Demonte Colony 2 Movie Review : The Familiar Horror Returns But With Fewer Twists

Demonte Colony 2 Movie Synopsis: A ghost feasts on four friends who try to take away its golden chain from its abode: Demonte Colony. However, a few people save one of these friends and decide to fight the evil spirit.

Demonte Colony 2 Movie Review: A sense of déjà vu washes over you as Raghu (Arulnithi), Debi (Priya Bhavani Shankar) and a monk see their faces appear on an unused television. All fans of the thrilling original, know that this special show is spearheaded by the ghost, the dead king. While the show last played on a small television screen in a colony-like apartment building in 2015, the latest version is telecasted on a huge LED screen hung in a Chinese restaurant in 2021. Yes, the ghost’s golden chain is stolen once again and the evil spirit is back.

Director Ajay Gnanamuthu is well aware of the impact of the first film. So, the sequel picks up where the first film ends and even if the director wants to try something new, he ensures the screenplay circles back to something that reminds us of the original. However, such cues are organically sprinkled throughout the film. For instance, Debi meets Srinivasan (Arulnithi from the first film) for the first time when she coincidentally visits the astrologer (who was killed by the ghost) and later learns that Srinivasan has a twin brother named Raghu. Likewise, the horror sequences play out similarly to the original because it’s the ghost’s creative, copyrighted pattern of killing. And such moments make for some of the best sequences in It creates a certain setup where there is an eerie familiarity to the proceedings and the horror begins to kick in even before the actual ghost arrives.

Two major qualities that powered the original were the portrayal of evil – the spirit was much more powerful than the hero, who was merely trying to escape – and the suspense-filled screenplay. Both of these aspects are partially present in the sequel. Until the dead king arrives in the Chinese restaurant where Raghu, Debi, and the monk take shelter, one or the other intriguing event keeps happening. There is a heart-aching love story, an astral projection, a twin reveal, an investigative angle, and much more. The visuals of an after-life kingdom too find space in this racy film. However, towards the end, the escape plans seem to play on repeat without much logic and innovation. Since you’re already in familiar territory, there isn’t much suspense to keep you hooked. The only few twists in the film too are garden variety and can be seen from miles away – Debi meets a kid who looks familiar, and you know right away who the kid is; she ignores a sealed letter during a montage sequence, and you already know that there’ll be a climax twist with this.

That said, matches the energy and thrill of the original for the most part. The production value too gets an upgrade in the sequel. Just like the first film, the makers stay away from Kollywood’s horror house: the palace. The first film was set in a small house in a colony. And this time around, the events unfold in a posh, dimly lit, and red-tinted Chinese restaurant. From the cutting of vegetables to a scary aquarium, everything is viewed through a lens of dread which adds to the story’s tension. Arulnithi gets very little to do even as he plays dual roles, but he does what’s required of him. It is Priya Bhavani Shankar who shoulders the film and might well be a prominent film in her career. Even though it takes time to buy into her performance because, for the nth time, all we see her do is cry, there’s more to her character than just sadness. There’s a certain longing and a search for something unknown, which PBS manages to bring out. Besides the mostly engaging screenplay and performances, what urges you to overlook the flaws is how is arguably one of the most compelling sequels to come out in Tamil cinema and that we would be happier even if the mystic chain is stolen yet again.

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