The Zombie horror film genre is not new to me. In the past I've seen directors like George Romero(The Night, Dawn, and Day Of The Dead), Lucio Fulci(Zombie 1979), Jorge Grau(Let Sleeping Corpses Lie a.k.a The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue), Andrea Bianchi(Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror). Add to this list The Re-animator Trilogy directed by directors Stuart Gordon(1) and Brian Yuzna(2,3), and The Return Of The Living Dead 3 - a.k.a. Mortal Zombie(Brian Yuzna). These films are available on the internet. Search for them and either download them for your personal collection or watch them online for free.
And there you have it. After watching all the above, watch Rise Of The Zombie(2013). You'll see the basic idea was copied from the above mentioned films. Plot: a man travels to remote forest location, where he sets camp and is generally alone. Man is bitten by unknown insect while exploring forest. Gradual transformation turns man into Zombie with an insatiable appetite for fresh meat(preferably human). Lone Zombie infects another human who in turn becomes a Zombie, spawning a mini-army of Zombies. Film ends here, where an teaser for Land Of The Zombie(2014) is placed.
First of all these days its all about making money, even for independent film directors. At the start they have a meager budget and so have mediocre special effects. So they wait for the profits of the first film to kick in and hopefully dream of making either a sequel or franchise.
Verdict: nothing new for the genre so zero points for creativity. The makeup effects and gore in the film is pathetic for a seasoned horror fan like myself who has seen better. The background score is decent to the movie and does not let the film down. The acting is decent and photography and location is adequate to this film. Actor Luke Kenny(who plays the Zombie) has acted before in films like Bombay Boys(1998) and Rock On!! (2008). He is a decent actor but I fear he will never rise above low budget B-movies. Actress Kirti Kulhari has even acted before in Dharini (2002), Khichdi: The Movie (2010), Shaitan (2011) and Jal(2013). She is a good looking, talented actress and I feel that if she gets the big break, could move into mainstream Bollywood films.
They say that this is "INDIA'S FIRST ZOMBIE FILM". Then what about Tahkhana(1986)? This was also a Zombie film in my belief. The Ramsay brothers have been the mainstay of Hindi Horror. But since their departure, no company has focused more on the genre. Ram Gopal Varma Verman did brilliantly in movies like Raat, Bhoot and Phoonk. But since then his directional style has suffered. Vikram Bhatt is another superb horror film director with films like: 1920, Shaapit: The Cursed and Haunted - 3D.
In conclusion: we need more heart and soul in our films. Then we'll surely succeed in reawakening this genre.
More Ramsay Brother's Horror films: Purana Mandir 1984, Veerana 1988, Purani Haveli 1989 and Bandh Darwaza 1990.
