‘Nellikkampoyil Night Riders’ movie review: A horror comedy that’s neither funny nor scary

At the centre of Nellikkampoyil, the eponymous village in Noufal Abdullah’s debut directorial Nellikkampoyil Night Riders, is a well-stocked library. Although many sequences in the film take place inside this library, none of the characters are ever shown approaching the shelves or holding a book. The shelves remain in the background of the frames as mere eye-candy props. Incidentally, almost everyone in this fictional village holds superstitious beliefs, on account of which they have irrational fears too.

Shyam (Mathew Thomas), the protagonist, is also fearful of the dark, but has to keep a brave face in front of his girlfriend (Meenakshi Unnikrishnan), to whom he has portrayed himself as a daring youth. The sighting of a mysterious, masked figure with horse legs in the village adds to his fears, further complicating his already troubled love life. With the help of his close friends (Sarath Sabha and Roshan Shanavas), Shyam attempts to take on the mysterious figure.

For his filmmaking debut, Noufal Abdullah, editor of some acclaimed films, chooses to attempt something in the horror comedy genre, in which Malayalam cinema has had hilarious films like Romancham in recent years. However, in Night Riders, neither does the blend of these genres happen seamlessly, nor is it successful in eliciting much laughter or creating effective horror. M Jyothish and AV Sunu, who co-wrote the fairly enjoyable romantic comedy Pranaya Vilasam, do not appear to be in their elements here, as they struggle to bring anything fresh to the table.

Both the romance at the centre of the narrative as well as the theme of the appearance of a mysterious figure have a dated feel about it. The protagonist’s attempts to overcome his fears is the only thread that creates some interest, but even this is dampened by a half-baked background story and the repeated appearances of a ghost asking him to eat a morsel of rice, which turns into a bit of unintentional humour.

That the mystery of the horse-legged figure has no tenuous connection to the village adds to the disappointment at the end. Much of the credit for keeping some passages of the film in the watchable territory goes to Roshan Shanavas and Sarath Sabha, who both bring some energy to the lifeless scenes.

When the horror is laughable and the humour horrific, it is clear that the film didn’t work the way it was intended to. Nellikkampoyil Night Riders does not leave one with anything memorable.

Nellikkampoyil Night Riders is currently running in theatres