Horror is one of those genres that has such a universal appeal because fear is something we all share across cultures, languages and generations. While it’s safe to say we all share similar fears, demons, death, gore, etc., I’ve always found it interesting how different cultures manifest these fears into different stories and entities. If you look throughout the history of every civilization you’ll find tales of monsters and spirits that were either designed to be a metaphorical representation of a lesson or proverb, while others were meant to bridge the gap between us and the things we can’t understand. There’s a lot of similarities to be found, like the Boogeyman and the Baba Yaga, but I always enjoy seeing the uniqueness each culture brings to these stories.  Unfortunately, that uniqueness doesn’t always translate into film adaptations, which happens to be the case with 2023’s It Lives Inside. 

It Lives Inside has the benefit of pulling from an underrepresented culture in American film, yet also pulls from the most underwhelming aspects of American horror. Ineffective scares, genre cliches, and an overreliance on atmosphere with very little payoff plague this demonic tale. While some social commentary attempts to make the film more relatable, it never really comes full circle in a meaningful or interesting way. While the conventional approach could be seen as a love letter to the genre from the director’s point of view, it still feels ironic that a film about not sacrificing what makes you unique to better fit in with the crowd does the exact opposite.

The film follows highschool student Samidha, an Indian-American trying her best to fit in in her heavily suburban American town. Yet her attempts to become another face in the crowd gets upended when her former best friend, Tamira, tells her of a demonic force she found living inside a jar. The spirit eventually gets released and begins to torment Samidha and everyone she gets close to.

Truth be told I think there’s plenty of heart to the film. Director Bishal Dutta is obviously drawing on a lot of personal and cultural experience here, having been born in India only to move to the United States later in his young life. These kinds of elements translate pretty well to this film, as Samidha finds herself caught between two worlds. In an effort to blend in with her peers, she tries her best to reject her parents’, mostly her mother’s, cultural wishes and habits. She’s shortening her name to Sam, shaving her arms, and being cautious of how her clothes smell when she leaves the house. These are little things that I know are going to resonate with a ton of first generations, and I’m glad these struggles are finding their way onto the screen. The conflict of embracing your culture unfortunately gets used in a fairly uninteresting way however, being simply used as a way to stop the film’s monster without really connecting to those real world issues. The struggles at least feel compelling enough thanks to decent performances from Megan Suri as Samidha and Neeru Bawja as her mother Poorna. 

While the film does seem to embrace the culture that inspired it, everything plays out rather predictably and rather lazily. The creature for most of the film is an unseen force of nature that can be anywhere at any time, capable of killing anyone at any moment yet also decides to keep some people alive to kill later. The rules and laws the demon is tied to appear to be pretty loose, kind of just doing whatever the plot needs from it. It’s super underwhelming and isn’t all that scary, only really showing its true form at the end where it admittedly looks cool, but not all that memorable. Because of such a simple creature approach, the film is unable to consistently pull off genuine scares. We get a few jump scares here and there that aren’t offensively bad, yet they don’t come off as terrifying in the slightest. The film is occasionally able to unnerve with a slower sense of pacing for some scenes, yet rarely do they ever lead to a satisfying payoff. The stakes hardly ever feel heavy as well, especially when the film ends with an onscreen body count of 1. It doesn’t help that the PG-13 rating can’t even allow the film to lean on some ballsy imagery. Films like Smile or M3gan can at least salvage themselves a bit thanks to a quirky premise, but outside of its cultural connection, this is as by the book as you can get. 

You can see a ton of influence from other horror films here, like the element of not knowing if you’re awake or asleep like in Nightmare on Elm Street, or a 7 day prolonged death like The Ring. Yet there’s nothing here that really screams “director’s vision” to me. There’s some interesting shot composition from time to time and I did enjoy a lot of the sound design, but the majority of the project feels devoid of character. It’s a small film, don’t get me wrong, but competency in the craft can only get you so far. It lacks the distinct vision of an Aster, Eggers or Peele, while stumbling to effectively connect its spooky shenanigans with a teenage experience like Talk to Me did. 

It really is just fine. Like I said, not offensively bad or insulting to its audience. It’s just far too familiar in a period where horror has been getting weirder and more creative than ever before. Its atmosphere is occasionally effective and the performances and creature design are often the highlights, but I can’t help but feel more could have been done to really tie the terror into the message the film is trying to highlight. It’s incredibly tame and not all that shocking, but might give you a decent enough time this Halloween season. If anything it does make me a tad more curious to see what Hindi horror movies are out there, so if you have any suggestions, be sure to leave them down in the comments.

Rating

Pischach

The Pischacha is a flesh-eating spirit in Dharmic religions, notably Hinduism and Buddihsm. They feed on human energy and must be contained in a vessel in order to be stopped. This can really be any type of container, but in this film its most notable a mason jar. For the Pischacha cocktail, I’ve decided to ring in the fall weather with an Indian influenced hot chocolate cocktail, flavored with an assortment of spices and rum. This spiced mixture will give a nice lingering heat that pairs very well with the warming nature of the hot chocolate, while the rum adds an additional note vanilla and its own unique burn. Let’s go ahead and seal away this demon of a drink.

Ingredients

• 2oz dark rum
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons coco powder (may vary if pre-measured)
• 4 slices of ginger
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon cardamon
• 3 whole cloves
• 8 black peppercorn
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Garnish: mashmellows
• Garnish: roasted cinnamon stick

Instructions

1. In a pan over medium heat, combine all ingredients except for the rum and cocoa powder. Stir the mixture and heat until the milk is close to bubbling. Remove from heat.
2. Use a fine mesh strainer/cheese clothe to strain the milk into a heat-safe container or glass.
3. Add cocoa powder and rum to glass, then shake to combine.
4. Garnish with mashmellows and cinnamon stick.