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I have said it before and I will say it again. The only thing scarier than a madman is a madman in a burka. And the only thing scarier than a madman in a burka is a madman in a burka swinging a flail. Finally someone has heard my cries and made a movie monster that is the embodiment of my fears.
HELL’S GROUND is Mondo Macabro’s first foray into feature filmmaking. For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past few years, Mondo Macabro is a distribution company that has released such wicked DVDs as LADY TERMINATOR, MILL OF THE STONE WOMAN and DEADLY SEDUCTRESS. You can check out their whole catalogue by clicking HERE. Most of their releases have focused on cinema from the Far East, and for their first in-house feature film they enlisted Pakistan director Omar Ali Khan.
Based on a script by Khan and Pete Tombs, HELL’S GROUND is very much a homage to American horror films of the seventies but it still manages to throw in a little bit of “Lollywood” sensibilities, removing the grit and harshness of its influences and adding more amusement and playfulness. The two films it very obviously wears on its sleeve are TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and DAWN OF THE DEAD. We have five teens from the city that get stranded in the middle of nowhere when their van runs out of gas. A crazy hitchhiker who creeps them out. Mutated zombies who take a bite out of one of them. A weird house where a madman in a burka does unmentionable things. And some old lady who keeps referring to the madman in a burka as her daughter. Very familiar (well at least some of it is), but Khan and Tombs manage to infuse some interesting twist and enough strangeness to keep it entertaining.
The only issue I have, is the same issue I have with many new low budget features, and that is the fact that they are shot on video. I have nothing against films that are shot on video, I just can handle when films shot on video have a lot of dark scenes that aren’t properly lit. You end up losing a lot of detail and contrast and what might be an awesome gore scene or something really tense and creepy just ends up being muddy and difficult to see.
With a proper budget, Khan could quickly become the Edgar Wright of Pakistan. As it stands, his debut feature is gory and goofy and should please any fan of the horror/comedy genre. As long as you don’t mind your English mixed with a little Urdu and your gender-confused-burka-wearing madmen mixed with a little of the walking dead.
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