Exploring 'It Lives Inside': A Movie Review
Some Hindu demons are just assholes. Take the Pishach, the occasionally invisible creature at the center of It Lives Inside, who likes to torment its victims before ultimately feasting on their souls. Dick move if you ask me. Dick move to not make a better movie, too. It Lives Inside is an almost-really-good horror thriller that unfortunately is simply mediocre, despite a strong cast, a compelling premise, and focus on an Indian-American protagonist for a change. Megan Suri stars as Samidha, who really wants to fit in with all the white kids but can’t quite shake her cultural roots, in large part due to the constant nagging by her mother (Neeru Bajwa), who I’ll admit made me feel old only because it’s one of the first horror movies where I realized I am now officially more attracted to the mom than the 24-year-old lead. Both are gorgeous, but more importantly both do a stellar job.
Technically speaking, It Lives Inside is a step above your average horror movie. Director Vishal Dutta has some scary moments in his feature debut, but overall I wouldn’t call this movie all that scary. But it’s well put together, atmospheric, and shows potential for aspiring filmmakers. The fact that an Indian family and a Hindu monster were at the center of a story set in the United States suggested something more resonant and unique. But the biggest flaw with It Lives Inside, co-written by Dutta and Ashish Mehta, is that once you strip away some of the window-dressing, it’s a far more stupid film than the filmmakers probably realized. It ends up being a pretty run-of-the-mill horror movie. All the clichés are there – the teenager choosing not to tell his parents or the police what’s going on, the decision to go to an abandoned house at night, the decision to make a plan for what’s going on. Always Reject The audience is clear (damn plan). With a glass! ) and other stupid things. In fact, the main character is annoyed the entire time, and just when he thinks he’s finally overcome his stupidity, he makes an even stupider decision in the final battle.
Dutta also relies heavily on dream sequences. My general belief is that dream sequences are cheating (unless you’re dealing with Freddy Krueger), but in any case, after the first round, the sequences become predictable. Not only is it completely terrifying, but it’s also completely terrifying because we know that nothing is at stake in reality. It all adds up to a surprisingly dull affair, which is a real shame because you can see how damn close this movie is from being something much better. It Lives Inside simply doesn’t bring it home, in large part due to its surprising unoriginality.