ALEXIA

Directed by: Andres Borghi
Duration: 8:55

His former girlfriend Alexia, whom we came to know was rather possessive, committed suicide some years ago, but Franco hasn’t been able to delete her contact from his Facebook account. When his new girlfriend urges him to move on, he attempts to “unfriend” Alexia but then strange things start happening and an image of Alexia, bloody and with her wrists scarily slashed, pops up on his computer! Petrified, Franco pulls out the plug and is rescued by the doorbell — his new girlfriend is at the door. He shows her in, goes to the bathroom to wash his face and comes back to see her staring at the same scary image on his computer, even though the plug is still pulled out! Scared, he attempts to switch it off again, but sitting on the chair is not his girlfriend, but a blood-soaked Alexia... all ready to pounce!

Don’t watch: If you’ve just “unfriended” someone on Facebook.

 

 

 

THE CLOSET

Directed by: Drew Daywalt
Duration: 2:54

Does your mom also do things she shouldn’t be doing when she’s alone? Well, this one does — and takes it into unimaginable territory! Two young girls want to surprise their mom on her birthday. So they lie in wait in her closet, planning to spring a surprise on her. Mom comes home and calls out to them. Satisfied they aren’t around, she locks the bedroom, opens a paper bag… only to take out a severed head and start chomping on it. The girls let out a shriek and then “mom” comes for them. 

Don’t watch: If you plan to surprise your mom on her birthday.

 

 

THE PASSING

Directed by: John Wynn
Duration: 8:57

Two detectives land up at an eerie mansion on a routine call. At the door, they are startled by an injured woman who tells them that her young daughter is missing and implores them to find her. As one of the detectives walks into the mansion, the other stays outside with the woman, who gradually reveals that her daughter is dead and her attempts to contact her through a medium have gone awry. Once inside the dark mansion, the other detective comes across body parts preserved in bottles and then stumbles on a dead body… that of the woman who had met them outside! At the end of the story, the daughter is found alive, with the mom being the ghost in the first place. 

Don’t watch: If you are scared of the dark.

 

 

 

PEEKERS

Directed by: Mark Steensland
Duration: 8:18

A young man is settling down for breakfast when his elderly neighbour knocks at his door and requests him to come over to his house for a few minutes — the old man’s wife is in Cleveland visiting their daughter, but he can “see” her in their bedroom too! He pleads with the reluctant young man to accompany him just to ensure he isn’t “seeing things”.

The guy walks in, only to find the “wife” peeking out from behind a wall and telling him “Play with me”. Unnerved, he turns around to find that the old man has disappeared. Seconds later, it’s the old man who peeks out from behind another wall and says: “Play with me!” The young man, thinking the two are playing a prank on him, rushes back home. But just as he, more than rattled, settles down for breakfast again, he sees someone looking exactly like him peeking from behind the door and saying: “Play with me!” 

Don’t watch: If you pop into your neighbours’ frequently. 

 

 

 

VIENNA WAITS FOR YOU

Directed by: Mark Steensland
Duration: 26:14

Dumped by her boyfriend as soon as she lands up in Vienna, Anna is over the moon when she manages to rent an apartment — the old woman who owns it is only too eager to give it out — in the heart of the city. Happy doing it up at first, Anna gradually falls sick, getting wrinkled and grey-haired. She soon realises that the apartment is to be blamed but is told by the caretaker that “it” will not allow her to leave till she finds a new tenant. Unwilling to let someone else suffer her fate, Anna, 25 but looking 80, goes to say her final goodbye to her ex-boyfriend, but learns that his new girlfriend is now looking for an apartment. She almost rents it out to her but stops herself at the last minute, preferring to die and let the apartment “swallow” her up.  

Don’t watch: If you are house hunting.

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HALLOWEEN WATCH: FIVE HORROR-TASTIC ANIME TO ADD TO THE SPOOKFEST

 

With Halloween round the corner, here’s a list of five spooky anime to keep you in the mood for thrills and chills!

 

 

Mononoke 

Mononoke follows an enigmatic medicine seller who travels the land searching for and destroying “mononoke” (supernatural monsters). The story is mostly set in medieval to early modern Japan and takes place across short, unconnected story arcs, each with its own characters, with the medicine seller being the only recurring character. 
Episode count: 12

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni 

A classic anime of the mystery-horror genre, Higurashi is set in the quiet village of Hinamizawa in 1983. Told through different, often unrelated, storylines, the plot follows Keiichi Maebara and his friends as they try to find an answer to the spate of crimes that breaks out across the village, most of them ending in murder.
Episode count: 24

Hellsing 

The Royal Order of Protestant Knights, led by the Hellsing family, is tasked with destroying the undead and other supernatural creatures. The protagonist, Alucard, a powerful vampire and butler to the Head of the Hellsing family, must investigate and put an end to the undead outbreak in England unleashed by a neo-Nazi group.
Episode count: 13

Elfen Lied 

Elfen Lied’s protagonist Lucy is a Diclonius, a mutant species with the ability to control invisible arms called ‘Vectors’, who escapes an experimental facility after wreaking havoc and is found by two civilians. Injured, traumatised and having developed a dual personality, Lucy is taken in by university student Kohta and his cousin Yuka. They must now try to keep her from falling into the hands of the Special Assault Team and a number of other Diclonius who are all after Lucy. 
Episode count: 13

Shiki 

Shiki is set in a quiet Japanese village called Sotoba. After a strange family moves into an abandoned mansion in the village, there are a string of mysterious deaths. Originally thought to be an epidemic, the protagonists soon link the cause of the deaths to “shiki” — vampire-like creatures who have made Sotoba their feeding ground and turned their victims against their former friends and family. 
Episode count: 24

 

 

Sagnik Guha,Add to the list of horror-tastic anime-manga at t2@abp.in