IMAGINATION– A PREREQUISITE FOR HORROR

The American author, Edward Abbey exhorted: “Belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination.” The scientifically inclined are likely to nod in approval. The personal prerogative to believe or disbelieve aside, the concept of the supernatural makes for thrilling, compelling cinema...one that calls for oodles of imagination.

"ಲಾಸ್ಟ ಬಸ್" ('Last Bus') is a 2016 Kannada paranormal thriller, which won a bunch of awards for technical merit and received rave reviews from critics too. Dubbed versions of the horror flick have been released in Telugu and Hindi.

The plot begins with Prithvi (Avinash Diwakar), an avid trekker taking the last bus of the day from a hamlet in the boondocks to Hanasa, a small town in the region. The bus, driven by Tanka (Raakaa Shankar Shetty), has a motley group of passengers.

The journey is through a dense, dangerous forest. En route the bus is forced to halt because of a fallen tree blocking the road. Many passengers see this as a bad omen; they abort the trip and head back. Prithvi and a few others prevail upon Tanka and get him to take a detour. Unfortunately, the bus gets involved in an accident; and, Tanka goes AWOL.

Prithvi et al begin their search for Tanka and reach an old, dilapidated mansion. They hear Tanka's screams from inside the abandoned house. The group rushes inside and gets stranded there. Tanka disappears in mucky quicksand. Other strange, inexplicable phenomena begin to occur.

A cut take the viewer to a lady in white, who proclaims that it is time for her to taste blood after a century! Oh...but, it is all a setup. A television crew, directed by Sandy (Prakash Belawadi), is filming surreptitiously for a reality show. Yet, the horror does not abate; it only abounds. Horrific, horrendous incidents begin to unravel.

How does the group inside the mansion survive the night? And, the television unit outside?

Director SD Aravinda, and his scriptwriting team, have presented a commendably unique story tailored for the silver screen. They have attempted an amalgam of suspenseful 'normal' with horrifying 'paranormal' with their complex, contortive narration. In short, more seems to have been bitten than could have been chewed with the over-plotted slog!

The flick is indubitably a technical gem– topnotch cinematography in tandem with topflight art direction and special effects make it a top-of-the-line thriller. Aravinda's background score is adequate.

The ensemble cast of Avinash Diwakar, Prakash Belawadi, and others has done its bit to enhance the EI– Eeriness Index. Prakash is FABULOUS in his portrayal of a randy, ruthless filmmaker.

The film has missed out on being ranked as a cult classic in its genre... all the same, it is a terrific watch, more so, if you dig humdinger horror.

I rate this paranormal thriller: 7.0 on 10!