Petromax Review: A decent entertainer where comedy works and not horror

Horror comedy is one of the most tried and tested genres in Tamil cinema. We have had some great and some worst movies in this genre over the past few years.

Petromax is the most recent addition to the list. Just as Nayanthara tried her hands with Airaa, Tamannah seems to have had developed interest to try a movie where she alone is the protagonist without a conventional “hero”.

Having Tamannah in the cast definitely has added to the expectation of the movie.

But did Petromax satisfy the expectations of the audience? Read on.

Petromax has a wafer thin, old school plot for a typical horror comedy movie.

And the horror is just a small portion of the movie, not making much of an impact.

Its the comedy that picks up and works in parts to help save the movie.

There is a house that the owner wants to sell before leaving abroad in about a week. But selling it is not easy because of the rumour that the house is haunted.

So the owner decides to make 4 people stay in the house to prove that it is not haunted.

What follows forms the rest of the story.

In the beginning and for some parts you have a few jump scares – nothing so horrific as one would expect.

And the first half is pretty off track, and slow. It takes a while for the story to build up.

Meanwhile we almost reach a point where we don’t care about the movie and are about to enter the sleep mode.

The main reason first half was so boring is the careless writing.

It is the second half that comes as a saviour in terms of screenplay and comedy.

That too is not so long lived.

Nevertheless, Petromax is definitely saved by the comedy and some tricky writing (in the second half).

Munishkanth, Sathyan, Kaali Venkat and TSK deserve special mention for making some of the scenes very funny.

And they also lighten the mood of the movie in a good way.

Tamannah’s acting is pretty convincing as there is not much to emote for her character. And her role lacks depth.

She is not much of the “main character” as it seems to the audience, even though that’s how it is in the writing.

Ghibran’s music is a big plus to the movie.

Cinematography is equally another plus that lifts up the horror factor of the movie, besides a clean and clear general presentation.

Overall, Petromax is a one time watch for the comedy. It is a family entertainer for the weekend, on a lighter note.

Don’t expect too much and you will be fairly entertained.