One of the oldest genre tropes imaginable, the use of the haunted house for a setting, offers up countless scenarios over the ages of people investigating the same old situations. From “The Old Dark House” to “The Cat and the Canary,” “The Uninvited” and “The House of Usher” to “The Amityville Horror” and “The Conjuring” to name just a couple, this timeless quality has brought about some of the best and worst the genre has seen due to so many trying their hand at the concept. Milind Rau is one of the latest to do so with his Tamil-lensed genre effort that falls more on the side of the heavyweights in the scene despite falling just short of the marks it set.
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Arriving at their new house, Dr. Krishnakanth Acharya (Siddharth) and his wife Lakshmi (Andrea Jeremiah) are excited to learn a new family has moved in next door to them. After meeting Paul D'Cousta (Atul Kulkarni), his wife Lizzy (Bhawana Aneja), the grandfather (Yusuf Hussein), and daughters Jenny (Anisha Angelina Victor) and Sarah (Khushi Hajare), the two families become friends which is only enhanced when Acharya saves Jenny from an accident by falling into a well on their property. In the days after the incident, however, a series of strange incidents and accidents befall those around them which is never fully explained or controlled. Eventually realizing they need professional help, they agree to call upon Pastor Joshua (Prakash Belawadi), a professional exorcist, to deal with the situation when it's revealed that they're trapped in a loop with ruthless supernatural forces beyond their measure.
Overall, there's quite a lot to like with “The House Next Door.” What is most appealing here is a highly impressive and enjoyable storyline that offers up some intriguing aspects. The main setup involving the dual storylines at play, with Krish and Lakshmi attempting to get their marriage going while also focusing on the burgeoning relationship that begins once the neighbors move in next door, gives a fine energy to the film. The idea of having these elements come together is a great one as the tension that comes from Krish trying to ward off Jenny's advances and flirting while still trying to keep his respectable practice and marriage intact offers a lot to like. This ends up making for a fun time here when the film turns to the supernatural and the rather bizarre encounters that are featured, to go along with the exploits delving into what's going on with Jenny. All of these aspects are built together quite strongly and create a highly intriguing and worthwhile storyline.
This setup allows “The House Next Door” to really let loose with its supernatural hauntings. The early scenes of Jenny acting weird are the perfectly innocuous and innocent-seeming but malicious sequences once you know what's really going on, that serve to set the storyline in motion. Featuring the expected but no-less-impactful possession scenes, including staring ominously into the distance, unearthly screaming and unnatural bodily contortions, the build-up of something's wrong beyond their normal avenues of expertise, gives this really likable features. When the attempts are made at spiritual healing with professionally-conducted rituals and advanced medical treatments, their failure to solve the issue attacking Jenny steers this towards the supernatural realm. The spectacle and action featured here are quite fun as they utilize the house to their advantage creating several high-energy set pieces that are rather exciting and thrilling as the protagonists battle the possessed individuals. Armed with a fantastic technical brilliance that makes the sequences feel all the more chilling and enjoyable during the shocking setpieces, there are a lot of positives on display.
That said, “House Next Door” does have some slight drawbacks. The main detriment is that Rau's screenplay has a lot more going on than there really needs to be. This overly complicates matters as a result. Working within the confines of a typical possession film is fine enough here but to add in various unnecessary backgrounds for the reasoning behind why Jenny is the chosen target is piled on needlessly. Despite building up her character, the determination to pin everything on her rebellious attitude and unconventional taste in music and movies as a cause for everything, seems shortsighted and hypocritical. Likewise, the focus on the Chinese ancestral figures at the start of the film being brought in and introduced as the real culprit for the hauntings through a lengthy and unnecessary flashback, feels unfocused in places. That also comes to pass in the finale, with unexplained possessions, overwrought chases with little emotional impact, and curiously unexplained reasoning that drags on with a meandering sensibility to it all. This ends the film on a sour note and is a part of what holds it back.
A highly likable and enjoyable genre effort, that “House Next Door” comes off with more positives than negatives that deem it one of the more impressive features in the style with a lot to really like. Viewers who are appreciative of this type of genre feature or are intrigued by the positives will get a lot out of the film.
