Mondo Macabro's Bollywood Horror Collection Vol. 1

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Mondo Macabro's been the number 1 studio for getting me excited about things I never even knew I wanted. Here's Mondo Macabro's press release from MySpace:

This September, Mondo Macabro scares you with a double dose of Indian horror with THE BOLLYWOOD HORROR COLLECTION VOLUME 1!

From MOULIN ROUGE to BRIDE AND PREJUDICE, Bollywood movies are starting to make their way into the hearts of mainstream moviegoers. One of the world's most beloved and successful film industries, Bollywood cinema is often defined by their glamorous locations, unique style and, of course, extravagant musical numbers that make these films so popular all over the world. But did you know that they also made horror films in India? Well Mondo Macabro does, and now they are finally able to bring THE BOLLYWOOD HORROR COLLECTION VOLUME 1 to the U.S. to showcase these truly one-of-a-kind films on DVD for the very first time in America or anyplace else for that matter!

THE BOLLYWOOD HORROR COLLECTION VOLUME 1 is a two-disc package containing the films BANDH DARWAZA (1990) and PURANA MANDIR (1984). Both are directed by Tulsi and Shyam Ramsay, members of Bollywood's famed Ramsay family, India's most famous makers of horror movies, which also consists of five other brothers and their father, producer F.U. Ramsay. In Bollywood they are seen as rivals to Hammer Films in both the quantity and quality of their productions.

BANDH DARWAZA is the Indian version of Dracula. A childless woman visits the lair of an evil magician in order that she may conceive. When she gives birth to a baby girl, the magician demands that she hand her over. She refuses and has the magician killed. But years later he is revived as a fully-fledged member of the undead and comes looking for the now teenage girl, intending to make her his slave!

PURANA MANDIR tells of the ancient curse visited on an Indian king 200 years ago causing all female members of his family turn into hideous monsters and die in childbirth. The daughter of one of his descendents decides to put an end to this curse and travels to the ancient temple where it all began 200 years before. What awaits her and her friends there is terror beyond their wildest nightmares. A classic of Indian horror that shocked a nation!

Mondo Macabro's BOLLYWOOD HORROR COLLECTION VOLUME 1 is six hours of scary fun on two DVD. Hot, hot, hot Indian horror from the land of gods and monsters. And yes, there are musical numbers in each film. See it for yourself!

THE BOLLYWOOD HORROR COLLECTION VOL. 1 Contains the Following Special Features:

A Mondo Macabro original documentary on south Asian action, horror and mythological films, covering India and Pakistan with lots of clips, interviews and background info on this hugely important but little known (at least in the west) area of cinema.

Freddie, Jason and Saamri. A more detailed look at the two main features in this double disc set. Shows how, with Purana Mandir, Bollywood horror movies created their first series character to rival Freddie Kruger, Jason Vorhees etc etc. Another Mondo Macabro original documentary seen only on this DVD!

Extensive background text on the rise and fall of the Bollywood horror movie and the history of the Ramsay Brothers horror factory.

The much loved and now extended Mondo Macabro preview reel.

Both BANDH DARWAZA and PURANA MANDIR are presented in their original full frame aspect ratios (1.33:1), in Hindi with optional English subtitles.

Look for Mondo Macabro's BOLLYWOOD HORROR COLLECTION VOLUME 1 DVD in stores on September 26, 2006 at a retail price of $24.95.

And from thier mailing lists:

To whet your appetite for our forthcoming Bollywood Horror Collection:vol1, we've uploaded one of the featurettes to our new YouTube site. The doc is in two parts and can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17j98v0qMQY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPhFywZrdOU

Please feel free to forward these links to others...

Along with Onar Films's announcement of Turkish Dracula and other Turkish horror it looks like we'll be getting lots of fun stuff coming up.

Ooh, very cool. I still have some Bollywood horror DVDs in my collection that I haven't even seen yet so I guess this will get added to the gigantic pile of "Things to get eventually".

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That's great news! I'd buy this just for the featurettes, but I'd love to own the movies too.

I'm really looking forward to getting these, the only horror I have seen from India was the modern horror Bhoot, which was OK but nothing special.

http://www.dvdinmypants.com/reviews/A-G/bollywood.php

[Ash28M]

I rented Bandh Darwaza and it was allot of fun. It's not a great film by any means, plagued by over acting and odd editing choices. I can't say it didn't keep me entertained though despite it's almost 2.5 hour running time.

Lots of musical numbers to be had and a Friday the 13th ripoff score which was sometimes played at inappropriate times. There were other score elements I recognized but couldn't pin point. It did have some surprisingly creepy imagery and a good pace.

I guess this would be my introduction to Bollywood horror and can safely say it won't be my last.