Bandh Darwaza

"BANDH DARWAZA" may well be my personal favorite of the Ramsay Brothers horror flicks. It is in some ways the most approachable for non-Indian viewers. It's monster is a standard black cape wearing, fanged Vampire and the plot is fairly easy to follow, even without subtitles. The best part of the film is it's monster. There is nothing "suave" or "seductive" about this vampire. He's a MONSTER, plain and simple. Appearance wise, the vampire here sort of reminds me of Rondo Hatton with fangs and a cape. He's kind of a nightmare version of a cartoon Dracula, complete with black silk cape with high collar, very white fangs, and a fright-mask like face. But he's SCARY! Let me tell ya'! I'm a jaded horror film fan and this is one of the just plain nasty scariest vampires committed to film! His dialog consists mostly of "Gnaaaaarrrrghh-sssss", usually shouted while smashing through a wall or a door, or just stalking relentlessly toward the frightened protagonists. The closest American counterpart I can think of is the vampire from "THE NIGHT STALKER", all predatory beast with not a drop of Lugosi to speak of. But, at 2 1/2 hours long, the movie will try the patience of all but the most dedicated fan, and will probably send casual viewers running for their remotes. If you can stick it out through the song and dance numbers and the lengthy conversations, BANDH DARWAZA delivers with the chills!

Has this sequence been omitted in recent DVD versions? When I saw it on my old-fashioned VCR, the vampire was confronted at one point with 3 coffins: one containing the Gita and the trident, another the Koran, and the last one, of course, the Bible and the Cross. He recoils with equal anguish from all 3. This is the first vampire I have seen who shows such respect for the liberal secularist religious credentials of modern India. Was there a fourth coffin with the Granth Sahib (the holy book of the Sikhs)? The Dracula make-up is fine, but how I wish they had cut out the songs! Also, the gum-chewing leopard-skin-skirt wearing sidekick of Neola (Dracula) is too good to take. Still, this is not the best Ramsay to me. I think that crown should go to their VEERANA.

Well, this is it folks . . . Bollywood's answer to third rate B-Movies. This is a pathetic little farce about vampyres in India. The chief vampyre looks like he is wearing a Halloween mask, the whole movie is cheap and dark looking, and basically looks like it was shot in someone's back yard. If you can't find it in your local video store, don't bother. They don't get any worse than this.

In the lengthy prologue to this Bollywood horror, desperate wife Lajo (Beena Banerjee) is unable to conceive, and so, fearful of losing her husband Pratap (Vijayendra Ghatge), travels to Kali Pahadi to ask the evil vampiric demon Nevla (Anirudh Agarwal) for help: he agrees to give her a child, on the one condition that if the baby is female, she is to be handed over to him to be his slave. Of course, the baby is a girl, but the distraught mother refuses to hand over her child. A seriously miffed Nevla sends his acolyte Mahua (Aruna Irani) to poison Lajo, which leads to Pratap seeking revenge, he and his pals ransacking Nevla's Kali Pahadi hideout, and slaying the vampire.

After some incredibly gaudy credits, we cut to Lajo's daughter, Kamya (Kunickaa Sadanand), now all grown up, happily dancing in shiny lycra to the Fright Night soundtrack—but her life is not as peachy as it seems: she is in love with friend Kumar (Hashmat Khan), but he only has eyes for Sapna (Manjeet Kullar). Nevla's followers, seeing a golden opportunity to gain a new recruit, promise Kamya that, if she joins them, they will use their magic to make Kumar fall for her. It's around this point that I started to lose interest, the plot beginning to meander, starting with the first of three protracted musical interludes (Kumar and Sapna singing and dancing together in the rain).

Anyway, to cut a long story short (the film is well over two hours, and feels much longer), Nevla is resurrected, Kamya becomes his slave, quite a few people get bitten, and there's more singing, before the vampire is finally defeated in a manner that makes very little sense whatsoever. Those who stay the distance are treated to several poorly choreographed fight scenes, the same crash of thunder played countless times (ditto with the wolf howl and the cat screeching sound effects), the worst 'day for night' photography imaginable, the blatant stealing of the 'Ki ki ki ma ma ma' theme from Friday the 13th, a modicum of gore, and one hell of an ugly vampire (bulging veins on his head, massive fangs, and those eyes… it's not the fact that they are bright red that is freaky, it's how far apart they are).

Returning to her childhood home, a woman attempts to woo her friend away from his current girlfriend which sparks a cult of followers to a demonic being her mother promised her to at birth before being stopped to intervene, unaware that doing so is part of a ploy to resurrect their vampiric leader.

This was a fantastic effort with a lot to like about it. Among the better aspects to be had here is the standout storyline that provides this one with plenty of opportunity to run wild with supernatural genre setpieces. The central tale here involving the original birth being ordained by a deal with the demonic figure forcing the family to pay it off by sacrificing their child to the figure and his followers, only to renege on everything and stop him which signals the curse coming to pass later on when she returns to the area with her friends as a teen is immensely intriguing. This sets up a wholly worthwhile Gothic horror piece involving the followers attempting to abduct her to carry out the terms of the original pledge forcing them into dangerous tactics to do this including the failed seduction attempts on her boyfriend or bringing her out to the ritual altar to observe ceremonies of devotion to their guiding demonic spirit. Playing with the idea of generational curses and the idea of children doomed to suffer because of the short-sighted actions of their parents offers a fun touch as this one goes along. This approach to Gothic atmosphere continues in the series of scares throughout here, with the setting being a large part of this. As the ceremonial crypt where the followers are congregated manages to be a truly spectacular setting with the open spaces, ornate statues of demonic beings, large bejeweled pieces housing dark magic, and openings that provide the perfect launching pad for hiding the coffins where they sleep, this creates a slew of memorable images involving the entire fog-enshrouded location housing their dark practices. Also managing to involve the rituals and sacrifices itself in addition to the scenes of the cursed follower trying to interfere in the girls' life by trying to steal her boyfriend despite his assurances it's all harmless, it all creates a kind of fun setup to the second half introducing the nightmarish vampire on the loose to the community as well as the exploits of the cult trying to ensure they stay apart so the plan can come to fruition. As it becomes more obvious that the corruption attempts where never about disrupting the relationship but instead releasing the vampire so he can begin his rampage, the action picks up and starts introducing a series of high energy sequences, from the raid on the crypt hideout, a chase with a horse-drawn carriage, or the final battle against the vampire. This brings about the kind of stellar final battle where the concept of how to defeat the final vampire is a wholly intriguing and original touch where the various religious symbols being brought about to deter him is a fun touch, the wild brawls has a lot to like, and the actual method of dispatching him makes for a wholly enjoyable conclusion. These allow the film to work through all manner of fantastic Gothic make-up on the lead vampire who has a fantastic look, including the massive fangs, bloodshot eyes, and disgusting facial scars that leave quite a distinguished impression on everything he touches. Overall, there's quite a lot to like here as there are a few drawbacks to bring this down. The main issue is a seemingly backward means of storytelling involving how the whole plan to bring the daughter into the cult's grasp is ultimately missing the point of what everything is about. The point of the curse was for the cult to abduct the daughter, which was a result of how she was originally conceived in the first place to be sacrificed for their means, so when she returns as an adult years later, being the outsider in the love triangle makes little sense. It would make for a much darker feature to be the one in the relationship that needs to be broken off so that the smitten boyfriend is more concerned with his new girlfriend and leaving her easy pickings for their journey, and how it's handled here makes for a backward setup. As well, there's also the film's somewhat cheap and flimsy production that shows itself off at certain points here, with awful day-for-night photography, no gore at all, and rudimentary special effects that aren't damaging but do hold it back some.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.