Pizza (II) (2012) User Reviews

A Wonderful Tale Of Horror, Deception, Life & Love!

[nairtejas · 9/10 · 2 February 2013]

While most of the new-age films are related to drama, comedy and sci-fi, débutante Karthik is a guy from whom I will expect more thrilling movies.

Pizza tells you a story of a pizza-delivery guy who gets entangled in a story of horror, love and deception. The first part is a juxtaposition of initiation, life and horror. While the second half is where it gets horrid, severe and mind-blowing. The genre of this sort changes as you proceed and every genre will make you even more interested. The screenplay is terrific and the camera-work is just par excellence. The background score just adds to the thrills. Boy, this is one Tamil movie I could see again and again.

The plot is very rare and ingenious. Performances are pure and inventive. Except a very big hole in the plot that I found with the help of my critic sister, Pizza is a very good entertainer, spine-chilling horror movie and thought-provoking piece of cinema. And the ending just makes it a movie with great climax which can easily be said in one line: As you sow, so shall you reap!

WATCH OUT FOR: Vijay and his anecdote!

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Language: Mild | Sex: No | Nudity: No | Violence: Strong | Gore: Strong | Alcohol: Medium | Smoking: Strong

Title Waters Your Mouth but Yet You Sweat a Lot..!!

[spruthvi35 · 9/10 · 29 April 2013]

Really have never seen such a movie which goes throughout in a nail-biting screenplay except for the first 25 mins. An excellent direction and a great screenplay with a great-picture perfect-awesome cinematography.

The performances of the main leads was great and well maintained too.

Special effects were at peaks along with the background score.

The climax was great revealing all the twists and turns in the story.

But the movie ends on a freaky note , which may be disappointing.

Go watch it in a cinema or buy a DVD and watch it .

Rating - 3.5/5

One of the Good Horror - Thriller Tamil Cinema.

[vkkiy · 8/10 · 3 September 2017]

Loved this movie. Horror-Thriller genre is actually tough in terms of making, but this movie managed to shape well. No lagging at all. Good Script, cinematography and great acting by Vijay Sethupathi (far better than that vijay who saves multiple villages lol :P) Over all a Vijay Sethupathi show.

One of the Most exciting movie experiences I ever had!!

[shanmuchat · 10/10 · 13 February 2013]

I saw this movie with a friend, not knowing anything about the story, just with the idea that the movie is good. And I had surprise waiting in the theater. It was the most exciting movie for me as far as I can remember (after Kanchana - which was again a Tamil Horror movie, which exciting to watch in the theater too) It is a movie which has to be watched in a good theater a loads of people to scream and cry along with you, which makes the movie experience the best. If you missed theater, I would suggest watching it in Home theater, with lots of friends who haven't seen the movie too.

Now as for the technical aspects, the editing, cinematography and music are great plus along with Karthik Subburaj's excellent narration makes it an wonderful One time watch. Hat's off to the team!

Pizza - 10/10. Best when served hot! :)

Pizza (2012)

[santhosh-10290 · 10/10 · 22 March 2018]

The movie was excellent. This is my favorite movie of Vijay Sethupathi. Vijay Sethupathi superb acting throughout the movie. Karthik Subbaraj superb direction. Songs and BGM were also superb.

My rating is for direction

[kamalthaf · 10/10 · 4 October 2019]

My rating is mainly for direction. Also, the actors are done well. It's Rarest of the rare, for a horror movie, to get IMDB rating 8.0. I think it's a must watch movie.

Probably, The best use of "Deux Ex Machina" ever done in thriller genre. Meet World's First horror-con-thriller ever.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 8/10 · 19 June 2021]

Pizza (2012) : Brief Review -

Probably, The best use of "Deux Ex Machina" ever done in thriller genre. Meet World's First horror-con-thriller ever. I think i have given away too much in the first two lines only which might turn a big spoiler unless you don't think about it too much. So, first you should know what is "Deux Ex Machina". If you know it then it's great and if you don't then please go to Wikipedia and read about it there. That will save some copy-paste work for me in this BRIEF review. So, now you know what that term means basically and let me tell you it's not complex as you think. Actually, we all have been through it with many comedy films over the years but just didn't think that it could mean something intricate like this. So better leave it UNSOLVED and that's what it means here. Pizza is horror film but we all know that there's nothing like ghosts and all so we start finding solid reasons for it. Remember, Malayalam Classic 'Manichitrathazu'? Even that belongs to horror genre but as we all know it's not a real thing so we start finding logic into it. That film provides it by the perfect use of Psychological medical terms so while watching Pizza you also wish there would be something logical at the end to cover all the unrealistic loopes. It's a sign of an intelligent movie viewer who easily don't believe in spilled stuff and rather likes to wait for intriguing turnarounds. With Pizza, the same thing happens. They show you horror images because you are a smart movie buff, you don't believe it and wait for the suspense to get revealed. A pizza delivery boy lands in a mysterious circumstance and it works a dramatic change in his life. I am not spoiling anything here because i want you to watch the film without any speculations and i am sure it will blow you away. It's little predictable but still very hooked and surprising. Thanks to Team Pizza for trying something different and for me that's the best thing about it.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.

A generally likable and enjoyable effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 27 June 2022]

After learning his girlfriend is pregnant, a pizza deliveryman decides to take a last-ditch job for the extra money by dropping off an order at a strange house in the countryside, but when he finds himself embroiled in a strange conspiracy tries to solve the mystery to get out alive.

There are a lot of positive aspects to be had with this one. The main feature to like here is the rather strong setup that introduces a rather strong and enjoyable central relationship. Since so much time is spent on the two with their living arrangements and discussions about the future together, they come off like a realistic couple in the throes of a lived-in relationship. Knowing how much she wants to settle down into a family with him and raise their unborn daughter together despite his financial concerns about all of them living as a family feels genuine and realistic. This plays off quite well in setting up the constant need to be working and taking odd assignments at work to help themselves along and prepare for the future which ends up generating a lot of sympathy and attachment to the couple so that the scares that emerge later on have a weight to them. The setup at the house comes off rather fun as well, with the introduction of the family at the house on his delivery route or the various side characters at work, have a lot to like while setting up the storyline quite well. This turns the middle part of the film into a rather impressive series of supernatural activity and hauntings. Things start off ominously with the daughter feverishly drawing and chanting in an eerie language to herself which is quite unnerving, but the later delivery that traps him at the house is where this gets terrifying. From finding figures impaled halfway up a wall with large knives plunged into their body, a series of chilling setpieces playing around with music playing from an object in the distance, or seeing objects disappear suddenly, there's a lot to like in this section. With the focus squarely on him the entire time, there's an unnerving quality attached to his walking around the darkened house unaware of what's going on. Escalating matters is a strong series of tactics that are generally amusing to watch while being generally terrifying in execution as bodies start piling up around the house, phone lines don't seem to work as they should and no one can be trusted, this highlights a rather impressive turn that the story takes. The twist that arises is incredibly shocking and quite well-written since it's quite surprising how everything gets revealed and impacts what's been known to that point which is where the film shines. These elements all combine into a fine series of positives although this one does have a few drawbacks to hold it down. One of the biggest detriments is an overlong setup that causes the film to be much longer than it really should. All the enjoyable setup that goes into making their relationship feel believable, including their arguments but also the times where it stops to focus on the happy times when they're on dates or enjoying time together, this also causes an excessively long build-up. It's around the forty-five-minute mark when he arrives at the house and things start happening which is a bit too long to spend before getting to the point of the film. As well, the other big factor emerges once the twist has been revealed and a lengthy backstory involving the origins of the twist and what led to everything taking place is rather problematic. Far too much of this part of the film relies on explaining in detail what happened and hardly any of it makes an impact at all based on being from a different film entirely which is the wrong kind of feeling to be had when dealing with a genre film of this kind. It ends the film on a bad note and is what brings this down overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.

A pizza delivery story that turns scary

[nbsrilatha · 8/10 · 6 January 2020]

A story with unexpected plot twists. Michael Karthigeyan is a pizza delivery boy who lives-in with his girlfriend, Anu who has a hobby of writing horror stories. They find it hard to make ends meet as the income is not great. Anu conceives and they get married. An unexpected series of events follow that change the course of their lives. The climax is a bit unsettling but overall, the movie is a good watch especially for the brilliance of Vijay Sethupathi as the lead character. Good direction by Karthik Subbaraj in his maiden effort. The song 'Mogathirai' is a lovely composition.

Inventive and stylish Bollywood Horror

[singhlall · 7/10 · 16 February 2022]

This is slightly different from your average bollywood horror. I don't want to give anything away but I will say this is well acted and has some above average sfx and jump scares. Strong acting and a cool twist.

A Horror Film Which Is Actually A Thriller

[IdlyViswanath · 9/10 · 16 March 2023]

Karthik Subbaraj's Pizza is about Michael who is a pizza delivery boy and recently married Anu. He is sent on a pizza delivery where he gets stuck in a home which seems to be haunted and the household members are killed off one by one. Michael is almost killed as well but some police come in from whom he learns the household members actually died a week prior with a stranger who is identified as his wife Anu. Michael escapes and tries to find Anu which makes the rest of the film.

The brilliance of the movie is the ending. The movie is posing as a horror movie but the deception comes in the form that the whole story was a con and a lie that Michael tells his boss from whom he is trying to steal the diamonds which the boss hid in his delivery. To steal it without raising any questions, Michael makes this horror story up and even makes the owner believe Anu isn't even a real person.

Karthik Subbaraj clearly hit it out of the park in his first directorial itself and I'm so mad at myself for not watching this movie earlier. It is reared highly by many and deserves to be. I love myself a good film which cons the audience, it always serves as a great sense of excitement for me in the handful of movies I have seen including Karthik Subbaraj. But it also needs careful writing to make it convincing, especially in a thriller. And Karthik Subbaraj achieved such good writing. Despite some of the horror scenes not being too horrifying, which I did appreciate, and also few scenes in that sequence getting a little dull.

Then comes the acting. I decided to watch this movie now, despite not being a big fan of horror movies, now because of VJS more than KS. And VJS was fantastic as Michael. He portrayed the fear, cunning nature, and the subtle comical tone the character had so well. Naren as usual is fantastic as the pizza owner and the sympathy he shows towards VJS makes me feel a lot of sympathy for him as Michael cons him. Bobby Simha and Pooja are great as the ghosts in the film.

Overall, this is a must watch thriller with great horror elements and a deceiving story which itself is a big thrilling feature.

A good suspense thriller film that kept the novelty in presentation and theme.

[sudheeshthulaseedharan · 7/10 · 29 October 2021]

The director Karthik Subba Raj presents the audience with a different kind of cinematic enjoyment and he has won the applause of the audience with his debut film.

The director, the actors and the cast alike have succeeded in making 'Pizza' a mere low budget film, both in its expertise and direction as well as in every field.

Michael (Vijay Sethupathi), an employee of a pizza shop, lives with his girlfriend Anu (Ramya Nambeesan).

Anu is also a novelist who does research on ghosts and demons. She often scares Michael, who says he has no faith in supernatural powers, by showing him horror movies and telling stories, but Michael did not give much importance to it.

Meanwhile, Michael goes to a secluded house for a pizza delivery.

The story progresses through the strange and terrifying circumstances that Michael faces there.

The story of Pizza cannot be told all at once as it is told in other movies.

The backbone of the film is a different and innovative script that narrates the story within the story.

At the end of the story, the audience will have many doubts.

Not only does the director not bother to answer all these doubts but it also makes it the task of the audience to find the answers.

This is where the audience gets a chance to see the film in different ways.

It goes without saying that Vijay Sethupathi's excellent performance is a major factor in the success of this film.

A good suspense thriller film that kept the novelty in presentation and theme.

Worst horror movie I've ever watched!

[j_tolentino · 1/10 · 26 October 2020]

I went in with very high expectations because of the review score of 8 (upon initial posting of this review). The opening elevator sequence should have made me stop watching it already, but somehow I was dupe-d that the movie will get better eventually, but I was so wrong. The scare tactics kept on breaking my suspension of disbelief. The movie even tries to justify this at the end, but even the resolution was even a try-hard at being intelligent. It was as if every piece of the material was aimed at being a plot device and justify the ending. Usually, movies with plot twists develop organically, wherein the journey itself makes the story and the twist is just an icing on the cake (e.g. Mother by Bong Joon Ho)

With an egregious use of deus ex machina, Pizza leaves a bad taste in our mouths and we feel cheated.

[sashank_kini-1 · 3/10 · 18 May 2013]

It is 'Pizza' which should be charged for cheating its audience with an overloaded use of 'deus ex machina'. Before I move further, let me explain what the term 'deus ex machina' signifies the same way film critic Roger Ebert did while reviewing Spike Jonze's delectable 'Adaptation' – by quoting from Wikipedia; the term is used for 'a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved, with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object'. While Adaptation is able to inventively, ingeniously and effectively fit this device into its plot structure, Pizza leaves its audience puzzled searching for answers only to reveal after that important pieces were kept hidden from them all the while. The only purpose of its deus ex machina is for its writer- director Karthik Subbaraj to show just how 'unbelievable' his twist is; the problem is that the audience doesn't go 'Oh, how could I miss this!' in Pizza because the film's plot never allowed them to catch it in the first place. The twist takes the film to an altogether new tangent which we couldn't have guessed at all, and we are left cold: I want my money back!

Pizza opens with a group of ghost hunters scanning for paranormal activity in a supposedly haunted house, which ends in a cliffhanger the moment their device detects a presence. That's when our lead actor switches off the television on which the 'movie' was running and we're taken to the actual setting where our lead couple is cuddled up, talking about ghosts. We learn that the lady Anu is a writer of horror stories and is researching by watching a number of films and books while her guy Michael is a pizza delivery man who has his reservations about anything supernatural. While delivering a file to his boss' home, Michael finds out that his boss' daughter is possibly possessed by a spirit and her father is desperately trying to cure her. This incident haunts him especially because the girl looks directly at him while possessed and screams out the name 'Nithya!' demonically. The other incident that besets him is Anu's announcement that she's pregnant, but they reconcile and get married privately. One night, he is found by the owner in the pizza joint covered in blood along with his colleagues, who are also bruised badly. He then tells the others about his nightmarish experience at a home where he had gone to deliver pizzas. After this incident, Anu goes missing and attempts to locate her also fail.

The film failed to give me anything to search for, and Subbaraj left missing too many things which could have made my attempts easier in finding some sense in the film. You should be able to tease your audience throughout in a manner that when they are tricked, they don't feel cheated. In a great movie like M. Night Shyamalan's 'Sixth Sense', the twist didn't need a major clarification because we knew we were sold by it, and later we could sit and think of all the subtle hints we missed during the film. In Pizza, the twist fails badly and the most explicit proof for its failure is the fact that it required about five to ten minutes of clarifications in the resolution to show us how it actually worked. This time is taken in revealing things that weren't shown to us at all before, and could've simplified our confusion without losing the intended twist's effectiveness.

Although I commend Karthik Subbaraj's attempt of blending the genres of horror, suspense, comedy, thriller and mystery, his film Pizza fails to whet our appetite. We leave the theatre with a bad taste in our mouths. (note: I watched two films of Vijay Sethupathi in two days, Soodhu Kavvum yesterday and Pizza today, without realizing until checking his Wikipedia page that he was one and the same actor! That's some good acting!)

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