Zibahkhana (2007)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Omar Khan

Writers:

Omar Khan (story)
Pete Tombs (screenplay)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Pakistan's First Gore Film

Plot:

On their way to a concert, a group of teens are diverted by a political protest, only to encounter a family of flesh-hungry psychopaths.

Plot Keywords:

Teen | Spade | Forest | Full Moon | Blood

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Kunwar Ali Roshan	...	Vicky
Rooshanie Ejaz	...	Ayesha
Rubya Chaudhry	...	Roxy
Haider Raza	...	Simon
Osman Khalid Butt	...	O.J.
Rehan	...	Deewana
Najma Malik	...	Bari Bua
Sultan Billa	...	Baby
Salim Meraj	...	Baley
Razia Malik	...	Ayah
Ashfaq Bhatti	...	Masih
Abida Shaheen	...	Simon's Mother
Adnan Malik	...	Yuppy Victim
Shagufta Hamayun	...	Ayesha's Mother
Mai Billi	...	Billo

Also Known As:

Hell's Ground (International: English title)

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

Pakistan | UK

Language:

Urdu | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:18 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Islamabad, Pakistan

Company:

Bubonic Films

Trivia:

In the toilet scene when Ayesha turns having changed her clothes, scribbled on the wall is a phone number 777-9311 which is a funk song by The Time, one of the Director’s favourites.

Goofs:

Continuity: (at 01:10:00) In the scene where Ash killed the maniac hitting him with a stone, she isn't wearing her Allah locket (which she kept wearing throughout). Then she finds the murder weapon and still she isn't wearing it, but when she returns to his dead body she's wearing her locket again.

Quotes:

OJ: What mad dog's bitten you, hunh?

Movie Connections:

Features Zinda Laash (1967)

Cool, fun stuff, and sort of an "old school" mentality

I guess you could not call "Hell's Ground" a true, modern-day film, it's more of a throwback to the 70's style of horror, and a mix of Bollywood & Lollywood meets Dawn of the Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There is rather a nasty killing right at the beginning but that's merely a teaser. There is a group of young people (rich & spoiled, for the most part) who have conspired to attend some kind of a concert 5 hours away from where they live, and of course they've lied about where they'll be so their parents don't know. The have procured a "stylin" van, with lots of lurid murals on the side, something that most of them don't want to even be seen in, for the trip. Of course, their trip is anything but smooth & they become lost in a remote area, while trying to find a short-cut. And they happen across an area where the locals have been transformed into flesh-eating zombies by polluted water. But, they do manage to leave that area and find something even worse. One young girl has stumbled across an old shack which is apparently something along the lines of the local butcher shop, which you know has to be bad news. She has told the old woman she's found there that there's a crazy man wearing a "burqa" running around killing people but the old woman says "that's silly, men don't wear "burqas"". ?!? So it's a WOMAN? Aiee!

This seems to be an loving homage to horror films of old, and not just "copying". The director, Omar Ali Khan, is the owner of an ice cream shop in Islambad. He also has the awesome "Hot Spot Online" which features many fine reviews of Bollywood & Lollywood films (as well as films from elsewhere). At one point during "Zibahkhana", one character (OJ) is watching "Zinda Laash" (The Living Corpse), which is Pakistan's first horror film from 1967. Later, at a tea shop, he tells an old man that he knows he was the actor from that film, who played "Dracula"...the old man denies it but I did look it and and lo and behold, it IS Rehan, who did play that role. Of course, OJ's friends just think he smoked too much hash.

Anyway, I liked this a lot, and you have to enjoy this in the spirit in which it was made. Fun stuff, 8 out of 10.