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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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