Inspection Bungalow Series Review: Misses the horror-comedy memo

Inspection Bungalow Series Review:

Some films and series in the horror-comedy genre in Malayalam tend to spend less on world-building and technical aspects and focus more on humour. The most recent example is the Arjun Ashokan-starrer Sumathi Valavu, which played to its strengths and ended up becoming a passable watch, thanks to the humour, and no thanks to the shoddy production values. However, ZEE5’s new 'horror-comedy' series Inspection Bungalow is a baffling misfire in the genre.

The series has a hackneyed plot that is as old school as 'bad spirits of the dead taking revenge against their killers with the help of some good, honest souls in uniform.' The plot is not too different from Sumathi Valavu or virtually any other horror comedy film in Malayalam cinema for that matter. However, what makes the series peculiar is its decision to play itself out as a police procedural. But...where are the laughs? Did someone forget to send the makers the horror-comedy memo? If you happen to laugh, you might do so at the blatant lapse in logic in the story or the sheer convenience with which the makers choose to tell it.

When MLA Shaji (Jayan Cherthala) forces SI Vishnu (Shabareesh Varma) and his colleagues to shift their police station to a supposedly haunted bungalow in their locality, the mere thought of entering it sends shivers down their spines. Nobody ever comes out of the bungalow alive, and people in the area believe that there are ghosts in it. However, the bigger ghosts are in the screenplay that refuses to evolve beyond age-old horror cinema tropes. Take, for instance, the use of a spiritual practitioner to exorcise the place of any malevolent spirit. When the character starts chanting mysterious mantras to achieve his goal, it is immediately laughable, coming across as nothing more than blatantly obvious mumbo jumbo. This trope takes you all the way back to the days of Aakasha Ganga and Indriyam, and if anything, it makes the series look lesser in comparison. The screenplay never bothers to explain how the practitioner knows just as much about the mysteries at the bungalow and beyond as the police does. It is an easy and convenient way for the makers to steer the investigation into a preordained path.

Director: Saiju SS

Cast: Shabareesh Varma, Aadhya Prasad, Shaju Sreedhar, Sreejith Ravi, Senthil Krishna

Streamer: ZEE5

Shabareesh Varma's character has a strong belief in God and a fear of ghosts, but the series hardly makes use of these traits to milk both horror and humour. Unfortunately, the writing does not offer the actor enough, and this problem extends to the supporting characters as well. When it introduces a key character as a paranormal researcher, you will have an inkling as to which direction the plot is going, and unfortunately, it never veers away from the beaten path. A police officer's staunch disbelief in the paranormal, despite the extraordinary events at the bungalow, and decision to stay somewhat aloof from the instigation means nothing short of a wasted character arc. When two characters come together at the end, you wonder how or why they decide to join forces all of a sudden. The minor suggestion of a second season for Inspection Bungalow is a scarier prospect than things that go bump in the night at the old mansion and its premises.

Another major issue is the excessive name dropping of every character that serves as a clue to the investigation at the heart of the story. All it does is give a facade of complexity for a series that desperately lacks some imagination, while making us feel like we are missing crucial context. All in all, this bungalow has a creaky foundation and a shaky roof, and should it be inspected further or simply razed down? Well, the case is yours.