Mahakaal (1993)

Mahakaal (The Monster) might be a Bollywood rip-off of Wes Craven’s 1984 US smash hit Nightmare on Elm Street, but it’s a very entertaining one.

This Ramsay Brothers production entered production in 1988 but was delayed for several years because they were beaten to the punch by Mohan Bhakri’s Nightmare on Elm Street rip-off. It was finally released in 1993, by which time the Indian horror boom was all but over. While it’s a late entry in the Bollywood horror cycle don’t let that put you off. It's still a very good horror movie.

Shyam Ramsay and Tulsi Ramsay directed while Gangu Ramsay was responsible for the cinematography and co-produced the film with Chander Ramsay.

The movie starts with a very impressive dream sequence in which a young college student, Anita (Archana Puran Singh), is menaced by a monster wearing gloves equipped with razor-sharp knives. When she wakes up her nightgown is torn and she has claw marks on her arm. This nightmare was an uncomfortably real one.

Anita is in love with Prakash but she has also attracted the attention of Randhir. Randhir is a bit of a bad boy while Prakash is a clean-cut young man. Anita’s father, who happens to be the local chief of police, approves wholeheartedly of Prakash.

Anita’s friend Seema is in love with Prakash’s friend Param. They’re all university students and life is very pleasant for them. Until the nightmares start. Seema has the nightmares as well, and Param will soon find to his cost that the nightmare monster doesn’t pick favourites as far as gender is concerned. He wants to kill them all.

Inevitably one of the nightmares has fatal results and one of this group of friends faces a charge of murder as a result. No-one will believe the person’s crazy story about someone being torn to shreds by an apparently invisible killer.

When the monster strikes again Anita’s father finally breaks down and admits that he knows something that may explain the killings. A few years earlier a crazed killer who wore gloves equipped with blades was kidnapping children and sacrificing them in order to increase his powers in black magic and sorcery. One of the children he kidnapped and murdered was Anita’s sister Mohini. Anita’s father buried the killer alive, but now it appears that wasn’t enough. The killer, Shakaal, has evidently used his black magic powers to enter the world of nightmares. That’s bad enough, but what if he finds a way to enter the real world?

Anita’s father is sceptical of superstitious beliefs in black magic, but even he is shaken. Anita’s mother has no such doubts and consists a holy man, who warns her of the dire consequences if Shakaal is not stopped. The eventual result will be the ultimate horror, Mahakaal.

The acting is fairly standard by Bollywood standards, in other words it’s generally pretty good. Being a Bollywood movie there is of course singing and dancing but that’s par for the course and it’s one of the charms of Bollywood movies. One of the less enjoyable things about Bollywood productions is the comic relief. Comic relief is bad enough at the best of times, but comedy is a commodity that does not travel well. On this occasion the comedy is provided by Johnny Lever who plays Canteen, so named because (obviously) he runs the university cafeteria. Canteen has a bit of a Michael Jackson fixation (remember that the movie started production in the late 80s) and also has fantasies about being Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, or possibly getting a role in a movie by the famous Ramsay Brothers. He’s initially mildly amusing but the novelty wears off pretty quickly, especially when he starts to pop up as Canteen’s brothers as well.

The most impressive features of this movie are the visuals. There are some spectacular and imaginative set-pieces that compare very favourably with the best horror movies made anywhere. The special effects are mostly good and the make-up effects are excellent. Shakaal is a wonderfully effective movie monster. I personally think he looks more impressive than Freddy Krueger.

The long running time of 132 minutes may put some people off but that’s also par for the course in Bollywood movies and this one has enough genuine chills to make it worthwhile for horror fans to persevere. And if you like gore you’ll be reasonably happy.

Mondo Macabro’s DVD presentation offers a very good print. It’s paired with the equally entertaining Tahkhana in the Bollywood Horror Collection volume 3. It’s in Hindi with English subtitles. All of Mondo Macabro’s Bollywood horror releases are worth seeing and if you’ve acquired a taste for Bollywood horror then Mahakaal is highly recommended.

Purani Haveli (1989)

Purani Haveli is, even by the standards of Bollywood horror movies, a truly bizarre experience. This is the fourth of the Ramsay Brothers Bollywood horror films released by Mondo Macabro that I’ve seen, and it’s the strangest yet.

It has the same ingredients that the other Ramsay Brothers movies have, but the proportions of each ingredient vary from film to film. They all include horror, comedy and romance. And (naturally) singing and dancing. In Purani Haveli the comedy and the romance tend to predominate. The romantic sub-plot isn’t a sub-plot, it’s really the main plot. And it’s an outrageously melodramatic soap opera plot.

The basic plot outline is that a rich orphaned heiress named Anita lives with her aunt and uncle, and the aunt and uncle and scheming to marry her off to the aunt’s brother so they can get their hands on her money. While waiting for this marriage to take place the uncle has already come up with several plans to get hold of some of Anita’s money straight away, His latest plan is to purchase a run-down mansion in an isolated location. He persuades Anita to write a cheque to cover the purchase price, but in fact he persuades her to sign a cheque for double the amount he actually paid for the house.

The uncle sets off to take a look at his new acquisition, not realising that the building lies under a demonic curse. When he doesn’t return the entire family plus assorted hangers-on set off to find him. Which sets up the horror plot - a group of people stranded overnight in a house inhabited by murderous evil spirits.

Anita has threatened her aunt and uncle’s plans by falling in love with a handsome photographer. He ends up at the house as well. Meanwhile there’s an incredibly long comic sub-plot involving his assistant turning out to be an exact double of a famous bandit whose underlings are plotting to overthrow him as their chief.

When the horror element in the film finally kicks in it does so reasonably effectively. An unusual feature is the extensive use of Christian symbols to combat the monster. The horror works because the Ramsays use the method they use with every other element in their films - total excess. They throw in every horror movie cliche. You get shadows and fog, you get thunder and lightning, you get mysteriously slamming doors, statues coming to life. And you not only get all these things, you get them all in vast quantities. And surprisingly it works.

The mansion itself helps quite a bit. It’s a wonderful building, in a kind of Indian Gothic style. It looks like it was built specifically so that one day it would be used as a setting for horror movies. The iron statue is pretty cool as well.

The Ramsays liked to push the envelope a bit when it came to depicting on-screen sexuality. Purani Haveli includes an actual kiss, and a fairly passionate one. That doesn’t sound too risque, but by Bollywood standards it’s pretty daring.

There’s a definite camp quality to all the Ramay Brothers horror movies, but in Purani Haveli we’re moving into total extreme camp overload. It also has one feature I’ve really come to love in these movies - the most unlikely characters suddenly turn out to be awesomely devastating martial arts experts, just at the moment in the plot when an awesomely devastating martial arts expert is desperately needed. In this case the mild-mannered photographer easily deals with nearly a dozen goons who attack Anita, in a fight scene that combines frenetic action with touches of slapstick.

The acting is reasonably solid. Amita Nangia as Anita is likeable and attractive. The standout performance comes from Neelam Mehra as her wicked aunt Seema. She’s one of the all-time classic evil bitch from hell screen villainesses. She’s clearly having a great time with the role and she’s tremendous fun.

Mondo Macabro have come up with an outstanding print of this movie. It looks absolutely gorgeous, crystal clear and with with unbelievably lush colours,

The problems that a western audience is likely to have with this movie are the very long running time, the singing and dancing and the overly lengthy and rather painful comic interludes. Personally I think the singing and dancing part makes the movie even more delightfully camp that it would have ben already. And although it’s a long movie it has a lot of entertainment packed into it.

It’s not quite as good as Purana Mandir, which used the same basic template to slightly better effect, but it’s still highly enjoyable and it does have a great villainess.

Veerana (1988)

Bollywood horror is truly a unique cinematic experience, for which nothing can adequately prepare you. One of the most popular of these movies is Veerana, released in 1988. It’s a combination of slapstick comedy, martial arts movie, horror film, love story and musical. And it switches between these genres with bewildering rapidity. If you can accept that this is an entirely different approach to film-making and allow yourself to just go with it, there’s a good deal of fun to be had.

The film opens with the execution of the evil witch Nakita. Nakita’s disciples are determined to bring Nakita back to life, and to take their vengeance on the family of the village boss. A decade later the daughter of the family is kidnapped. By mans of black magic the child, Jasmin, is possessed by the spirit of the dead witch. She is returned to her family by the high priest of Nakita’s cult, but she seems disturbingly different and strange events occur around her. The high priest, disguised as a wandering beggar, is taken into the family in gratitude for his having (as they believe) saved the daughter’s life. Cut forward another decade or so to the present day and the bodies of young men start turning up, young men last seen in the company of Jasmin.

There’s also a comic relief sub-plot about a would-be director of horror movies. And there is an attempt to kidnap Jasmin’s sister, from which she is rescued by a passing handsome stranger who just happens to be skilled in martial arts. He is also taken into the family, and they fall in love. And of course that’s the perfect excuse for a song or two. Meanwhile Jasmin is being taken over more and more by Nakita. But just because she’s become an evil witch doesn’t mean she can’t get to sing and dance as well! This is Bollywood.

One of the many fun things about the Ramsay brothers, the makers of tis and several other classic Bollywood horror movies, is that they’re not afraid to go outrageously over-the-top. In every possible way. Lurid colours. Lots of coloured gels. Set that incorporate every imaginable horror movie cliché. Bizarrely overdone makeup. Plenty of thunder and lightning. Incredibly crude slapstick. Fart jokes. Schmaltzy romantic duets. There is no such thing as too much excess. And that’s what ultimately saves the film. If they’d held back just a little it would have all fallen apart.

It’s also, by the standards of Indian movies, surprisingly sexy. There is of course no actual nudity or sex, but there’s a lot of sexiness. The actress who plays Jasmin (whose actual name is in fact Jasmin) is exceptionally hot, and she wears a succession of slinky dresses, even in one case a very slinky black dress which is wringing wet after an impromptu dip in the surf. And she displays a generous amount of cleavage. In fact the movie got into quite a bit of hot water with the Indian censors. There are also some extremely suggestive jokes, almost reminiscent of what you’d expect in a Russ Meyer movie. The Ramsay brothers were really pushing the edge of the envelope as far as sexual content in Indian movies was concerned.

It’s a very odd concoction, but undeniably entertaining. It’s one of the two movies in volume 2 of Mondo Macabro’s Bollywood Horror Collection. If you’ve never sampled the delights of Bollywood horror I’d suggest Purana Mandir from their Bollywood Horror Collection volume 1 as a better starting point. It follows much the same formula but with slightly more coherence and marginally less craziness. If you like that one, then you’ll be ready for extra added weirdness of Veerana.

Bandh Darwaza (1990)

Bandh Darwaza is included in the same Mondo Macabro double movie pack as Purana Mandir. It’s an enjoyably weird slice of Bollywood horror, although Purana Mandir (also a Ramsay Brothers production) is definitely the better of the two films. Bandh Darwaza, made in 1990, is closer to being a conventional western-style horror movie. Apart, of course, from the song-and-dance numbers and the comic interludes and the amazingly involved romantic sub-plots.

A woman finds herself unable to have children, despite performing all the appropriate religious rituals and visiting every shrine in the province. Then her maid informs her that there is a way for her to conceive a child. What she doesn’t tell her is that she belongs to the devil-worshipping cult on Black Mountain and that the child’s father will in reality be a demonic monster. A vampire in fact. If her child is a boy, she can keep him, but if the child is female she must be given to the cult. Naturally when the child is born and turns out to be a girl the mother conveniently forgets her promise to the cult. Eighteen years later this same child finds herself caught up in the cult’s plot to take revenge.

From this point on the plot becomes increasingly bewildering, with various female friends and family members also becoming involved in the demonic shenanigans. A mysterious woman encountered on a country road leads them to a ruined temple where the devil-worshippers do their devil-worshipping thing.

You know it’s a horror movie when one of the lead female characters is chained up in a dungeon. You know it’s a Bollywood horror film when one of the lead female characters is chained up in a dungeon and bursts into song. Yes, really. It’s touches like this that make Bollywood horror so deliciously bizarre and exotic. Sadly the musical numbers aren’t as well one as the ones in the earlier Purana Mandir, but they’re still an essential part of the enjoyment of a movie such as this. The acting is mostly up to the standard you expect in a horror movie.

The actual horror movie component of the production is totally insane and enormous fun, so you end up not worrying about whether the plot makes any sense at all and just enjoying the ride. The cinematography and the special effects are both outrageous collections of horror movie clichés, which is just as it should be. The gothic atmosphere is laid on with a trowel. Fog. Lots of fog. And then more fog. And thunder. And then more thunder. It’s a movie that is unlikely to scare anyone, but despite being a very long film it’s consistently entertaining. The print is, as Mondo Macabro freely admit, not in fantastic shape, but then you do get two movies plus a documentary and other extras. It’s all great fun in a delightfully strange way. Another winner from Mondo Macabro.

Purani Mandir (1984)

Purani Mandir, released in 1984, has been my first glimpse into the world of Bollywood horror. It was apparently one of the most successful of all Indian horror movies. I don’t think there’s any point in trying to judge this as a conventional horror movie. It just has to be taken on its own terms. It doesn’t play by the rules of western horror movies. At a point in the movie where an evil unstoppable demon is rampaging about killing everyone in sight and the hero and heroine are chained up about to be sacrificed to the goddess Kali – it’s time to bring on the dancing girls! In fact it’s time for a big-production song-and-dance number. This is Bollywood, and a horror movie includes lots of elements that western audiences don’t really expect to find in a horror movie. There’s the singing and dancing. There’s an extended comic sub-plot, which is really only funny if you’re familiar with the Indian movies that it’s sending up. There’s a very involved romantic sub-plot. If you can accept these things, and if you can put up with the first half of the movie which can be heavy going, then there are considerable pleasures in store for you.

The plot involves an evil demon which was beheaded by the Raja of Bijapur. The demon placed a curse on the raja’s family – all the female members of the family would die in childbirth. Two hundred years later, in the present day, the daughter of the current raja has fallen in love. Her father, knowing of the curse, tries to prevent her from marrying her young man. The lovers, accompanied by a friend who just happens to be a martial arts expert, set out for the ancient palace of the rajas of Bijapur, to find a way to lift the curse. Along the way they encounter an incompetent bandit, a mysterious wild girl who lives in a lake, some crazed villagers, and find several opportunities for song-and-dance numbers. As the movie progresses, it becomes more and more insane. Insane in a good way. The second half of this film is non-stop weirdness, mayhem, over-the-top gothic imagery, terror, madness, and song. Ajay Agarwal is a frightening and effective monster, while Arti Gupta as Suman is a likeable and suitably beautiful heroine. The movie tries to be sexy, but censorship in India is strict. So there’s a shower scene in the movie, but for reasons of decency the heroine wears her bathing costume while she’s showering. It all adds to the fun and madness.

The Mondo Macabro Bollywood Horror DVD release includes this movie and Bandh Darwaza and includes (as always with Mondo Macabro) some great extras. Both movies look reasonably good (despite Mondo Macabro’s apologies for the dubious state of the surviving prints of these films). I loved this movie.