Revisiting the Ramsay’s : Halloween 🎃 Month

REVISITING THE RAMSAY’s : HALLOWEEN 🎃 MONTH 

With Halloween 🎃 approaching soon let’s revisit some spine chilling horror flicks from the house of the Ramsay Brothers. Undoubtedly Bollywood could never produce a horror movie that could be anywhere close to Hollywood classics like the Exorcist or Jaws but whatever technical support and limited resources were available to them, the Ramsay brothers certainly dished out some trashy B class horror stuff with the perfect Indian ingredients like songs and dances and generous dose of sex and violence. 

1. Darwaza (1978)

This suspense drama revolved around a city boy (Anil Dhawan) who visits his ancestral mansion in a cursed village only to face a blood thirsty monster and unveil a well guarded family secret. This crisp and sleek horror flick had good performances from supporting cast like Imtiyaz Khan and Anju Mahendru and edge of seat slasher scenes by 70’s Bollywood standards. Amit Kumar’s dreamy vocals in the song “Hosh mei Hum kahan” are memorable. 

2. Dehshat (1981) 

A temperamental scientist (Om Shivpuri) is experimenting on a drug that can infuse life into the dead and uses animals and birds as Guineas. His frustrated wife(Nadira) injects the drug into him in a moment of rage and it has an deadly reaction wherein he turns into a monster and creates havoc in the city. Yet again the supporting cast Shivpuri and Nadira outperformed the listless lead players( Navin Nischel and Sarika). Bappi Lahiri and Sulakshna Pandit were screaming louder than the monster with their high pitched disco songs. 

3. Purana Mandir (1984) 

One of the biggest hits of Ramsay’s which featured in the top 10 big hits of 1984. The family of a Thakur (Pradip Kumar) is cursed by a demon Saamri (Anirudh Agarwal) and a lot of chaos ensues when the new generation visits the cursed Haveli to fight the evil. This flick was filled with all possible ingredients needed for a complete Indian horror entertainer including a comedy track(Rajindernath) heavy duty action (Puneet Issar) spine chilling horrifying close ups of Agarwal as well as a possessed Satish Shah and the scary care taker Sadashiv Amrapurkar. Not to forget a notably wet and delicious Arati Gupta crooning to Asha Bhosle’s sexy song “Woh Beete Din Yaad Hain”. 

4. Dak Bangla (1987) 

This one had a mummy hunting down people who visit a horribly haunted Dak Bangla. Relying mostly on sex and gore there was an overdose of graphic murders and extended rape scenes. Marc Zuber was the only actor who looked sincere in his acting whereas the others were either wooden (Rajan Sippy) or over the top (Swapna). Lecherous Ranjeet was utilised for his speciality to manhandle and molest the female cast. Even senior artistes like Sujeet Kumar and Beena Banerji were subjected to absolute graphically violent torture. 

5. Veerana (1988) 

You think of Veerana and it’s synonymous with the sultry Jasmin. Playing the lonely possessed sensouos seductress to perfection the Anglo Indian starlet overshadowed everyone else in the movie. Singing a haunting melody in secluded Mussorie she preyed on unsuspecting men. This was a runaway hit with good performances by veterans like Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Vijendra Ghatge and comic relief by the ever dependable Satish Shah. Stone faced Hemant Birje and talentless Sahila Chadda looked odd in lead roles as the real scene stealer was the rose complexioned mystery woman Jasmin. 

6. Purani Haveli (1989) 

Borrowing generously from the Friday the 13th series Ramsay’s focussed on a bunch of college teens visiting a mansion on a hill station and getting stalked by a killer monster (Manek Irani). There was zero novelty in the movie but Ajit Singh’s music was refreshing with the song “Kaise Main Bhulaoo Tera Pyar” sung melodiously by Suresh Wadkar and Anuradha. The slasher scenes were in quick succession and even Satish Shah’s comedy looked outdated. A noticeably aged Deepak Parasher romancing a teenage Amita Nangia looked more horrifying than Irani’s mask. 

7. Mahakaal (1993)

So Ramsay’s had their own version of the nightmare on elm street. Already in her 30’s Archana Puran Singh played a wide eyed college going teenager who’s terrified by a demon who’s terrorising her in nightmares. Her boyfriend (a visibly disinterested Karan Shah) tries to solve the mystery which dates back to a disturbing childhood tragedy. Jovial Johnny lever’s comic antics were impressive along with decent performances by Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Mayur Verma. 70% of the horror sequences were frame by frame copy of the original Hollywood franchise.