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Posted on 06.10.08 by Jeff @ 8:35 am
Longtime readers of Cinema Strikes Back are well aware of our enthusiasm for the Mondo Macabro DVD label founded by Pete Tombs and Andy Starke (not to mention Pete’s stellar book Mondo Macabro, a bible of sorts around these parts). Pete and Andy are also the producers of Hell’s Ground (Zibahkhana), an excellent Pakistani horror flick directed by Omar Khan, the world’s foremost expert on South Asian horror movies. (Check out our review of Hell’s Ground here.) Hell’s Ground is scheduled to be released on DVD in North America on June 24, 2008.
Pete, Andy and Omar sat down with Cinema Strikes Back’s David, Jeff and Charlie in connection with the screening of Hell’s Ground at the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival for a lengthy talk ranging from the making of Hell’s Ground to the future of Mondo Macabro to Indonesian action star Barry Prima (as well as for a viewing of Omar’s extensive Betsy Palmer memorabilia collection while Omar was out of the room – sorry, Omar). We are now pleased to present Part Two of our interview, which focuses on Mondo Macabro itself as well as whatever filmic oddities happened to come up in discussion. (Part One of our interview, which focuses on the making of Hell’s Ground, can be found here.) Filed under: General and Movie News and Contributors: David and Contributors: Charlie and DVD Companies: Mondo Macabro and Movie News: Pakistan and Movie News: Interviews and Contributors: Jeff and Film Festivals: New York Asian Film Festival 2007 Comments: 2 Comments |
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Posted on 06.02.08 by Jeff @ 10:37 am
Longtime readers of Cinema Strikes Back are well aware of our enthusiasm for the Mondo Macabro DVD label founded by Pete Tombs and Andy Starke (not to mention Pete’s stellar book Mondo Macabro, a bible of sorts around these parts). Pete and Andy are also the producers of Hell’s Ground (Zibahkhana), an excellent Pakistani horror flick directed by Omar Khan, the world’s foremost expert on South Asian horror movies. (Check out our review of Hell’s Ground here.) Hell’s Ground is scheduled to be released on DVD in North America on June 24, 2008.
Pete, Andy and Omar sat down with Cinema Strikes Back’s David, Jeff and Charlie in connection with the screening of Hell’s Ground at the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival for a lengthy talk ranging from the making of Hell’s Ground to the future of Mondo Macabro to Indonesian action star Barry Prima (as well as for a viewing of Omar’s extensive Betsy Palmer memorabilia collection while Omar was out of the room – sorry, Omar). We’re publishing the results in two parts – the first focusing on Hell’s Ground and the second to focus on Mondo Macabro itself as well as whatever filmic oddities happened to come up in discussion. (Part Two of our interview can be found here.) Special thanks to Matt Kiernan for setting up the interview, and to Pete, Andy and Omar for generously giving up their time. We encourage everyone to check out Mondo Macabro – the book and the DVD company – as well as Hell’s Ground and Omar’s website The Hot Spot Online. Filed under: General and Movie News and Contributors: David and Contributors: Charlie and DVD Companies: Mondo Macabro and Movie News: Pakistan and Movie News: Interviews and Contributors: Jeff and Film Festivals: New York Asian Film Festival 2007 Comments: 1 Comment |
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Posted on 09.24.07 by Jeff @ 6:53 am
Title and Year: AAKHRI MUQABALA (1977) [cast and crew information taken from http://www.citwf.com/film2739.htm] Review By: Jeff
During the mid-to-late 1970s, it seemed like the entire world had caught kung fu fever in the wake of Bruce Lee’s tragic death. Film industries from around the globe tried to cash in on the kung fu craze, cranking out untold numbers of martial arts pictures. The Pakistani film industry — commonly known as Lollywood — was not immune from this trend. In 1977, Lollywood director Khalifa Saeed, along with his cast of sweaty dudes with bushy mustaches, made their contribution to cinema history in the form of a kung fu epic entitled Aakhri Muqabala. Far more than just a novelty item, Aakhri Muqabala is simultaneously a brutal martial arts epic and a disorienting, psychedelic freak-out. This film gets my highest recommendation for kung fu fans, exploitation buffs, and jaded cult movie fans who (wrongly) think they’ve seen it all. In an ideal world, this film would get a 2-disc deluxe DVD release from the Mondo Macabro label or another enterprising DVD company and become an instant midnight movie classic. Filed under: General and Movie Reviews and Rating: Great ★★★★ and Movie News: Pakistan and Contributors: Jeff and Genre: Martial Arts and Movie Reviews: Pakistan Comments: 7 Comments |
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Posted on 07.03.07 by Jeff @ 6:58 am
 The New York Asian Film Festival will be showing the new Pakistani horror flick Hell’s Ground on Tuesday, July 3 at 10:30 pm at the IFC Center. New York-area fans of Asian film, horror movies, and guerilla independent productions will not want to miss this one. Cinema Strikes Back’s correspondents had the chance to watch Hell’s Ground earlier this week, and we can report that the film is a lot of fun, a surprisingly effective horror flick that breathes new life into some of horror’s most tried-and-true plot elements by resetting them in the unfamiliar environs of Pakistan. If I learned one thing from Hell’s Ground, it is that the lush, forbidding jungles of the Pakistani countryside make an ideal setting for zombie mayhem, giving the film a feel that is one part Fulci and one part Fitzcarraldo.  The film concerns a bunch of Islamabad coeds who head out of town in a van for an ilicit weekend trip. The fun comes to an end for the students as they run into a cadre of bloodthirsty zombies and demented village people, including the fearsome, homicidal “Burqa Man.” The film is quite punchy, and is played completely straight for the most part. The gore scenes are particularly well done, with some fine gross-out moments. The film also features a fine musical score that mixes electronica with some really cool, swingin’ Urdu lounge music. (Bring on the soundtrack album!) To be clear, Hell’s Ground is unlike past South Asian horror films such as Zinda Laash and the works of the Ramsay Brothers, as it features absolutely no musical numbers. The film has far more in common with early 1980s slasher films and gore classics like Texas Chainsaw Massacre (which are a clear influence on the production) that with any of the commercial fare that is churned out of Lollywood, the Pakistani film industry. Filed under: Movie News and Movie Reviews and Film Festivals: News and DVD Companies: Mondo Macabro and Movie News: Pakistan and Contributors: Jeff and Film Festivals: New York Asian Film Festival 2007 and Movie Reviews: Capsule Reviews and Movie Reviews: Pakistan Comments: 1 Comment |
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Posted on 02.08.06 by David @ 3:41 pm
A follow-up to a previous article. It continues to appear that Pakistan allowing a screening of Sohni Mahiwal in contravention of the longstanding ban on Bollywood films is the tip of the iceberg. Another couple of films have gotten the go-ahead. Hopefully, this trend will continue. ::: Pakistan clears Bollywood films Filed under: Movie News and Movie News: Bollywood and Movie News: India and Movie News: Pakistan Comments: None |
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Posted on 01.23.06 by David @ 9:04 am
::: Pakistan to show Bollywood film ::: Pakistan lifts ban on Indian films One can only hope that this will in turn lead to increased exposure for films from Pakistan, or “Lollywood.” The few opportunities I have had to see these films have always been treats. For example, Mondo Macabro released the excellent Pakistani Dracula film, Zinda Laash, which I highly recommend. There is also the ridiculous International Gorillay, which pits a team of Pakistani heroes against the evil criminal mastermind Salman Rushdie (!?) and his Israeli gang. Featuring flying laser-blasting Korans, disco-dancing, horny sheiks, and Adam West style Batman outfits, this movie was way too absurd and eager to please to actually be offensive. Possibly one of the strangest films I’ve ever seen, and that is saying something. With increasing openness, we can also all look forward to the release of Haseena Atom Bomb, with its Giant Syringe Fight. Filed under: Movie News and Movie News: Bollywood and Movie News: India and Movie News: Pakistan Comments: 1 Comment |
In another step towards reconciliation between hostile Pakistan and India, it appears that the long-standing ban on Bollywood films in Pakistan may be lifting. Sohni Mahiwal, a love story, has received a special exemption to the rule and, though reports conflict, it appears that this may be the opening of the floodgates. In recent years movies like Veer-Zaara have attempted to portray Pakistan in a more human light - a sharp shift from the spate of “Pak-bashing” action thrillers exemplified by the movies of Sunny Deol. Veer-Zaara itself was something of a disappointment - overly sappy aside from a great Amitabh Bachchan performance - but the sentiment was keenly appreciated.
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