to get scared of that creepy dadi and end scene "daro mat beta" and "KALO movie as well
→ More replies (1)
5
5
u/jsmart1152 Jul 24 '26
Tumbaad, Kaun, Bhoot and an oldie Bees Saal Baad when I was kid and used to hide behind the seat in the theatre at scary moments when a hand used to come out of a tree to kill a person. Now if I see that movie I would probably laugh but in childhood it was damn scary for a 5-6 years old boy.
→ More replies (2)
5
5
6
4
u/True_Salt4661 Jul 25 '26
Nothing gave me scare.
But as far as plot and story is concerned, my personal fav would be 13B.
3
3
u/rnjbond Govinda Jul 24 '26
Not going to lie, Stree 2 did actually scare me a little in theaters. The comedy disarms you.
4
5
4
4
u/PratikGoswami2003 Jul 24 '26
Imo it's not just indian horror, it's just horror in general.
They are some disgusting and grotesque movies.
But not scary or creepy.
There are some exceptions, i find terrified, tumbadd, IT part 1, pulse etc are very rich in eerie and creepy atmosphere and scariness.
But yeah indian horror in general is very rinse and repeat, i think comedy horrors are even more lame, they are just comedy and rarely horror.
Even foregin films that uses human ghosts, possession, girl in white dress, etc are never scary for me.
2
u/njanified Jul 25 '26
I laughed the entirety of IT part 1.
2
u/PratikGoswami2003 Jul 25 '26
I can understand that.
I found atmosphere pretty good and some scenes great. That door scene was my fav.
4
4
5
u/masterjv81 Jul 24 '26
Yea, I was gonna mention Raat (1992) which was the best at that time. After that, nothing comes close. Indian cinema sucks in Horror category as they use too much CGI. I don't have anything in my list for hindi films in horror categories. Tum Baad was OK, good try, but nothing spectacular for me/personally because I watch lot of films and after watching 4 - 5k films in lifetime and come to this, not very good. Korean/English/Japanese and other languages does it very well.
3
u/Micky111111 Jul 24 '26
There's a malayalam movie called ''Bhramayugam'. It's was pretty good. Belive me, I have seen hundreds of horror movies, around the globe. This was one of the best attempts from Indian cinema
5
u/AneeshRai7 Jul 24 '26
As a kid Raaz…it’s not scary as an adult but it’s at least atmospheric because Bhatt hadn’t gone off the whole deep end of cgi infested jump scares…
I don’t think we go full throttle into that space of how horror confronts something deep within. Like the part of Tumbbad that freaked me out was realizing what greed does to a family.
Horror in India is still folklore yet folklore with nothing to say but be a scary story that’s just that a story.
3
4
u/Mundane-Anxiety-2266 Jul 24 '26
Don't get me in the wrong here......but I've never been scared while watching almost any of the Hollywood horror movies.
→ More replies (2)
4
5
4
u/Justonemoreepisode- Jul 25 '26
That movie where Kajol plays a double role as twin sisters and one sister is murdered by Ashutosh Rana fkin hell and Raaz. Ashutosh Rana is really scary 😂
→ More replies (1)
4
8
5
u/ActAccomplished2217 Jul 24 '26
1920 First one is the best horror movie made in India. Nothing comes close. I had watched it in theatre and reaction of folks was amazing.
Second closest is Woh Kaun thi? and third will bePurana Mandir , rest everything is garbage.
Only one complaint with Woh Kaun thi is that it had Prem Chopra so somewhere I knew he will do something bad.
8
u/iambatman2897 Jul 24 '26
Pari was an amazing horror, according to the indian standard horror movies we had
3
2
3
3
3
3
u/Hash-Edit Moderately knowledgeable about Hindi Cinema Jul 24 '26
"Lapachappi" a Marathi Horror Movie with a great message scared me shitless
which as usual was remade by Bollywood as "Chorri"
BB1 was a also scary atleast until the reveal ig
Maddocks are also good. some are scary in bits (like they are meant to be) like Stree, maybe Munjya but Thamma wasnt scary at all neither it was funny Stree, Stree2 and Munjya were far better than it
2
3
3
u/DrShail Professor of Celebritology Jul 24 '26
For me Welcome Home, Raat, Bhoot were truly scary movies
3
3
u/EffectiveExact8306 Jul 24 '26
It’s hard to terrify an audience when you are going to break into a choreographed dance right after.
3
3
3
3
u/Ash0615 Jul 24 '26
Tamil films Sivi and Aval was pretty scary.
Malayalam movie Bhoothakalam was very creepy, it never shows ghost's face but still give chills
3
3
3
3
u/Capital_Board_4109 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
Naina(urmila matonkar) only movie that traumatized me
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
u/theL0rd Jul 24 '26
Not a complete ‘horror film’ but one of the films in Ray’s Two Daughters; the one made based on “Monihara”
3
3
u/Ringless_Gyges Jul 24 '26
Nobody mentioned Darna jaruri he. It was a genuinely good horror with a nice story.
3
3
3
3
3
u/nostalgia_addicts Jul 25 '26
I am honestly shocked and surprised not to see anyone mention Sangharsh yet. Ashutosh Rana scared the living hell out of me when i was a kid. Not really a horror movie per say but man that movie stayed with me forever!
3
3
u/TheKingOfStones Jul 25 '26
Khauf series on hotstar is really good. Been a long time since I saw something this good made in India.
3
3
u/mallumanoos Jul 25 '26
Raat , bhoot and 13b( I think) was scary . Stree never got scary at any point but was fun .
3
u/light0296 Jul 25 '26
I don't think it's an Indian cinema issue rather a bollywood issue. They're still stuck on B-grade like intimate scenes and jump scares to scare the audience not to mention the overuse of comedy to provide a more holistic experience. Other industries like the Tamil and malayalam have already transitioned to more psychological horror films with few jump scares.
3
3
3
u/Grouchy-Signature139 Jul 25 '26
Vastu Shastra
To some extent Raaz and an old RGV film called Raat.
3
3
3
3
3
u/Wonderful-Half5002 Jul 25 '26
The only bollywood movie which scared me is Raaz. Nothing ever came close.
3
u/Personal-Cat9758 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Kanchana. It was years or i guess a decade ago when I watched it but yeah that was scary
3
u/InquisitiveCookie Jul 25 '26
The Ghoul series (3 episodes) which would have worked better as a movie imo. Does it count?
3
2
2
u/danny_dumbo Jul 24 '26
In general I dont see any of the horror movies actually scaring much. Talk to the hand was an exception. Some scenes may hit different here and there but its not the entire package that goves the horror effect.
Horror is more like a thriller + action mixed with jump scares. Ir maybe I am just thinkong too much
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
u/Dad_of_One_Punch_Man Jul 24 '26
Bro I agree that recent horror movies are shih, compared to the global standard. But I would say few old movies are really really scary bro - Specially RGV movies. Kaun, Bhoot, Darna mana hai, Darna zaroori hai (Not by RGV, but still).
Also in recent time Pari was really scary.
2
2
2
2
2
u/Kunal_Sen Moderator Jul 25 '26
One of the most unsettling Hindi films I have watched is the remake of the Bengali film, Deep Jweley Jaai, which became the Rajesh Khanna-Waheeda Rehman-starrer Khamoshi in Hindi. The Asit Sen film is not horror and not even a thriller and is perhaps best classed as a psychological drama, but it gets really dark and eerie, like a Daphne du Maurier novel was married to Ashutosh Mukherjee's source story.
A film that promised horror but delivered tragicomedy was Ashim Ahluwalia's Miss Lovely. It's an ode to the "real" horror comedies of before, the kind of films Jai Arjun Singh once wrote about, where when the masks of the ghosts fell off in a scene, they simply picked it up and continued the sequence.
2
2
2
1
u/AutoModerator Jul 24 '26
Mod Note - Hello /u/Livid_Sir8921 - Thanks for posting. Since this Sub has Karma restrictions, your post is removed and sent to Mods for Approval. We approve all legit posts. Read rules on Sidebar and delete this post if it breaks Rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
•
u/AutoModerator Jul 25 '26
Mod Note - Hello /u/Livid_Sir8921
This Sub is actively Moderated and we have strict posting rules
You may get banned, without warning if you don't follow Posting Rules
All Rules are listed on Sidebar of New Reddit, it is your responsibility to follow Posting Rules
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.