Director: Vikram K Kumar

A family moves into a new flat, and immediately, everything that can go wrong, does: a pregnant young wife has a bad accident, an electrician nearly gets fried, a mobile phone camera begins behaving erratically. Strange things happening in strange houses is one of the oldest ploys horror films use: ‘13 B’ scores in keeping it slick and suspenseful, and almost-fresh.

Why a film like this, which needs to make every minute count, shoves in a creaky dream sequence with hero-and-heroine-singing-a-song, is beyond us. So here’s Manu (Madhavan) labouring up to the 13th floor (of course, the lift mysteriously refuses to move for him), here come his shoes up the steps, and here—you lean forward, all prepared to squeal—and there go Madhavan and Neetu, cavorting on the beach. Oh, the horror.

Like all debuts, it’s longer than it should be. While the going’s good, though, ‘13 B’ piles on the chills, working hard at not making them obvious. You can spot influences from famous Japanese horror flicks (the TV set becomes the repository of old evil). And some American ones which were in turn influenced by those Japanese ones. But ‘13 B’ manages to come off almost-new (doors do not creak! owls do not hoot! white-robed ghosts do not roam the corridors!), with just enough ‘desi’ schlock to keep things bouncing, and a couple of interesting twists.

It also helps the film is fronted by an efficient ensemble cast, led by the eminently believable Madhavan. Neetu Chandra lends him able support, and Poonam Dhillon, still looking good, makes a welcome re-appearance as a TV serial addict-cum-petrified-grandmom. But the one who really blows you away, in a tiny cameo, is Deepak Dobriyal, playing a mentally-challenged murder suspect.

Forget the irritating item numbers. Stay with the film, and you will come to a smart little end, and leave half-smiling, half-wondering: is this what the future holds?