Hells Ground Movie Review
Pakistan is not known for their horror films. As a matter of fact I can’t even think of any other horror films from Pakistan except Hell’s Ground. This is however the first Pakistan splatter flick. That said I didn’t expect much because usually the first film to do anything is typically improved upon after another director sees what they can do. Well improving upon Omar Ali Kahn’s Hell’s Ground will be no easy feat. Not only do I think they won’t approve upon it, I doubt they can even make a better film than this any time soon.
Ali Kahn’s film borrows from a lot of American horror films but it does so in a way that is really smart. He takes all of his favorite films and develops little set pieces that are almost devoted to that film. You can see glimpses of High Tension, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th and all other kinds of horror staples thrown in. The story is simple. A group of teens jump in a van together to head out to a concert after each of them have lied to their parents of what they are really doing. Once on the road they somehow find themselves on what the locals call “Hell’s Ground”. After one of them is bit by a zombie, the gang run into a crazed hitchhiker and his insane family. One of which wears a blood splattered burqa and wields one fancy medieval weapon. When the van runs out of gas they find themselves in a whole heap of trouble.
During the film I instantly fell in love with the look and surprisingly the music. The movie being Pakistani made me think the music was going to be really off. While the music is traditional for the country it reminded of the kind of tunes you would hear in the 80s. The look was also very similar to that with a lot of use of fog and weird camera lenses to make hallways appear longer. Ali Kahn really knew what he was doing when he made this film and it shows.
The most satisfying part of the film however is probably the way he was able to mash up so many different horror sub-genres into one film and make it work. He did this and didn’t make it feel too artificial. We have cannibals, zombies, slashers, maniacs, he really runs the gamut. Of course this is typical for a first time director to try and include as much as he has learned into their first feature. However not many are as successful as Kahn.
After the film made a significant run on the festival circuit the censors in his home country finally allowed the film to be screened. It was a huge triumph for him and everyone involved with the film. Kahn wasn’t done yet. He wanted everyone to see his film and TLA Releasing decided to help him out in that area and release the DVD here in the states. The disc contains some very interesting special features including a mini documentary called Ice Cream Zombieland. During this doc they follow around the director and you get to hear some of his feelings about the film. You are also shown the process that it took to get his film through the Pakistani censors. Also featured is the Pakistani Premiere, trailers, a music video and the directors commentary.
Overall I have to say I really enjoyed this film and it is one of the few movies I receive that I will definitely be popping back into my DVD player very soon. Every horror fan will be able to sit through this one and pick out some of the homage’s. This movie honestly has a little something for every kind of fan out there. Zombies, gore, a serial killer and did I mention there is a zombie dwarf in the film? Yea.. this is a must.
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