Horror Story (film)

Plot

Vikrant Nerula enters the deserted Grandiose Hotel alone, goes to Room 3046, and commits suicide by jumping off the terrace. Seven friends—Sam (Samraat), Maghhesh, Achint, Neel, Nina, Sonia, and Maggie—reunite at a local pub after several years to celebrate Neel's farewell as he is going abroad. They learn about the abandoned hotel; rumours say the hotel owner was pushed into suicide by the ghost of an asylum inmate. The group decides to visit the hotel for adventure.

They try the main door but find it locked, so they enter through the back door. Nina observes strange phenomena, but Neel dismisses her claims. They find a TV set on with no transmission or power.

Achint and Neel then hear a voice saying, "WELCOME TO DIE." Ignoring it as a hallucination, they proceed to Room 3046, where Sam is killed. The group flees in panic and realizes they are trapped inside the hotel with no way out. Achint and Maghhesh go to the terrace to find a mobile signal, but a spirit kills Maghhesh. A woman's ghost terrorizes the group and drags Sonia into darkness.

With three people dead, the remaining four find an abandoned Jeep and try to drive out of the hotel amidst ghostly apparitions. After a drive through misty areas, the group escapes only to find themselves back at the door of Room 3046. They realize the only way to escape is to survive until dawn. Sonia then confronts them; Achint and Neel think she is the ghost, but a tearful Sonia insists it is really her.

The group learns that when the hotel was a mental asylum, a possessed girl named Maya was admitted after murdering her entire family. Maya would claim to have 'married the devil' and became very violent, killing doctors and causing a fire that killed all inmates. The group realizes Maya is haunting them.

Sonia attempts to contact Maya, who says she wants to kill them all. Maya's spirit then kills Sonia. Nina asks Neel the time, and he tells her it is the same time (3:55 a.m.) she saw on a clock shortly after entering the hotel. Believing it is an intuition, they decide to go back to that room to understand Nina's extrasensory perception.

Production

Vikram Bhatt deliberately kept Horror Story free of songs and sex scenes. He also chose not to hire well-known actors, explaining that big stars cannot make an audience afraid in what he called a "hardcore horror film." Producer Ravish Desai stated the movie is intended as the first installment of a planned franchise. Bhatt contrasted this film with his earlier horror works like Raaz 3 and 1920, which he described as romantic stories with songs and drama. He said Horror Story is more like a Hollywood-style drama, where the fear comes from the narrative itself.