The Living Corpse

Zinda Laash

Mondo Macabro

R1 DVD

Web: http://www.mondomacabrodvd.com

When we talk about Vampire films, we generally think about Dracula or tales of Transylvanian horrors. Yet it seems that there was quite a horror bonanza in both India and Pakistan at various stages of the development of their respective film industries and this film is a lost gem from the great age of South Asian horror !

This is quite an astounding vampire film from Pakistan. It is very rare and hard to find and Mondo Macabro have done an amazing job in not only finding a scarce rare print of this classic film, but restoring it for viewing. There are a blips and jumps and a short period where the picture gets "jittery" but generally this is an amazing restoration considering the rareness of the print. The mono audio track is clear with nice with readable English subtitles.

Zinda Laash AKA The Living Corpse is a very different sort of vampire film. This is Pakistan and hence there are no crosses, Christian symbolism or western religious context. The story opens more like the tale of Dr.Jekyll and Dr. Hyde. A young scientist is working to discover an “elixir of youth” , when he swallows his concoction he seems to have failed and dies on the spot. His assistant finds him and following his very specific instructions places him into a coffin in the cellar. Needless to say, he resurrects during the night and becomes a blood thirsty vampire, if not a little suave one at that. She follows as a sexy vampires not long after. The whole tale mirrors the western story yet without the religious imagery. No silver, no water, no crosses, but he can still be killed by sunlight and a knife in the heart works because it lets the “poisoned” blood leave his body. Vampires in this story are actually dead bodies possessed by evil spirits.

The Living Corpse is a rather unique viewing experience. It has a classic vampire tale told through the lens of Pakistanii culture with dance and music numbers ! It has gothic looking castles, rather meaningful vampire gazes from Dr.Tabini the King vampire, strange song and dance numbers (fully clothed due to Pakistanii religious laws) and a soundtrack which seems to throw all sorts of popular music into the mix !

One of the things which really makes this a great DVD is the extras. There is a full length commentary with Pete Tombs of Mondo Macabro and Film Critic Omar Khan which gives lots of background on the film. Next is a Mondo Macabro doco on South Asian Horror, this includes three very informative sections on Bollywood Horror, Pakistan Action and Horror Films and Indian mythic films. Dracula in Pakistan offers an interview with producer Habib and director Sarfaraz. There is also a trailer, still gallery and a text essay.

This is an exceptional DVD offering a rare lost gem of world horror with lots of extras which give you the context in which the film developed. A thoroughly enjoyable experience !