Customer Reviews

Bollywood Horror Collection, Vol. 1 (Bandh Darwaza / Purana

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This release by Mondo Macabro shows that nobody can beat them when it comes to introducing weird and fantastic movies from all over the world to the DVD collectors. Both Purana Mandir and Bandh Darwaza have long been regarded as one of the finest examples of Indian horror cinema. This is an acquired taste. You may not like these movies if you are weaned on 90-minute Hollywood slashers. But if you are open to experimenting a bit, enjoy a level of camp, and musical interludes in between some genuinely creepy momemnts, you cannot go wrong with these purchases. The transfers of these 2 films are the best I have seen, given that they are very obscure and the original film elements were never stored properly.
The interviews and essays are fascinating. This is an ESSENTIAL purchase for lovers of horror cinema.

A wonderful window on the world of Bollywood Horror - two movies are included here that makes this extra good value - and there's tons of informative and interesting extras. These movies look a little rough round the edges but they look far far better than can be expected - thanks to Mondo Macabro for having the dedication to release such obscure and fascinating movies

Gotta hand it to Mondo Macabro video - They really know their audience! Although I'm no expert, I'm always interested in seeing how other cultures view various genres through film, and not only does MM give us two prime examples of Indian horror, they throw in a cool documentary on Indian films, plus other bonuses. Sure, the film quality isn't 100% perfect, but it doesn't detract from the fun of the films. If you're looking for "Terminator" style action, these probably aren't for you - but if you're even slightly interested in seeing how singing and dancing numbers are integrated into a Dracula story, by all means check it out here!

this package not only gives you two amazing bollywood horror films it also provides an awesome documentary. now i know to be on the lookout for pakistani action films and south indian religious epics. THANKS!

A note to indian film makers - hollywood films are not ENGLISH. theyre AMERICAN.

Hello, this is Christopher William Koenig here to bring you 'Exploitation Madness', in which I bring you DVD reviews of movies that are way beyond the mainstream and so wild and wooly you just won't believe what you are reading...or seeing, depending if you end up watching the films I review.

When you think of Bollywood films, one thing always comes to mind: singing and dancing. Yes, there is some truth to that claim. However, Bollywood goes far more than just the song and dance numbers: they also contain a mish-mash of action, drama, comedy and thrills. Oh, and standard Bollywood features also run the length of 2-hours to give the Indian audiences that epic feel. While the Bollywood film industry has been extremely prolific, because of the 'masala' style of filmmaking of throwing-everything-in-including-the-kitchen-sink, the vast majority of their films are usually one in the same. There are exceptions, such as the classic "Sholay" (1970) or some wacky Sunny Deol action flicks that deliver more than what's promised on the posters.

So then, would you believe me if I told you that at one point in time, in this case the late 70s throughout the 80s, the Indian film community made horror films? If you don't believe me, then why is there a two-disc DVD release from Mondo Macabro called 'The Bollywood Horror Collection Vol. 1' then? This is what happens when you doubt me, folks. But that's okay, because before then when I first heard about this release I didn't believe it either and was quite the skeptic. But now after seeing this release I am a fan of Bollywood horror and I am not ashamed.

In any case, the cool team of Mondo Macabro has released not one but two Bollywood horror features made by the prolific Ramsay family, who specialized in old havelis, color lighting, fog-covered corridors, and hairy monsters.


PURANA MANDIR (1984; English Translation: "The Old Temple")

In the hoping city of Bombay, young college girl Suman (Aarti Gupta) loves lower-class photographer Sanjay (Mohnish Bahl). Unfortunately, this doesn't sit too well with Suman's father as he finds out they've been going out in secret. Suman doesn't seem to understand why her father is against their relationship, but Sanjay feels it's due to the differences in social class. But as it's revealed, Suman's father is protective of her because of the curse that was put on their family 500 years ago: an evil creature known as Saamri (Ajay Agarwal) was put to death after killing the village leader's girl, whom is related to Suman's family. Before having his head cut off, Saamri proclaims that any woman who gives birth to the next descendent shall die in childbirth. Once the deed is done, Saamri's head is placed in a box and walled in a secret dungeon at the family's mansion, while Saamri's body is buried next to an old Hindi temple. Determined to put an end to the curse Sanjay, Suman, and their friends Anand (Puneet Issar) and Sapna (Sadhana Khote) accompany them to the old mansion. Eventually, Sanjay and Anand find an old dungeon behind a wall and locate Saamri's head. But the evil monster is brought back to live by a greedy woodcutter, resulting in Saamri killing off some of the cast, and it's up to Sanjay and the local villagers to destroy this creature.

Before the Ramsay's were known for their outrageous horror efforts, father F.U. Ramsay was originally involved in the textile industry in the 1950s and 1960s. He switched to becoming a film producer in the late 1960s when he saw how it was a far more lucrative business and also had various sons and close relatives who were involved in the Bollywood scene; most important were Tulsi Ramsay and Shyam Ramsay. Their first film was a typical Bollywood drama that failed at the box office: F.U. Ramsay realized that every producer was making that type of genre film and the competition was very tough. Eventually, F.U. Ramsay realized he had to make another film in a different genre, and since Tulsi and Shyam were both big fans of the Hammer horror features and Alfred Hitchcock thrillers why not make their own horror outing. Their first biggest hit was "Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche" (1972; English Translation: "Two Yards Under the Ground") and it surprised the Hindi censors, who passed the film despite the Ramsay's getting away with some things it shouldn't have. Eventually, in the late 70s to early 80s, the Ramsay's would alternate in making thrillers such as "Saboot" (1980; English Translation: "The Evidence") and horror like "Hotel" (1980) and "Dahshat" (1981; English Translation: "Terror"). The Bollywood horror and thrillers of the Ramsay's appealed to the middle to lower classes, playing mostly in urban areas and had yet to crossover to the mainstream. It wasn't until "Purana Mandir" was unleashed in 1984 that Bollywood horror became a crossover hit: the Ramsay's managed to open the floodgates and continue to make their terrifying tales in the 80s to early 90s. Even after the success of "Purana Mandir", the Ramsay's went as far as to make a sequel entitled "3D Saamri" (1985), filmed in 2.35:1 CinemaScope and 3-D! However, the Ramsay's success also increased the competition as cash-in filmmakers like Mohan Bhakri tried to make their own versions of "Purana Mandir" with his later outing "Khooni Mahal" (1987; English Translation: "Deadly Manor") while others basically ripped-off American 80s iconic horror films like "The Evil Dead" (1982) and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984). Eventually, the Bollywood horror genre died out in the early 90s due to the market being saturated with cheap imitations, leaving very little room for the classier horrors of the Ramsay's.

It's not hard to see why "Purana Mandir" was a huge hit for the Ramsay's: it combined horror with action and appealed to a universal storyline of undying love and friendship, a common theme in Bollywood and standard Westernized cinema. Director's Tulsi Ramsay and Shyam Ramsay have managed to conjure some real creepy moments, bathed in fog and colored lighting a la Dario Argento. Now, because this is a Bollywood film, expect a long running time of 145 minutes and 5 song-and-dance numbers to pop up out of nowhere. I really had no problem with the musical numbers and there are some that are quite catchy. I mean, when you have a scene featuring a hot chick gyrating and singing at a local discotek within 15 minutes of the film, there is very little to complain here. It's all nicely choreographed, but if you can't sit thru the music and dance all you have to do is fast-forward to the next scene and you won't miss much. Speaking of hot chicks, young Aarti Gupta makes a likeable character and is quite the little hottie as well. There's a great scene in which Gupta has to take a shower, but she is wearing her bathing suit (!): well, Indian censorship is both state and religious mandated so they wouldn't have allowed any full-frontal nudity, but take it for what it's worth and just be glad we do get a slight glimpse of Gupta's figure. "Purana Mandir" also has some small bits of comedy provided by Jagdeep, which is a parody of "Sholay" that definitely will fly over the heads of Western audiences. This brief comedy-subplot involves Jagdeep's character `Muchar Singh' being a rogue criminal who chopped off the arms of the village leader Sardar Murdhar Singh (played by Rajendra Nath, another Bollywood comedian who actually delivers a few humorous moments) and is in hiding with some nutty jungle-henchmen who wear monster masks on the back of their heads! Are you laughing yet? Anyways, because the rogue has a reward of 50,000 rupees on his head, it suddenly becomes a parody of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1967) with Anand turning Muchar for the reward, only to rescue him in disguise: it's an amusing subplot that doesn't quite fit the storyline, but Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach these two are not! Personally, I found some of Jagdeep's antics to be humorous in some parts with his over-the-top theatrics and camera mugging, while other times he does become annoying. But then, it's all very brief and doesn't take up the running time so if you get it or not it can be easily skipped. But special props go to Ajay Agarwal as `Saamri': like Christopher Lee in the Hammer Dracula films, Agarwal is truly a real monster with his hairy body and fanged teeth. Seriously, when Saamri rises from the grave within the hour mark you won't want to encounter this creature in a dark alley! Agarwal truly looks like a threatening monster so much that he would appear in the sequel "3D Saamri" and as a pseudo-vampire in "Bandh Darwaza" (1990), which was a near final outing from Tulsi Ramsay and Shyam Ramsay.


BANDH DARWAZA (1990; English Translation: "The Closed Door")

Pratap (Vijayendra) and his wife Lajo are trying to have a child, but Lajo has yet to become pregnant. Their maid Mahua (Aruna Irani) agrees to help Lajo by taking her to the cursed Black Mountain to see Neola, a tall inhuman vampire. Months pass and Lajo finally gives birth to her daughter Kaamya, however Mahua informs her that she made a deal with Neola that after the baby is born it has to be handed over to the creature. Lajo refuses and ends up being poisoned by Mahua. Pratap goes to Black Mountain and destroys the secret hideout and kills Neola. Many years pass and Kaamya (Kunika) has grown up to become a beautiful woman. She lusts for Kumar (Hashmat Khan), but he is already seeing Sapna (Manjeet Kular). Desperate to have Kumar, Kaamya turns to practicing Black Magic and becomes involved with Neola's cult, lead by an aged Mahua. Kaamya is used by the group to revive Neola and she becomes his undead victim. But after Neola kills their close friends, it's up to Kumar and Sapna to stop Neloa and rid of him.

As the 1990s rolled in, it became clear Bollywood horror was coming to a close due to many competitors cranking out the same old formula that was either ripped-off from the Ramsays or ripped-off from popular 80s American horror. With the introduction of satellite television in India, it was also apparent that if the average Indian viewer wanted to see horror they could catch it on cable TV. Obviously trying to revitalize the genre with their own low-budget but much more classier productions, the Ramsay's churned out their own vampire tale "Bandh Darwaza". Inspired by the Hammer horror follow-up "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" (1965), director's Tulsi Ramsay and Shyam Ramsay have once again managed to create a good horror outing, even if this one is flawed in some parts. As much as we are treated to foggy woods and spooky underground hideouts, the big problem is continuous scenes of the main characters going back and forth to Black Mountain and it becomes monotonous: this basically shows that even the Ramsay's were having a difficult time coming up with more original ideas to battle against their rip-off competitors and it doesn't justify the 2-hour plus running time.

But, thankfully, the Ramsay's do come up with some good stuff on display. The song-and-dance numbers are reduced to four and they don't take up much of the running time; the songs themselves are rather hit-or-miss, but it's a Bollywood standard. The fight scenes are just as wild and over-the-top as they were in "Purana Mandir", but handled a little better. Whereas comedy numbers are a huge requirement in Indian cinema, the Ramsay's thankfully reduce the comedy scenes of bumbling, sex starved servant 'Jopi' (played by Johnny Lever, who is actually a more decent comedian than Jagdeep, but that doesn't seem to be hard to compete with) is kept to only two scenes and is never seen again. And, not only that, but Ajay Agarwal is brought back to play the pseudo-vampire `Neola'. Like with `Saamri' in "Purana Mandir", Agarwal is just downright creepy as the creature of the night, receiving a great introduction scene in which he climbs out of his coffin, exposing his fangs and blood-red eyes! Why isn't Agarwal given more roles like this? Also, the Ramsay's go as far to give us the first secular vampire as he is repulsed by Christian, Muslim and Hindi religious idols! And listen to some of the music score: in the scene in which Neloa is killed in the first 15 minutes, its stock cues from the George A. Romero classic "The Night of the Living Dead" (1968)! Then, later on, we hear music cues from none other than "Friday the 13th" (1980) and "A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge" (1985), and they actually work well amongst the surroundings!

Always the purveyors of finding obscure oddities and rescuing them from oblivion, the Mondo Macabro team has done an excellent job in preserving "Purana Mandir" and "Bandh Darwaza" on American DVD. First off, it needs to be understood that Indian film preservation is practically non-existent due to poor storage facilities and bad weather. Therefore, if you see a print of an Indian flick from three years ago and it has its share of scratches and water stains, don't be surprised because that's just how it is. Many reviews have claimed Mondo Macabro used tape-masters for their two presentations, but if it's true then these are the best well-kept tape-masters I've ever seen used for a DVD release! "Bandh Darwaza" is on Disc 1 and looks good and has some strong colors, but there are times when the film grain is a bit overpowering in some small shots during night scenes. To me, it looks like "Bandh Darwaza" did receive a new transfer from original elements, however the master used for the transfer does have a tape roll or two; nothing serious to bother the enjoyment of the film. "Purana Mandir" is presented on Disc 2 as a 'Bonus Feature' and it's not difficult to see why: the print used is scratchy complete with some water stained shots and has plenty of film scratches on display. Sadly, because of the bad storage facilities in India, the original negative of "Purana Mandir" had become deteriorated beyond repair and Mondo Macabro had to use the best that was available. That said, once again for a DVD using a tape-master for the presentation, "Purana Mandir" looks decent and is certainly better than the standard bootlegs and crappy Indian VHS' that I've seen: the original Agfacolor looks good and is viewable. The audio is in the original Hindi and comes with readable English subtitles. A slight quibble about the subtitles on "Purana Mandir": there are one or two typos that really stuck out to me and I really advise the company to continuously spell-check as best as possible.

The extras are all on Disc 2 and consist of some text essays about the Ramsay family and the two features written by Mondo Macabro head Pete Tombs. Informative and nicely written, Tombs is the authority on this type of cult cinema and does a fine job laying out the groundwork to understand these films. Next, film critic-filmmaker-Ice Cream shop owner (yes, you read that right!) Omar Khan talks on-screen about the two films in the subject 'Freddie, Jason and...Saamri: The Ramsay's and the Birth of Bollywood Horror' and does a good job giving his opinions on the features. Then, we are introduced to Mondo Macabro's Documentary on South Asian Films from both Bollywood and Lollywood, featuring interviews and film clips. Just to note that a clip from "Bandh Darwaza" is shown from what looks to be taken from a crappy bootleg that doesn't look better than the master used for the complete feature! To round everything out is the Mondo Macabro preview reel for their other titles and there are some real gems to offer.

Even if you are hesitant on Bollywood cinema, I really urge you to check out this release as the films are fun and the info offered is interesting. Mondo Macabro has done an excellent job with this release. So much so that the company is now putting out two more volumes of Ramsay horror classics!

Highly recommended!

You say SPAIN! ENGLAND! JAPAN! MEXICO! GERMANY! FRANCE!
CANADA(Cronenberg..you all softy) and of course the good
old U.S.of A.! But what about INDIA! They to can have their
Horror and HORROR they shall have! To tell the truth I know
nothing of the two films on this disc. I have seen the old school
ghost story Mahal(aval.just now from AMAZON) and my fav.
India HORROR pic. so far KHOONI PANJA! Which has a ANTHROPOPHAGUS
like MONSTER. India HORROR from waaay back was alot like the
HORROR we are now getting from ASIA. Meaning they were really
about the lost of a love one and him/her coming back as a ghost.
Not until the 70's(YES!..Oh! Sorry got carried away) did India
explore TRUE BLOOD! The two Ramsay's Bros. Saw $$$ from these
pic. and poured them out by the bucketful. The English Amicus
and Hammer pic. were very popular back than and if Her Majesty
can do it,by all India can too. I give this 5 stars for the
info they had on India Horror through the ages and felt
it was highly educating. India now is not so much into the
HORROR now as it was in 72-94 They to did remakes of some
of our greatest FRIGHTNING films some are THE EXORCIST(which
I am told blows the DOORS off Beyond the Door and Abby)Night
of the Living Dead(but of course) HENRY:PORTRAIT of a SERIAL
KILLER(was not expecting that!)and HELLRAISER except not
a PUZZLEBOX(sorry PUZZLEMAN)but a LAMP!(THE LAMP! YOU RUBBED
IT.....WE CAME)and a SLAY of others. The cover shows Dracula!
So please try something diff. In your HORROR diet,try a taste
of the TAJ!
NOTE: Again I am new to this HORROR from Bollywood they like
U.S.A.(us!)have their stinkers as well. The ones that look like
they deserve a look-see are INSAAN BANA SHAITAN,KABRASTON
the popular DARWAZA and LOURD BALA..Keep in mind some of these
will have a song or two from the leading actress, alot like
our 40's HORROR(why they feel they must do that I don't know)
HORROR movies will always have a audience all over the world.

Both these films are available as video cd's on the internet. 21$ for 2 dvd's is a bit exorbitant for a recompressed dvd that will give you vcd/vhs quality. None of these movies were ever released in dvd quality and have always been available on VHS and vcd only. These films are more or less like the cult B grade kung fu movies that go for 25$ for 50 of them!