Neeli is not a unique movie.We have seen several movies of the same genre that gained great successes such as Ezra, Manichitrathazhu etc. Promoted as a Horror-Comedy movie, there was hardly any comedy and a few jumpscares.The first half was excellent, it stayed true to the genre. However, the second half was not by any means atrocious, but was painful to watch. Knowing that the makers had put in so much effort into making this movie amazing, it was definitely painful to watch. The songs, even though catchy, was placed at wrong areas of the film. Especially, the En Anpe song, which totally ruined the flow of the movie in the second half. The fight scene right before they reach a character was too, unnecessary. Climax was certainly made up with last minute additions which added to the pile of misery. Several loopholes and unwanted sequences are also present. On the flip side, great performances especially in the emotional scenes by Mamta Mohandas and the natural acting by Anoop Menon and Baburaj makes this movie watchable. The other positives include the cinematography, SFX and the direction.
Verdict- If you're in for a horror-comedy movie with ever so few comedy scenes but more drama than comedy, go ahead, it won't disappoint you. But for hardcore horror/comedy fans, it won't hurt to give it a miss. 5/10