Zinda Laash

Here is an oddity if ever there was one: A 'Dracula' film from Pakistan, one of the few horror films ever attempted in the country, and certainly the first and most famous. In this variation on Stoker's novel, the count is actually a scientist (quasi-mad, perhaps) seeking the elixir of life, a potion that would defy death. But from here on, all similarities to The Fountain end, when the good doc (Professor Tabani to you, dear) not only succeeds in making the life-up soda, he proceeds to drink it himself (Hugh Jackman should have sought this guy's help)! No terminally ill wife to bother with, in fact no family or servants either, except for a full-figured lady assistant, who discovers the professor's inert body behind a sofa. For whatever improbable reason, the scientist had left a note saying that if he was to be found dead, his body should be put into the coffin down in the basement of his isolated mansion. And so it goes. Interestingly, the word Dracula is never used in the film, and people refer to the vampire as "khabees rooh", which literally translates as "evil spirit".

This was not a big-budget affair, and it is therefore quite heartening to see how much they managed to pull off on meager resources. The film retains a lot of Stoker's original plot, despite a contemporary setting, and the inclusion of some silly musical interludes. Some of the direction is…er…wooden, as is some of the acting. But there are also eerie, suspenseful scenes, and good lighting and set design, evoking a Gothic and creepy atmosphere (in black and white).

There are a couple of odd 'fade-outs' at the most inappropriate moments, but I suspect this was done at the behest of the censor board, who were initially aghast at the mere idea of a local horror film. They only passed the film after the producer-hero and director promised that they'd never ever make such a film again. And sure enough, they never did, despite the film becoming an unexpected hit. Even more surprising is that for an industry steeped in plagiarism, nobody else jumped on the bandwagon, either.

Not really scary (but not suitable for young children, either), the film is nonetheless reasonably engrossing and one of the more unique takes on the familiar tale. Horror and cult fans should definitely check it out.

Just when you though it safe to visit Pakistan, out of the crypt flaps this obscure adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. Scientist tries to develop a potion to defy death and make him immortal (shades of Jekyll and Hyde) which succeeds only in turning him into a vampire.

There are a certain amount of atmospherics and lighting, creep nighttime cemetery walk, well done sets, as we enter the Count's sprawling abode, and we're introduced to him flowingly walk down large staircase toward protagonist. It is interesting to see how Bram Stoker's Dracula translates to Pakistani culture, and in Urdu, sixty years after it was written, but this long-thought lost and only recently rediscovered version suffers most from terrible acting, and cannot decide if it wants to be an adaptation of its original source novel, or a surreal horror, or a musical. Maybe that had something to do with Pakistani censors? The cast is bland, their acting is even worse. Nasreen (female vampire dancer) veers wildly from sensual, to silly. Dracula has an impressive look here in the form of actor Rehan, tall and darkly mysterious, but like most of the rest of the cast, Rehan has little acting capabilities. My Urdu is a bit rusty, so I cannot comment on how well or poorly the dialogue translates into Urdi from English.

This film is interesting, a curio, but nothing to really get one's hopes up about locating.

"The Living Corpse" or "Dracula in Pakistan" is a definitely example of films that are so bad that watching them becomes a good experience. Pakistani version of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" shot in Lahore, "The Living Corpse" haphazardly follows the plot of the famous novel, with an original contribution almost 30 years before Coppola's version: the film explains the origin of the vampire (here called "Professor Tabani") in a pre-credits sequence in which a mad scientist ingests the product of his investigations to find the elixir of eternal life, with the terrible consequence that he becomes the "living corpse" of the title, with an inexhaustible thirst for blood. To his haunted house does not arrive Jonathan Harker, but a curious colleague who, before being sucked by the prof, watches the sexy dance of the vampire's bride to of a pop version of "In a Persian Market" (by British composer Albert William Ketelbey). This is one of the prevailing characteristics of this movie that, like almost all the films made in the zone, includes songs along the plot. Although Prof. Tabani does not sing, the band and dancer of the local bar do, a young woman in love bursts into song in the field and there is a hilarious selection of foreign themes: the credits run to the chords of "Granada" by Mexican songwriter Agustín Lara, a car crosses the landscape to the anonymous Spanish tune "La Cucaracha", and a terror sequence is edited using "Allá en el Rancho Grande" by Mexican Lorenzo Barcelata, without forgetting the fragments of classical works and the use of James Bernard's music for Terence Fisher's "Dracula". In fact, sound engineers can smile while frowning at the soundtrack in which songs come and go at the slightest provocation, where the sound effects are repeated in chain or where the foley has nothing to do with the image: while two men run after the vampire upon soil, the corresponding sound is of a wood floor. However, all this, even if it is pathetic, adds up instead of subtracting the overall effect of astonishment and mockery, although the plot turns a little too serious with the arrival of the curious scientist's young brother, who decides to exterminate the vampire and seeks advice from a Dr. Van Helsing of sorts, who owns the local and bar. Seeing the credits in English and the frequent use of English words, "The Living Corpse" reminded me of some Ibero-American films with anglophile aspirations (made by posh filmmakers and publicists who even gobble up bilingual food) that in a few decades will be seen as this concoction that unintentionally ended up being a joke.

This is exactly the type of stuff you expect the good people over at Mondo Macabro to release under their formidable DVD-label: Obscure, horror-themed curiosities from all over the globe! These movies aren't necessarily good, but definitely unique in some way and they at least always feature aspects that appeal to avid cult collectors. This particular oddity, for example, is a Pakistani vampire movie (how many of those do you know?) and it's one of the only horror films ever to be heavily censored not because of the horrific subject matter but because the female characters act & dress too provocatively! The Mondo Macabro DVD restores all the cut footage in which the women dance "too" sensually, although sometimes you wish it hadn't because these parts are overlong, dreary and serve absolutely no purpose. The story introduces Rehan (interesting how some of these actors have last names and others don't) as an overly ambitious scientist striving to become immortal. He develops an elixir that does the job, but the side effects involve an allergy to daylight, pointy teeth and the incontrollable hunger for human blood. In short, the poor man transforms into a vampire (although he doesn't seem to mind) and nobody in a large area around his mansion is longer safe, especially not when he sets his mind to drinking the blood of Dr. Aqil's beautiful fiancée. The first half of the story is involving and occasionally even atmospheric & suspenseful, but then it turns into a dull family drama with hardly any noteworthy moments, apart from the virulent man vs. vampire showdown in the end. The popular title "Dracula in Pakistan" is obviously the best choice for marketing purposes, but "The Living Corpse" is of course far more accurate since there's no actual blood relation between Professor Tabani and the legendary count of Bram Stoker's novel. The film does try really hard to be reminiscent to "Dracula", however. The main star, Rehan, could easily pass for Christopher Lee's brother from another (Pakistani) mother, the "brides" also look familiar and the script even bluntly copies famous quotes that are irreversibly linked to the original Dracula ("Children of the Night … What music they make"). In fact, the absolute most suitable title for this movie would be "The Pakistani Vampire Musical". There really are a LOT of musical interludes. Some of the songs are truly misfit (La Cucaracha in a horror film?), others are sexy (the bride's dance to a song that sounds like "The Shadows") and just plain goofy (the women's overlong beach song), but they practically all are redundant and exclusively added to stretch the running time. "The Living Corpse" is a curious find for people with a wide interest in global cult cinema, but not necessarily fundamental viewing for horror fanatics.

Historically this was Pakistan's first venture into the terror film genre and we came mighty close to losing this film before it was discovered (in some "rusty old cans", according to the brave film buff who found it) in a vault.

The plot borrows heavily from Hammer's HORROR OF Dracula, in fact there are times when the music even has a noticeable similarity to James Bernard's score. There are some classical themes thrown in as well, notice "The Barber of Seville" playing during the car chase scene) and some other cues which are . . .well . . . eccentric to say the least. Early in the film when someone is driving to the vampires mansion you can recognise strains of "La Cucaracha" on the soundtrack. The lighting and the sets reminded me more of the vampire films coming out of Mexico in the late 50's. The vampire's vast home might have suited Count Frankenhausen or Count Lavud quite well. This time though the vampire is created via scientific means. A doctor who believes he has discovered the elixir of eternal life takes one swallow and turns into a vampire! Well, that is eternal life of a sort, right?

Oh and there are songs in the film too, in fact it was beginning to remind me of the Mexican film CRY OF THE BEWITCHED (1965) with the plot stopping . . .er . . ."dead" in its tracks so characters could sing. This is not to say the characterisations were not believable, they certainly are. The hero, our Van Helsing character, has a very hard time convincing anyone there is a vampire stalking victims until our bloodsucking villain strikes very close to home, claiming the sister of a man who refused to believe vampires were real.

Okay, now remember this film was done in Pakistan in the mid-60's so don't expect gore or nudity or anything like that; although there is a great man vs. vampire fight scene near the end. By all means do not miss an opportunity to see this film.