Here’s a head-scratcher for you. Not only is this one of the first Pakistani horror films I’ve heard of, but the whole thing is being headed by an ice cream mogul.
The film in question is called ZIBAHKHANA (or ‘Hell’s Ground’), a co-production between U.K.-based video label Mondo Macabro and Pakistani production company Bubonic Films. Shot in 30 days this past summer (delayed from its initial start date in October 2005 by the Kashmir earthquake), the film is directed by first-timer Omar Khan, a Pakistani film historian and the owner of a chain of ice cream shops in Lahore.
“We don’t have songs or comedy sequences, none of the prerequisites of the South Asian film,” says director Omar Khan. “It’s a complete ripping up of what’s expected from local productions.” Khan also states that the crew for the film wasn’t used to the level of nastiness in the film, which was very exciting for him. In case you’re wondering, Khan did say that the film will have the very first Muslim zombies. Sundance seems to have taken an interest as well, since the film has been invited to submit to the festival, fees waived.
The film combines a cast of young unknowns with Pakistan film vets to tell the story of a gang of teens heading to a rock concert whose path is blocked by a protest against polluted drinking water. Cutting around the protestors on a little-used country road, they run afoul of a family of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE-style psychopaths, who slaughter them with relish (whether that’s the condiment or a description of their enthusiasum I don’t know).
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