Mansion 24 Review: This Telugu language mystery-horror-thriller stars Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Sathyaraj, Avika Gor, Bindu Madhavi, Archana Jois, Sriman, Rao Ramesh, Amardeep, Nandu, Ayyappa P Sharma, Manas, Tulsi, Jayaprakash, Rajeev Kanakala, Abhinaya, Bahubali Prabhakar, Vidyullekha Raman, Chatrapathi Sekhar, Surya, Nalini, Sharddha Dangar and others. The anthology, created and directed by Ohmkar, Series has 6 episodes, each with a runtime of 30 minutes.

Mansion 24 Trailer

Mansion 24 Plot

When a reputed archaeologist is accused of stealing precious artefacts and fleeing the country, his daughter Amrutha visits the place where he was last seen and tries to delve into the true story of his father’s whereabouts. However, the Mansion turns out to be holding many more secrets than she ever anticipated, and what starts as a search for the missing threatens to take her own life.

– Mansion 24 Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –

Mansion 24 Review

Mansion 24 is a scene-for-scene copy of the Korean horror anthology film The Grotesque Mansion (괴기맨숀), starring Sung Joon, Kim Hong-pa and Kim Bo-ra (albeit not every episode). The series, however, much like every other Indian horror series, has no thrills or chills to hold on to your interest and undivided attention, focusing more on jumpscares and horror cliches than anything else.

The problem, however, starts from the very beginning. We are introduced to Amrutha, an investigative journalist searching for her missing father. This unnecessary twist is not a part of the original film, and for good reason. It’s absolutely not necessary for a horror anthology to have an emotional twist wherein Amrutha cries beside her ailing mother. The scenes featuring her and her quest feel forced – it would’ve been great if the investigative journalist came to the mansion to figure out why people are disappearing from this place.

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On the other hand, the mansion is also a silly and unnecessary addition here. Not to say that it shouldn’t have a big spooky house with secrets inside, but the exterior is an unnecessary showcase of poor special effects and an unnecessary attempt at making it creepier – I mean, what is it with the crows sitting outside? I think the less over-the-top you are about these things, the creepier things become. At the end of the day, fear is better found in everyday objects and situations than in the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre-esq outhouse that the goofy-looking manager lives in.

I think that’s the problem – Mansion 24 tries too hard to be creepy, resulting in it being a silly watch with no thrills. The series could’ve held on to the atmosphere of a creepy house with moments that are genuinely bone-chilling, but instead, it chose to be theatrical nonsense with nothing to make it feel believable or relatable. It’s like watching an urban legend in its most basic form, with cliches and repetitive elements being showcased over and over again.

That, added to the funky background score that tells us that something scary is about to happen before it happens, takes away what little atmosphere it manages to create. It is neither thrilling nor scary, and the horrid special effects just make it worse than it is. I think the series could’ve been something really creepy and watchable, but the need to push the horror narrative down our throats cheapens the thrill to a level that it gets boring. Also, you won’t be able to miss the Vikram Betaal narrative that the series holds on to throughout its runtime, but I guess the logical reasoning behind the “hauntings” is somewhat interesting.

By far, the biggest problem, however, is how off-putting the perspectives are in the series, with a pregnant woman in episode 4 looking disfigured during her ultrasound, the mansion looking straight out of a kid’s drawing and a demon cat that looks like a speck of black instead of an animal. The talented cast saves the characters somewhat, who are as one-dimensional as they come. All the actors are pretty convincing with the little their characters offer, and if anything, you see the fear in their eyes, although you feel none of it.

Mansion 24 Review: Final Thoughts

The moment a grey-haired man appears out of thin air in front of the inhabitants of the mansion and starts spewing random stuff for no reason is when you realise this horror thriller is nothing but a forced and cheap jumpscare-riddled narrative that wants to have its cake and eat it too. Most of its scenes don’t make sense and do little to make you feel any sort of fear. If anything, it’s a slow-moving and annoying show that leaves everything to the imagination and nothing on-screen.

Mansion 24 is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

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