D Block Movie Review: A gripping thriller with the right chills

D Block Movie Review: A gripping thriller with the right chills

If only the first half was more focussed sans the 'commercial' elements, D Block would have been a wholesome thriller
Rating:(3 / 5)

Campus-based stories, particularly about engineering life, are aplenty these days. Of late, films like Hridayam and Don found great reception because they instantly struck a chord with their target audience. D Block is also set in a similar backdrop — in an engineering college in Coimbatore — but it chooses to traverse a different path by unfolding a chilling horror story, which is said to be based on real events.

Director: Vijay Kumar Rajendran

Cast: Arulnithi, Charandeep, Avantika, Vijay Kumar Rajendran

The campus in D Block is not just in any other isolated area — it's surrounded by a thick forest. Now, this is an excellent setting for a thriller, and writer-director Vijay Kumar Rajendran has made the best of it. Girl students of AKR Engineering College are often mysteriously found dead. To save their reputation, the authorities conveniently blame it on the wild animals. It takes a suspicious Arul (Arulnithi) and his friends to crack the mystery and motive behind these killings. It's not soon before they find out that there's a psycho killer at work here. Like how it's usually done in such narratives, he gets a backstory — thankfully, a strong and plausible one.

Even though there are no supernatural elements, D Block has the mood of a horror film, especially during the night scenes. You always get the sense of a potential danger looming large, and it gets elevated with some effectively done jump-scares. Like in a typical horror film, characters wander at night and go to places that they have been warned about. We see shadows and glimpses of a huge black figure that sends chills down the spine. All this build-up feels justified because the threat here is a psycho killer with a truly frightening demeanour. In this film, the hero is a normal guy who uses his acumen to find the pattern between the killings. However, the killer is more like a superhuman you don't want to mess with. Charandeep, who plays the role, looks the part perfectly thanks to his towering physique, and with his performance, he is convincing enough to incite disgust and fear.

If you're patient enough to sit through the initial portions, D Block has solid stuff in it to keep you invested till the end. In the climax, we see the girls joining forces to overpower the invincible. Though it's well-intended, the execution is shoddy with a hilarious background score as if to motivate the women. This all-crucial ending should have been handled with more finesse. Despite all that, D Block has a lot of scenes worth remembering. The terrific interval block where the hero and the villain come face to face for the first time is a fine example. Then there's a riveting scene in the Principal's room. Arul and his friend sneak into the room in search of some old records when the college owner walks in. In the next shot, we see him standing right behind them. For a moment, we think the two have been caught.. but no, there's a mirror separating the two. A tense scene staged splendidly.

D Block has more such moments to prove that 'Eruma Saani' Vijay Kumar is a promising filmmaker in the making. If only he had paid more attention to making the first half more interesting with less focus on the comedy and romance portions, this film would have been a wholesome thriller.

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