From a serial kisser to a serial killer. That’s how far the ‘Murder’ franchise has moved. If the first film dwelled more on Emraan and Mallika’s hot shots than a half-baked murder in the story-line, then the second film makes a clean cut from that theme, charts a totally different course with different characters and a ‘serial killer’ core theme.

The plot starts off in Goa with some steamy romping scenes between a frustrated with life ex-cop-turned-hustler (Emraan Hashmi) and his model girl-friend (Jacqeline Fernandez). But soon the focus shifts to a eunuch-turned-serial slasher (Prashant Narayanan), who is hell-bent on chopping off as many prostitutes in Goa as he can. With the corrupt, inept cops letting this madman off the hook, the ex-cop is the only one who could stop this menace.

Director Mohit Suri mixes blood, gore and sex in ample measures to make Murder 2 into an acceptable thriller. What he fails to do is to get a better written plot which could have brought in intrigue and well-etched characters. That’s why what we finally get is a Bollywood equivalent of a B-Grade Hollywood slasher-film!