The Living Corpse

Rating:
Summary: Simply spellbinding!
Review: Mondo Macabro's restoration of this long lost Pakistani version of "Dracula" is simply spellbinding! The Lollywood interpretation leans heavily on the Hammer DRACULA of Terence Fisher even down to James Bernard's famous cues for the master's entrances and shock moments. Even so THE LIVING CORPSE or "Zinda Laash" at 104 minutes holds its own as a fascinating look at the Dracula myth from another part of the world.

The print was transferred from the only existing negative and looks amazing for a film made in 1967 and thought lost for nearly 35 years! The print shows a little wear and is a bit ragged in spots but overall is sharp and allows one to appreciate the expressionistic camera work that is full of atmosphere and shadows worthy of the German masters it emulates.

The plot is clearly Dracula by way of Hammer with a pre-credit sequence explaining that the Count was really just a mad scientist searching for the elixir of eternal life and working overtime in his lab promptly dies for his efforts. His attractive assistant takes the Professor's body and places it in an underground cellar where he rises as one of the Living dead. Once a vampire, the Professor wastes no time in transforming his buxom assistant into the realm of the undead. It is with her character that we witness one of the films best scenes when he offers her an infant to feast on rather than the young traveler, a moment true to Stoker and never included in any of the Hammer Dracula films. From this point we encounter young Dr. Aqil, the Jonathan Harker of the piece and the other Professor/Van Helsing as they attempt to seek out and destroy the evil Prof. Tabini. Unlike the western vampire tale this one has impromptu musical interludes with the vampire women not to mention a sing along for the local villagers that makes THE LIVING CORPSE a unique and charming curiosity. The audio track is in the native Urdu with English subtitles and presented in Dolby Digital stereo with no real complaints.

One of the revelations watching this film is how much Hammer's HORROR OF DRACULA influenced world cinema at the time creating a genre revival not only in Mexico with EL VAMPIRO, I VAMPIRI in Italy but a few years later being imitated so well in South Asian with this film.

Mondo Macabro has filled this presentation with great extras like two documentaries, a still and poster gallery, not to mention an audio commentary that informs us about the film in a very entertaining way. The first documentary is a brisk 24 minutes and gives you a good account of South Asian Horror, while the other --"Dracula in Pakistan" -- is also of interest to those who wish to learn more about how this film came to be made.

Director Khwaja Sarfraze has much to be proud of with this film and it shows in his remarks regarding the restoration of THE LIVING CORPSE along with comments by his "Dracula" actor Rehan who looks and acts much like Christopher Lee in the film.

THE LIVING CORPSE is THE find of the year and a must for anyone interested in vampire films or the horror genre from a world view. Try reading Fear Without Frontiers from Fab! Press after viewing this remarkable film and let's hope Mondo Macabro continues to present more of this kind of film since they do it so well.

Rating:
Summary: Simply spellbinding!
Review: Mondo Macabro's restoration of this long lost Pakistani version of "Dracula" is simply spellbinding! The Lollywood interpretation leans heavily on the Hammer DRACULA of Terence Fisher even down to James Bernard's famous cues for the master's entrances and shock moments. Even so THE LIVING CORPSE or "Zinda Laash" at 104 minutes holds its own as a fascinating look at the Dracula myth from another part of the world.

The print was transferred from the only existing negative and looks amazing for a film made in 1967 and thought lost for nearly 35 years! The print shows a little wear and is a bit ragged in spots but overall is sharp and allows one to appreciate the expressionistic camera work that is full of atmosphere and shadows worthy of the German masters it emulates.

The plot is clearly Dracula by way of Hammer with a pre-credit sequence explaining that the Count was really just a mad scientist searching for the elixir of eternal life and working overtime in his lab promptly dies for his efforts. His attractive assistant takes the Professor's body and places it in an underground cellar where he rises as one of the Living dead. Once a vampire, the Professor wastes no time in transforming his buxom assistant into the realm of the undead. It is with her character that we witness one of the films best scenes when he offers her an infant to feast on rather than the young traveler, a moment true to Stoker and never included in any of the Hammer Dracula films. From this point we encounter young Dr. Aqil, the Jonathan Harker of the piece and the other Professor/Van Helsing as they attempt to seek out and destroy the evil Prof. Tabini. Unlike the western vampire tale this one has impromptu musical interludes with the vampire women not to mention a sing along for the local villagers that makes THE LIVING CORPSE a unique and charming curiosity. The audio track is in the native Urdu with English subtitles and presented in Dolby Digital stereo with no real complaints.

One of the revelations watching this film is how much Hammer's HORROR OF DRACULA influenced world cinema at the time creating a genre revival not only in Mexico with EL VAMPIRO, I VAMPIRI in Italy but a few years later being imitated so well in South Asian with this film.

Mondo Macabro has filled this presentation with great extras like two documentaries, a still and poster gallery, not to mention an audio commentary that informs us about the film in a very entertaining way. The first documentary is a brisk 24 minutes and gives you a good account of South Asian Horror, while the other --"Dracula in Pakistan" -- is also of interest to those who wish to learn more about how this film came to be made.

Director Khwaja Sarfraze has much to be proud of with this film and it shows in his remarks regarding the restoration of THE LIVING CORPSE along with comments by his "Dracula" actor Rehan who looks and acts much like Christopher Lee in the film.

THE LIVING CORPSE is THE find of the year and a must for anyone interested in vampire films or the horror genre from a world view. Try reading Fear Without Frontiers from Fab! Press after viewing this remarkable film and let's hope Mondo Macabro continues to present more of this kind of film since they do it so well.

Rating:
Summary: Long lost Vampire classic is finally unleashed on the world
Review: no self respecting horror (and especially) vampire film fans collection is quite complete without the addition of this long lost classic that has only recently been re-discovered and restored to its original glory for its DVD release. the extras alone are worth the price of the film...a running commentary track, a "making of" mini-film, a trailer, poster art and lobby card galleries...colorized versions and otherwise, interviews with the director, producer, and main stars of the film as well as leading experts on the subject....also a fab programme on South Asian weird movies featuring clips from some great Bollywood shockers...and loads more. Oh, and the film itself is magnificently atmospheric and remains the first film to be awarded the "ADULTS ONLY" certificate in the country of its origin. A welcome and rich addition to the vampire film heritage...and at [this price]- its a travesty not to order one NOW

Rating:
Summary: Hidden Classic
Review: The Living Corpse is an unexpected, rare and extremely valuable addition to the vampire genre. The story more or less follows Bram Stoker's novel and this is acknowldged in the film's credits. But whereas some viewers may think that the value of the film would lie in its inadvertent comic value this is not the case. For much of its duration, The Living Corpse, is a tightly directed serious piece of film making. The performances are excellent - particularly the actor who plays Dracula - and the photography is evocative of the German expressionist period. The Living Corpse is a surprisingly good Dracula remake and the fact it was made in pakistan in the 1960s makes it a rare gem.

The DVD also comes with a host of excellent add ons. There is an extremely informative commentry as well as short doucumentaries on South Asian horror films and on the making of the Living Corpse.

Highly recommended to all horror film fans and aficionados of curiosities.

Rating:
Summary: Long lost vampire classic finally gets an afterlife on DVD
Review: This film will go down in history as the first film EVER to be gived the dreaded "X" FOR ADULTS ONLY certificate in the country of its origin. The film was due to be banned outright until the producers literally pleaded with the local censors to see reason..the censors relented but insisted that they would never allow a film of this nature to be released ever again!
The DVD is an essential commodity for all genre (horror) fans....its brilliantly shot and very atmospheric and stylishly made, and even includes a couple of short musical numbers to give it that eastern touch. essentially the film is a remake of the classic Hammer production HORROR OF DRACULA with enough of an eastern touch to give it its own character and individuality. the DVD comes loaded with a cartload of goodies.....from the great Mondo Macabro channel 4 programme on Weird S. Asian movies to a commentary track, interviews, a making of, poster galleries, lost song included, the censors report........loads and loads to make this an essential buy.

An essential BUY for any true horror movie fan!

Rating:
Summary: Impressive!
Review: This is truly a rare find. A Pakistani version of the Dracula tale. It's actually one the better versions out there. Despite a low budget its really well filmed and reminds you of the old gothic horrors of the 30s with the mist filled catacombs and dark castles. A different twist is added at the beginning that the Count is actually a scientist who was searching for eternal life and theres a few demented touchs like a sequence in which the vampire gives one of his female companions a baby to feast upon instead of chomping on his guest. This DVD also contains two documentaries. One is on Indian and Pakistani horror films the other a making of documentary. A real treat for anybody looking for something rare and exotic. Hopefully this will spark other distrubution companies to get the rights to some other South East Asian horror pics. I would love to see some of the Ramsay brothers films on DVD with Extras and English subs.

Rating:
Summary: Lollywood Superhit
Review: Well I was surprised to see a vampire film from Pakistan in such a good quality. I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys Dracula movies.
It's not like a typical Pakistani film, it has action right from the start and it's very enjoyable.