Bollywood.
The mere mention of the word brings images of poor young Hindu
men pining for the love of Hindu women, who happen to be
daughters of old rich Hindu men – and expressing
it all in song.
Who knew that India made horror movies? I never thought so,
but if there is something obscure and interesting in world
cinema, you can bet your sweet ass that Mondo
Macabro is going to find it and release it on a glorious
five-inch silver platter. This time out, they found TWO rare
titles and decided to package them together. So what horror
goodness lies within?
Bandh Darwaza (1990) – 2
Pants
What we have here is a vampire film, with localized mysticism
and superstition thrown in for good measure. A woman can’t
seem to get pregnant and give her husband an heir. Acting
on the advice of her literally Satanic maid, she visits an
evil vampire who grants her wish with one condition:
If it’s
a girl – it’s his. If it is a boy – she
can keep it. I’m sure EVERYONE will be surprised to
find out the sex of the child.
Needless to say, she isn't about to give up her newborn
and sends her husband to destroy  the vampire. He accomplishes
this with surprising swiftness - and that’s just the
first 20 minutes of the film - all before the opening credits
sequence, no less! Fast forward 18 years. The once demon-promised
daughter is now all grown up, has no knowledge of her history
and has begun a new life with her boyfriend. “Black
Mountain,” the vampire’s lair, is back in full
service, fully populated with creepy minions. One of these
students of Satan has eyes for our heroine’s boyfriend,
and through black magic ends up resurrecting the vampire
who still wants what was promised to him nearly two decades
earlier.
 I'd like to say that Bandh Darwaza is
an exceptional film, but it’s not. The plot, though
involved, is incredibly weak, which is sad, because
the actor that plays the vampire is fairly menacing, even
if he does bear an unremarkable resemblance to Blacula.
The sets are cool looking and the film was shot
with some interesting angles, but it would have been more
impressive if they weren't all stolen from Carpenter and
Raimi and just about every other recognizable American horror
director from the last decade.
In the documentary accompanying this set we learn that by
1990 the horror genre was waning in India and would eventually
die out. Bandh
Darwaza would make you
wish it ended a few years earlier than it did. Even the songs,
usually a mainstay of Bollywood films, aren’t
that great.
Moving on…
Purana Mandir – (1984) – 4
pants
 Now this is a horror film. Purana Mandir is
about a poor young Hindu man pining for the love of a rich
Hindu woman who happens to be the daughter of an old rich
Hindu man – he
expresses this in song.
If that isn’t scary enough on its own, the woman's
great-great-great-great-great-grandfather killed a demon
called Saamri, and instead of following the wise old priest’s
advice to burn the body (note: ALWAYS follow the wise
old priest’s advice), he decides to decapitate
it, keep the head in his manor, and bury the rest of the
body. Unburned and therefore still powerful, Saamri curses
the man. As long as Saamri's head remains separate
from the body, all of the man's female descendents will die
in childbirth. Why do Hindu bad guys always have to mess
with the kids? That’s
just wrong.
 Anyway, skip ahead 200 years and the family line has almost
completely died out. The curse is revealed to the daughter,
and both she, her beau and several of their friends, travel
back to the old manor to break the curse so they can be married
and get with the sexing. Saamri is accidentally awoken in
the process, and he fucks shit up good, killing all sorts
of people.
Surprisingly, there is quite a bit of gore, more
than I expected from a country with strict censorship
laws. There isn’t any nudity in these films,
but they probably have more bare skin than any other major
Bollywood feature.
In many ways, Purana Mandir owes quite a
bit of inspiration to Western horror. This is most obvious
when you hear the ambient "Ki-Ki-Ki-Ha-Ha-Ha" sound
effect, stolen directly from Friday The 13th,
mulitple times throughout the film. Then again, if you’re
looking for originality, you shouldn’t be going to Bollywood
for it. Purana Mandir will be watched again
in Casa de Shawn. It’s a fun 80’s syle horror
flick.
The main problem with both
of these films is running times. Clocking in at 2
hrs and 25 minutes each is a bit much, even for an enjoyable
horror flick. If you're interested in Bollywood horror, I'd
recommend seeing at least one of these. Purana
Mandir is easily the better of the two.
 The DVD Presentation
To be brutally honest, Bandh Darwaza looks
better than Purana
Mandir,
but both films look pretty bad. It
appears as though little restorative effort was put into
either title, but at least Mondo Macabro doesn’t try
to hide the fact. The low quality was actually part of the
reason as why they were released as a set. Both films are
presented in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which I can only assume
is their OAR. No information appears to be lost on either
side of the image. The Hindi audio comes across clearly
on both films, which is surprising but welcome.
The English subtitles seem accurate, although at times it's
obvious that more is being said than what's translated.
My only complaint with the subtitling is that the songs aren’t
completely translated. Any chorus is only translated the
first time it's sung, so stretches of the songs go without
subs.
And The Extras Are?
About Bollywood Horror –
As often accompanies Mondo Macabro DVDs, this set has some
text-based notes on Bollywood cinema, and the horror genre in particular.
In only four pages, it gives you a significant history and an honest
critique about what does and doesn’t work in the two films.
A solid read.
 Ramsay Family Values –
Just like the previous text-based feature, this eight page
article concentrates on the history of the Ramsays’ in
the Bollywood film scene, and their particular affinity
for horror films. Another informative read.
Freddie, Jason and… Saamri: The Ramsays & the
Birth of Bollywood Horror – (13:13)
This very awesome featurette, hosted by film critic Omar
Kahn, concentrates on Saamri, the monster of Purana
Mandir and the impact that he had on Bollywood.
Saamri became the horror monster icon of India, comparable
to Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger
in America at the same time. He also discusses the many
derivative sequels and copycats that followed Purana
Mandir, and gives
a little time to discuss Bandh Darwaza’s
merits as well.
South Asian Horror: A Mondo Macabro Documentary – (24:09)
Even better than the previous featurette, this full-fledged
documentary follows filmmaking all over South Asia, comparing
India’s Bollywood to Pakistan’s Lollywood. Naturally,
on this set, much of the emphasis is given to the Ramsays
and the Indian horror genre that they were almost single-handedly
responsible for. One interesting participant is Mohan
Bhakri, a filmmaker who was the Ramsay’s major rival
in the horror genre. He speaks with nostalgia and enthuiasm
for the time when they would both release two
horror films a year and eventually oversaturate the
market.
 A great wealth of information is also given about
the cinema of Pakistan. It’s interesting to hear the
sexual nature of these films explored since they come
from a more quieted sexual climate where a woman’s
role is still somewhat repressed. The documentary closes
with a segment on the “Mythological” genre,
which focuses on stories about gods and goddesss.
I hope that Mondo releases some of these, because they
look the very interesting.
As comprehensive a documentary
as you are likely to see, this is an invaluable addition
to the set and worth everyone’s time.
 More from Mondo Macabro – (5:59)
The trailer reel of Mondo Macabro titles continues to grow.
It shows off their incredibly diverse and bizarre catalog
of genre films from all over the world. Every time I watch
this I kick myself in the ass for not seeing every
film included.
For two films which have only limited appeal, Mondo Macabro
comes through with an amazing effort in the extras
department. It might not be the most extras
you’ve
ever seen, but there's no fat on this set. Not one bit.
Bottom Line
Bollywood isn’t to everyone’s taste, but I honestly
think that every film fan should check out a flick or two just
for the experience. American horror fans aren’t likely
to thrill too much at either Bandh Darwaza or Purana Mandir but they are better than I
expected. As pure curiosity pieces, they both have something
to offer, and Purana Mandir does have some
history behind it and is very entertaining, if overlong. The
main appeal is that these films aren’t something we get
to see every day, and Mondo Macabro has done a commendable job
in releasing them in watchable versions. For the adventurous
viewer, I highly recommend at least a rental of The
Bollywood Horror Collection – Volume 1.
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