13B: Fear Has a New Address (2009)

13B: Fear Has a New Address (2009)
Written By: SR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff

Film Information

Director: Vikram Kumar
Producer: Suresh Balaje, George Pius, et. al.
Writers: Vikram Kumar, Abhinav Singh Kashyap, et. al.
Date Released: March, 6th, 2009

Cast:
Madhavan as Manohar
Neetu Chandra as Priya
Sanjaih Bokaria as Manoj
Saranya Ponvannan as Manohar’s mother
Sachin Khedekar as Dr. Shinde
Murali Sharma as Inspector Shiva
Deepak Dobriyal as Ashok
Dhritiman Chatterjee as Mr. Kamdhar
et.al.

Rating = 4/5 Graves

***May contain some spoilers***

Synopsis

Manohar and his brother, Manoj buy an apartment for their family with an inauspicious number – 13B  . The big and happy family move in when strange and disturbing occurrences start to transpire. As a result of these events, the suspicious Manohar begins to investigate these strange happenings and uncovers a dark secret in the house’s history. Once Manohar realizes that there is something sinister happening, he pleads with his friend, Inspector Shiva, to help save his family before anything bad happens to them. They begin a race against time to save their families.

Gore Factor

There is some gore in the film. One notable scene that stands out is when a maniac kills an entire family with a hammer. Unfortunately, the special effects used in the film are below expectation. For example, there is a repeated instance of how Manohar’s phone takes eerie photos of him at random. Perhaps the creators thought that the idea of having your phone take pictures of you at random would be more disturbing than it actually was.

The Grave Review

Directed by Vikram Kumar, 13B: Fear Has a New Address has won a prestigious Vijay Award for Best Editor. The script is well written and the direction is very detailed and methodical. The director slowly and painstakingly builds up the story while dropping unexpected plot twists. Simultaneously, the film’s creepy background score leads to a rollercoaster effect. Although this type of storyline as been done before extensively, the cast saves the film and shines with expressive and impressive acting. This film definitely has that special edge!

The storyline is a typical paranormal horror movie. A normal family is overtaken by paranormal events tied to their new home, apartment number 13B. The film is gripping and is accompanies by a creative background music which keeps you entranced throughout the film. The most intriguing part is how the director is able to capture tiny gestures and nuances and incorporate them  into the film to add additional layers to the story. The history of the house is deeply disturbing and once Manohar discovers it, opens a Pandora’s box creating a lot of thrill and great suspense in the second half of the film. The story pieces together almost perfectly until the end.

Upon investigation, it seems that actor, Madhavan, who played Manohar had rejected the original script and the director worked on it for two years after which the actor thankfully agreed. All the cast members performed admirably in the film. In addition, each actor and actress incorporated their own personalities into the characters that they played. For example, Manohar’s mother (played by Saranya Ponvannan) took the role of the scolding matriarch but in a disciplined manner. On the other hand,  Manohar played the role of the  kindred soul with natural body language and smooth expressions.  Both cast members did a great job at playing the character roles assigned to them as well as all the other supporting cast members. This may have been the saving grace of the film which is why we are comfortable giving this film four graves.

With a runtime of two and a half hours, the film may feel like a marathon but 13B is an engaging story that incorporates some nice twists. For Bollywood/Tollywood fans, the film also has a couple of catchy tracks. However, the film is definitely below average in the special FX department. The director wins with his expressive cast and rapturing music score.

Overall, I would recommend this film to those who are either a fan of Indian produced horror films or horror films in general.

For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives 13B: Fear Has a New Address (2009) four graves out of five graves.

---

Do you agree with our review? Comment below.

You may also like our review of the film, The Other Side of the Door.