Stop Naaging Me, preview

Just to keep up with what I promised (which would have been a posting every two weeks), this week's post is a bit on the fluffy side. Part two of my Indian Snake Goddess Films retrospect will eventually happen. Seems like I keep unearthing more and more obscure titles that I want to include in the filmography.

It's an addiction.

Ssssssssssso.... in the meantime, here are some scans of DVDs, VCDs, and poster art for some of the film I'll be covering.

Eventually.

Pretty soon.

In about two weeks.

The Literate Monster; Part 1: Ancient History

MONSTER! Isn't just about film or tv shows that feature creatures... first and foremost it should to be the written word. No chicken and the egg argument here. Films a can be such an easy fix, a quick cerebral shot of visual stimuli.  Sitting down and reading a good book (or a bad book for that matter, will tend to engage me on a wholly different level  as much as the thought-provoking ones do) is hardcore monster-loving. Growing up as I did, with a home full of weird shit (I kid you not) getting hooked on all things rooted in the supernatural was not an option. My mother, bless her current state of insanity, read to us as kids and filled my noggin with tales of Oz (from the original large hardcover editions), Blue and Green and yellow and Purple fairies, Hercules and The Greek Gods, Madeleine L'Engle, Wind in the Willows, Uncle Wiggly, Raggedy Anne and Andy, and all the creatures that came with those stories. Mom was also good at letting us watch any monster movies or TV shows that came on, just as long as we did our homework and played outside with the other kids from time to time. Early memories of family get-togethers crowded around the small TV set to watch “Dark Shadows” during the week and monster movies on the weekends are still the most vivid parts of my childhood.

There have always been movies, and there have always been books.

Monsters have always been with me where ever I look.

The Screaming Skull and The Outer Limits furor,

The spectral unease of cinematic horror.

But the thing under the bed

Was always there after I read

High strangeness with Bradbury, Lovecraft, and dread.

Okay, dumb one-off improvisational bit of poetry there. Just popped into my head as I jotted the first sprawling two paragraphs on my iBook G4. But it was added to make a point that, as benign as they may be, Monsters have always been a very important part of my life. And this was true no matter how much I was terrified of them. You would think growing up down the street from Oberlin's graveyard would have steeled me for such encounters. Nope. was scared  shitless of ghoulies and ghosties, and there are times in my adulthood where I still get the willies when I'm out and about, at night... in the graveyard (or my creepy basement). Never seen a ghost or anything I would call supernatural; so why am I obsessed with the monsters and their seemingly important aspect of my well being? To my way of thinking, such improbable entities are essential for me to keep this waffer thin grasp on what I consider sanity.

Series of 1970s hardback books available by subscription.

Monsters in all their variety forms and manifestations are my religion. Seemingly the only one that I can relate to. They are my faith. I have faith that there maybe some such critters out there... be they mummies shuffling after folks, piecemeal Frankenstein monsters forever looking for solace in their sole existence, giant kaiju stomping cities, or Naag and demons from Hindu mythology that attempt to co-exist with humanity. These are all my wants and desires. To see these things. To experience them. All forms both literately and cinematic.

Most of what I have written about in my magazines and on this blog has been movie oriented. Which is not a bad thing. The visual element of accepting monsters into my life has been there since I was a toddler. I have posted a few entries about books that influenced me, one about “The Monster Times”and another about Vernon Grant's “A Monster Is Loose In Tokyo”. Both made me what I am today. Recently, though, I have had the pleasure of purchasing a few tomes of knowledge that I have found immensely entertaining.

Let me share one with you.

I was in the middle of authoring another installment about the Indian/West Bengali Nag “Snake Goddesses” movies when I happened to dump coffee all over the VCD and DVDs. In the past I would have immediately cursed my bad luck and stomped around my office bellowing and getting all shades of pissed off. Instead, I shrugged my shoulders, cleaned up the mess and set the soaked VCD and DVD sleeves aside to dry. They're just movies. Now had I done that with one of my new books, that would have sucked. Especially David D. Gilmore's “Monsters, Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and all Manner of Imaginary Terrors”.

I had only recently discovered Gilmore's 2003 tome, published by University of Pennsylvania Press, whilst researching an article on Indian horror films. The review I read so intrigued me that I had to order it (thank you, half.com). Upon pouring through this wonderfully breezy yet scholarly work I am glad that I had only begun to write something very similar earlier this year. Gilmore successfully put my take on the idea and importance of monsters in culture to bed with a glass of water and a pat on the head. It's that good.

Apparently a huge fan of the cinematic approach to monsters, Gilmore delves far deeper into mankind's psyche than mere fiction. With a delight I can totally relate to, he gleefully discusses the dark places of the human psyche as well many of the historical “facts” of a variety of monsters. As a reader I was lead through ten chapters of information-laden but thoroughly entertaining chapters covering all aspects of monsterdom the world over. In particular, chapters “The Ritual Monster” and “Our Monsters, Ourselves” struck me as being both very personal for the author as well as the reader (me).

My only regret is the sparsity of plates illustrating the book. If Gilmore ever thought of expanding this work, it would make an enthralling coffee table edition.

Not my photo: my copy of this essential kids book no long has its dust jacket.

As an endnote, may I suggest a few other books that fall into this Monsters as Myths and Monsters as Entities. Early in my life as a tot, I was fascinated with sea, and especially the Jacques Cousteau/Rod Serling TV specials were my fantasy fodder as a kid in the 60s.  I KNEW sea serpents where down THERE in the ocean. Sure, cinema and TV gave me Godzilla, The Creature, Gorgo, and the rest of the gang.  But it was books that helped fill my imaginative void …. and scare the crap out of me at the same time.

When I was five my mother bought me Lois and Louis Darling''s “The Sea Serpents Around Us”.  A children's book that covered the life and times of sea and lake (and loch) monsters that I knew where out there. The book, written and illustrated by the Darlings, filled me with wonder and dread.

I also read copious editions of Famous Monster of Filmland, Castle of Frankenstein, and just about any other magazine I could get my hands on. Luckily we Paxton's are a literary lot and always had stacks of books and magazines piled everywhere. TV wasn't always encouraged, even tho movies have always been a big deal in our family, we had to find other way to entertain ourselves when the "idiot box" was showing non-monstrous material.  I grew up in the 1960's and 70's:  prehistoric days of before the video tape boom, cable TV (at least in Oberlin) and our town only had one movie house. The public library did have 8mm movies we could borrow … which we did A LOT … but as kids we had to make due with what was on the tube and what we read in magazines and books. Comics were fine for us and I devoured Charlton ghost titles, as well as Marvel's Frankenstein series (well, the Mike Ploog classics) and the reprints of early creature features in series like  “Where Monsters Dwell”. 

In fourth grade I stumbled across the 1959 book of famous ghost and goblin tales called “The Thing At The Foot Of The Bed and Other Scary Tales”. I bought it at a “discarded” book sale at the local library. Already unnerved by the prospect of seeing a ghost by watching films such as THE SCREAMING SKULL, THE HAUNTING, TURN OF THE SCREW, and even Bert I. Gordon's TORMENTED, I was introduced to additional  imagined terrors from being able to see a ghost by “peering at them from between a dog's ears”. The book is long out of print and was originally a collection of tales from various sources such as “The California Folklore Quarterly”, Stith Thompson's “Motif Index of Folk Literature”, and so forth.

By the time I was in Junior High School I had acquired a “real job” of delivering newspapers and had money to buy more books and magazines. I was very eager to read fictional and as well as account of “real” monsters. Oberlin had a wonderful college bookstore, and as a mail order junkie (John Smith Catalog, Littleton Stamp and Coin Approvals, and others), I also ordered discounted books by the bulk thru the post (currently Edward R. Hamilton offers such a service), and was part of the Science Fiction Book Club. I loaded up on Bradbury, Lovecraft, Burrough's Mars series, the Jim Wynorski edited “They Came From Outer Space”, and more. Fiction was fairly easy to obtain.

I wanted the “fact” stuff. The hard stuff. Monster porn.

The scary books on monsters was harder to come by cheaply, at least at a paper boys “salary”.

Still, I did have my sources of discounted hardback books thru the mail. We Paxtons love our catalogs.  In the 70's I indulged myself with editions of Montague Summers “The Werewolf” as well as the appallingly gruesome “The Book of Werewolves” by the 19^th Century author Sabine Baring-Gould, the fascinating “The Mystery and Lore of Monsters” by C.J.S. Thompson, Jeffrey Burton Russell treaties on The Devil; Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity”, “The Supernatural” by Douglas Hill and Pat Williams, and even pulpier material like Robert and Frances Guenette's “The Mysterious Monsters”, and Roy P. Mackal's “The Monster of Loch Ness”.

Oh, I bought a good deal more, but lost a few boxes of books in two dreadful floods the past ten years. Nevertheless, you get the idea of what I was searching for. I wanted to know what monsters were. I had never seen one, but I wanted to. I dearly desired the chill, no the THRILL of seeing something not the norm. I even subscribed to a book service called "Out Of This World" which was my first exposure to the writing of Charles Forte. Wow, there was some guy like me. And he wrote about the unexplained. Not monsters per say, but the unusual, the unexplained or unusual aspects of our world. Monsters were hinted at in Forte's world.

As fiction was never far from my shelves and I read all the pulpy novelizations of the DR. WHO series. Loved those Brit monsters. Other horrors were read in vital collections such as “The Monster Book of Monsters” edited by Michael O'Shaughnessy. Collecting the Pan or Arrow horror anthologies that were published annually was also a treat.

As the 80s progressed I entered the “zine” scene with my magazines “Video Voice”, “Naked! Screaming! Terror!” and, of course, “Monster!” and in the 90s with “Monster! International”. The advent of the internet exposed me to even more monster films and TV shows. As readers of this blog knows I buy A LOT of unknown creature features from the world over. Anything with the slight chance of being something I've never seen or experienced holds a spell over me. It could be a crap from from West Bengali, but if there's a monster in it I AM THERE!

Which brings me back to David D. Gilmore's book “Monsters”. Reading it pretty much confirmed what I have always suspected, monsters are an essential aspect of human development. Some saw my fascination for things creature-filled as alarming (after my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ebihara, saw me drawing nothing but monsters, she apparently was very adamant that my parents take me to a therapist). Little did folks know that was normal. Hell, most of my family was into the supernatural in one form or another. My sister Kathryn.... she was obsessed with mice. That I just couldn't wrap my head around.

In conclusion, all I have to say is: Monsters have always been an important element in my life,and without their presence I would never have turned into the man I am now.

Be that for good or not-so-good.

The Devil, Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity; Jeffery Burton Russell, Cornwell Univeristy Press, 1977, 277 pages.


The Mystery and Lore of Monsters; C.J.S. Thompson, The Bell Publishing Company, 1973, 255 pages.


The Monster Book of Monsters, Michael O'Shaughnessy, Bonanza Books, 1988, 352 pages.


The Monsters of Loch Ness, Roy P. Mackal, The Swallow Press, 1976, 401 pages.


The Supernatural, Douglas Hill and Pat Williams, Hawthorn Books, 1965, 351 pages.


The Book of Werewolves, The Classic Work On This Dreadful Subject, Sabine Baring-Gould, Causway Books, 1973, 266 pages.


The Werewolf, Montague Summers, The Bell Publishing Company, 1975, 307 pages.


They Came From Outer Space, Jim Wynorski, editor, Double Day & Company, 1980, 363 pages.


Supernatural Horror in Literature, H.P. Lovecraft, Dover Publications, Inc., 1973, 112 pages.


The Thing At The Foot of the Bed and Other Scary Tales, Maria Leach, The World Publishing Company, 1959, 124 pages (? my edition is missing some of last pages).


Monsters, Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and all manner of Imaginary Terrors, David D. Gilemore, Univeristy of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, 210 pages.

The Indian Collection, Part 6: DANCE, NAAGDEVI, DANCE

It has been over a month since my last entry and I really have no excuse as to my tardiness other than I have been busy. Too caught up in my life outside of the blog to make a simple entry. Yea, I know: lame. So, to make up for my very late return I will have something fun for MONSTER! fans out there.

But there won't be any of the usual suspects this time around. Nope. No zombies or giant monsters or yetis or anything like that. The monsters presented for this page will be the sexy kind. I present to you the bodacious and curvacious Hindu Snake Goddess Naag in some of her various supple forms. You know, slinky snake ladies from Indian films.

What, you've never seen any of these lovely cobra maidens strut their stuff? How many of you have seen Ken Russel's 1988 film THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM? In that fun film we have the sexy Amanda Donohoe as Lady Sylvia Marsh, a English/Roman pagan snake goddess (in part, sort of like the Naag, which isn't really a full-fledged goddess, more of a demi-god or demon) and her rather nasty habit of biting folks, and either turning them into snake monsters or offering them up to her god as a meal. To make a long story short, there is a segment in the film where she is coaxed out of her lair by using a record of old Indian snake charmer's music. I'm sure that Russel had seen some of the Nagin or Naag films prior to making his film.

Vinyl LP soundtrack from the film.

Okay, kinda sultry, but nothing when compared to the following list of snake ladies (not presented in chronological order of any kind):

In the 1986 film NAGINA we are presented with the writhing loveliness of actress Sridevi as the snake goddess/demoness/whathaveyou (and the musical talents of Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma. In the film Rajni is a snake woman who has married a human to live a normal life. She is then tracked by Bhairo Nnath a religious man, who is capable of controlling snakes. The holy man want only one thing: the Cobra Jewel, and with it he can become very powerful. This plot element, the Cobra Jewel, is very popular in Naag cinema. In this scene Rajni confronts her tormentor and proceeds to perform a Naag Dance of Death...

 

The horn which Bhairo Nnath  and his minions play is the traditional snake charmer's instrument, and the melody that Laxmikant-Pyarelal created fot he scene above is based on a traditional "Naag" theme use din numerous films since the late 1940's. The earliest film I've seen someone play this melody was from 1951 entitled NAGIN. In that very entertaining (and hugely popular mainstream film), and while there was no overtly supernatural elements in the production's storyline, the film's leading lady was always entranced by the sound of the horn.

SIDE NOTE: A possible source for the popularity of the horn-playing snake charmer may have its roots in the mythological traditions that Lord Krishna subdued the river snake god Kaliya Naag with his flute. Seen to the left is a Mogul-era painting from the 1600's depicting Krishna and the defeated Naag and the snake god's many Nagin or snake wives.

History lesson aside, I am attracted to these types of films for various reasons. The obvious one is that the monster in these films is a very beautiful woman, and I admit I have fallen for her charms... no matter how deadly she may be. Actually, in most of these films the Naag is rarely an evil creature. Most of the time she is just trying to live her life with any hassles from humans, and is either hunted by a Cobra Jewel-hungry holy man or is threatened by some ruthless hunters. In any case, she has to defend herself and if she happens to kill some annoying "hairless apes" (my apologies to Lord Hanuman and Howard the Duck) then so be it.

In the 1976 film NAGIN (not to be confused the with 1951 film of the same name) a pair of courting naags are assaulted by some idiotic humans. During a particularly sexy dance number by the female naag in human form with that of her male partner in cobra form, the ignorant hunters kill the male thinking it was  a deadly snake about to put the moves on a hapless woman. Sadly, their rash actions bring down down upon them, as the Naag kills off the offending humans one by one. In the scene to your right one of the last remaining humans comes to realizes the mistake they made by killing the female naag's mate. Ooops!

Naag films are still as immensely popular today as films like Jennifer Chambers Lynch's 2010 film HISSS. Lynch, who wrote the film as well, also made the 1993 film BOXING HELENA and is the daughter of director David Lynch. This India/USA co-production thankfully varies slightly off the traditional Naag tales of vengeance. In this film a scientist learns that he has brain cancer and plans on using the supernatural powers of the snake gods to cure him of his disease and make him immortal. Of course, nothing goes as planned and everything ends horribly for all involved.

While I found HISSS to be mildly diverting, I miss the more fantastic elements of the older films. Nevertheless, Lynch does a good job translating some of the phantasmagorical elements of the naag demon to the English-speaking world. HISSS is easy to find if you are interested in this unusual hybrid. But the sexy just wasn't there for me.

I'm so jaded. I've seen over 20 of these snake goddess films. Most are fairly high budget in their production values, and some have even pack their films with top name Bollywood actors. SHESHNAAG is a fine example of made-to-order runaway hit. This 1990 films features a lush soundtrack by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and the acting talents of stars Jeetendra, Rishi Kapoor, and the super-sexy Telugu actress Rekha as the leading Naag.

Nothing sez hot snake love like two naag gods in heat... dancing up a storm in what looks like the foothills of the Himalayas.

My favourite film of this genre has to be the 1996 film DEVI that stars yet another hot Indian actress Prema as the snake goddess. But before we get to see her we are introduced to some dancing naags in their snake form. These snake are visiting our plane of existence on a day trip from Shiva's domain. In this scene they are worshiping the phallic idol associated with Shiva.  After this bit of praise they all return to the land of the gods, except for one which is trapped here by an evil wizard.

The stranded snake goddess must protect a naag-worshiping woman from her evil family as well as dodge the unwanted advances of the evil power-hungry sorcerer who is hell-bent (literally) on destroying Devi's reputation with Shiva. The film is full of some pretty cool special effects, great dance numbers by Devi Sri Prasad, and very beautiful snake ladies.

But not of the films I've seen concerning the world of the snake gods and goddesses have top-billing actors, wonderful soundtrack, or even a budget to speak of. For every DEVI or NAGIN or SHESHNAAG -- or HISSS for that matter -- we have two dozen films like NAAGLOK, JAI MAA NAAGDEVI, JUNGLE KI NAGIN, NAAG MOHINI, and NAAG MERE SAATHI.

But more about those films in my next blog entry!

Interimitus

Articles on the way; in the meantime here are a select bits of video and such to keep you occupied until I get around to writing something. Which is due Saturday. Which I haven't started. Which I'm sure all of you are waiting for....


I feel another obsession coming on... first MONSTER! Blog covered Indian horror, then Taiwanese fantasy... now Japanese animal demon films that include cat ghosts and now Dog Gods! Of course, I need to finish entries on those thoughts, but in the meantime here's a trailer from the 1977 film CURSE OF THE DOG GOD:

May I present a spooky cat-ghost sequence from the 1953 Japanese horror film "Kaidan Saga yashiki" aka GHOST OF SAGA MANSION. Sadly no subtitles... P.S. despite what you think,this is NOT a spoiler if you ever want to see the film:

 

A trailer for one of my favourite hot and sassy Hong Kong horror films... THE EVIL CAT. A film that, sadly, not too many folks know about:

A snippet from THE LADY VAMPIRE (1959); directed by Nobuo Nakagawa.

Another recent (post blog!) Taiwanese fantasy find: 白蛇大鬧天宮 "Snake Woman's Marriage" (1975); thrilling battle sequence between a monk and a large white snake with sound effects lifted from Hammer's QUATERMAS AND THE PIT! On a quick and casual viewing the film appears to be from the same legend that Tsui Hark's farmed for his very entertaining GREEN SNAKE (青蛇) from 1993 (starring my HK heartthrob Joey Wong), and the more recent HK 3D flick THE SORCERER AND THE WHITE SNAKE (白蛇傳說) which wasn't half bad despite an over abundance of CG. However, in this scene was have good old fashion rubber monster action! 

Oh, if you EVER think of fucking with Hindu The Goddess Durga or one of her devotees... don't. This dude did, and he had a very bad night (from the Telugu film AMMORU): 

Rockin' Indian giant monster action from the 1991 fantasy film AJOOBA. Starring Amitabh Bachchan (DON) and director Shashi Kapoor and the Soviet filmmaker Gennadi Vasilyev:  

SHIP OF MONSTERS -- what a cool film! When I was a kid I drooled over all the photos that appeared in Famous Monsters whenever they would run their "South of the Border Horrors" or something like that. Watched this film numerous times without subtitles, and recently acquired a .srt file and after some dabbling with time signatures I was able to make my own Spanish language copy with English subs... with some delays. Oh well. And now for one of the best scenes in the movie: 

In the meantime here's a snippet from one of those fascinating (for me at least) Japanese "Cat Ghost/Demon" movies; from 1954 it's director Bin Kato's GHOST CAT OF THE OKAZAKI UPHEAVAL (KAIBYO OKAZAKI-SODO). In this nail-biting scene we are witness to the possession of a young woman by a Cat Ghost! No subs and so-so quality, I must apologize: 

Miserable day out: too cold, windy with wet snow. To get into the mood I'll put on this WTF film of the day. A 1960's Indian film called SHIKARI... and wait for it... oh yea! —  

Back in the day I used to watch anything... really, almost any kind of film I could get my mits on. Korean Ghost comedies, any version of the tale of the Monkey King, any odd foreign flick by Franco or anything with even a brief nod to something the supernatural or monstrous. TOOTHLESS VAMPIRES was a favourite, and I sat thru it a coupla times even when the film lacked any subtitles...  

 




Vampire Bride (花嫁吸血魔, Hanayome kyūketsuma) is a very entertaining horror film; short and sweet with a fairly decent monster... but I can understand why it may not have been opted for export. It would have been too weird (ie: too Japanese) for 1960s mainstream U.S. consumption. Plus the creature is a bat-like monster/human hybrid and tends to flap its "wings" in a very modern-dance sorta way.



AND why am I not getting this blog done???  Probably because I've been watchin'' MAJIN MONSTER OF TERROR before I hit the sack for the night...

"Yeti We Love You" - Indian VCDs part 5 of 6... or 7. Maybe.

Lebanese poster for AJOOBA KUDRAT KAA

Before I blather on about how intensely amusing I found this 1991 family film from Indian directors Tulsi and Shyam Ramasy, there is something I need to get off my chest. As a middle aged man, and a fair to middling writer in this field of film study and review, there are portions of my life when instances usually considered not at all that pleasing to the majority, strikes me as highly diverting. I have been searching for AJOOBA KUDRAT KAA for some time, as part of my study of the "bigfoot" genre. I even went so far as buying a 1-sheet of the film on Ebay. It was shipped from Tripoli, Lebanon. It rocks.

I was happy to note that the film was a Ramsay family production which typically mean that it's going to turn out to be some sort of rough ride.  This is a fun and violent monster movie musical for kids. Astounding. But before I continue, here's what really struck me about the film.

It's pretty good.

No. seriously, the plot moves along at a pace which most Ramsay films don't, and there are some charming musical numbers. For hose of you who enjoy Indian films like i do, you come to expect singing and dancing that appears out of nowhere smack-dab in between the action or dramatic plot.  "Yeti We LoveYou" is a six minute opus sung by a little girl to her big hairy goofball of a friend: the Yeti, a bumbling monster that has already slaughtered at least four people.

Slip case from an Audio Cassette of the film's popular soundtrack.

As with most Indian films, the soundtrack was released on vinyl as well as audio cassette. I have yet to see a CD release anywhere.  "Yeti We Love You" is appears on the soundtrack in both a happy and sad version!  The compositions on this tape are probably the ONLY original tracks to appear in AJOOBA KUDRAT KAA, as the remainder of the film is scored with cues from numerous Ennio Morricone westerns, as well as  some Kraftwerk and other spacerock ditties. It's as if the Ramsays spent too much money on the monster suit to bother with an incidental score.

Oh well.... before I get too carried away with the plot and all, here's the hit single "Yeti We Love You".

Makes your heart swell with love.  No? Maybe the bile is gurgling in the back of your throat. That's a possibility.

So what is this kid doing frolicking in the snowy mountains of India? Northern India is home to the Himalayas, with peaks over 20,000 feet. Not only does it snow here, but it snows every month of the year, with peaks covered in glaciers. That's where the Yeti comes in. The young girl, Sasha by name, is the daughter of a forest ranger who works in that region. She is kidnapped by some nasty gangsters who want to ransom her back to Ranger and his sassy wife. The girl escapes and encounters the Yeti who is a friendly monster despite crushing the skulls of some men in the opening sequence of the film.

The VCD, widescreen without English subtitles.

Here's a YouTube link to the entire film (in 15 parts!). No subtitles, but you don't really need them. If you want to own this film may I suggest ordering the VCD like I did from Induna.com: http://www.induna.com/1000003635-productdetails/. The VCD is presented in widescreen and of very good quality for MPEG-2 compression. For those of you unfamiliar with VCDs, they are video CD that are easily playable on most DVD or Blu Ray players. They possess  a sub-quality like that of an old VHS video tape that has begun to deteriorate. This is one of the better transfers I've experienced, and looks like the same source by the person who uploaded it to YouTube.




In the meantime our young heroine makes friends with the snow monster and they get on swimmingly. Soon Sasha is rescued by her parents and taken home where she publicizes her relation with the monster, alerting the creature's existence to a shady European who wants to exploit the Yeti for financial reasons.  The Yeti is soon captured and locked away in a cage where it is teased and humiliated by leering and sneering gangsters and circus folk. Of course, this is intensified by a totally messed up and offensive dance routine with its Naga "tribesmen" in blackface.

Can the Yeti be saved from this abuse when Sasha, her band of girlfriends, and her parents and their band of do-gooders decide to raid the gang's compound? Will there be more song and dance numbers? Will there be violent Yeti vengeance? Yes. Yes. YES!

Exploitation cinema buffs are probably more familiar with the Ramasys' work thru some of the hoary horror films they directed and/or produced since the late 60's until recent. Tulsi Ramsay usually co-directed with either his brothers Shyam or Kumar:  BANDHA DARWAZA (Hindu Dracula), TAHKNANA (The Celler), and a handful of other of the more popular films are available on DVD with English subtitles (available thru Amazon.com).  AJOOBA KUDRAT KAA ("The Magnificent Guardian"), as far as I can tell, is only available on VCD or YouTube.

Hairy monsters not that uncommon in Indian fantasy, horror or mythological (as they are called on Indian video websites) film. Most of the critters are men in standard 1940's looking monkey suits with a hairy face a mouthful of fangs. They are usually galumphing beasts that grunt, roar, and growl as they stagger, stiff-leggedly, after the gorgeous heroine or brawny hero.  That's what makes the Yeti in  AJOOBA KUDRAT KAA so unusual. It appears as if the Ramasys' spent time making the monster somewhat believable. They did a pretty good job, although the Yeti still ambles after its prey looking as if any second the poor actor in the monster suit is going to land face first in the snow.

It's a pity that this wacky mutant of Indian family entertainment and horror was never released in the US. It apparently played in quit a few countries, includes Nigeria and Ghana in Africa. I have located one of those lovely hand-painted movie posters so popular with collectors of "kitsch" (which, by the way, I don't considers these works of art being).

I have one gripe with the film. It seems that there is a worldwide conspiracy in making any kid in a "children's film" the most obnoxious creature on earth. For some odd reason the monsters in these movies seem to identify with the horribly spoiled boys and girls that speak back to their elders, cause all sorts of havoc, and and just won't shut up for one fucking second.  That fact and the mandatory comedic relief that plagues Indian cinema makes ore than a few minutes of AJOOBA KUDRAT KAA cringe-worthy.

Those of you who are from my generation, you'll probably remember the 1960's Gamera films. In these wonderful giant monster ("kaiju) movies, Gamera, the gargantuan jet-propelled flying turtle, is typically involved with battling a bad monster while attempting to save both the Earth and an bunch of obnoxious kids. As a youngster myself in the 60's and 70's I was hoping that, at least in one of Gamera's many adventures, he'd squash the brats.  In AJOOBA KUDRAT KAA Sasha is such a winy shit that I was half-expecting the Yeti to crush her skull as easily as it dispatched the badguys.

Sadly, no.

For those interested, here is some artwork for other films by the Ramsay family:

Eyeball Candy- Part 3 Random World Posters

Taking a break from the written word to present some of more recent movie monster posters from the world over. Enjoy these cinematic works of art! Some are currently available on DVD or VCD. Google them and you'll find them. Yes, most of them. Some.... nope.

Ramsay classic available on DVD in the US, Japan, India, & the UK.

Hand painted African poster for a video store that VHS and DVDs from Ghana and Nigeria

Taiwanese fantasy film -- I have this poster and the film; the poster is much more exciting.

"Ghost Nursing"- Thai poster.

Indian horror film --- look at that monster!  I NEED THIS ONE!

LOURD BALAA - looks like one of those vastly entertaining Indian hairy monster films.

Thai Snake Girl Monster movie -- from the 70's or 80's; anyone have a title for me?

ZIBAH KHANA - another grade c Indian horror/monster movie on my list from 2007: title translates as "Hell's Ground". The company that made this flick? "Bubonic Films". Awesome.

捉鬼大師  - one of favourite 80's vampire/possession films that stars some of  Hong Kong' comedy greats: Kent Cheng, Stanley Fung, Nat Chan, Jackie Cheung, and Elsie Chan.

Newspaper ad for the Pakistani horror film THE LIVING CORPSE/DRACULA FROM PAKASTAN from 1967.

Japanese film I know nothing about, except that it is probably about drug addiction rather than a monster movie. But it is a cool poster none the less!

The best Taiwanese fantasy film EVER!!!!! 

Chinese film. Thai poster. I should know what film this is, but I am currently brain dead.

More Snake Girl/Monster action from Cambodia/Thailand... Classic horror motif.

INDIAN VCDs Part 4 of 5 - postscript

Before some of you decide to plunk down a load of cash on some of these VCDs I'm written about (and many other I haven't), let me give a heads up. DON'T EXPECT DVD QUALITY. 

Some of the better VCDs are pretty good looking as their their encoding and source material equals VHS quality. Here's an example from CHUDAIL: THE WITCH which was released by Golden Plaza Video:

Looks okay. This scene is crazy and reminds me of some of the odder and more exciting low-budget 80's horror film from HK or Taiwan. Anyways, the next video is an excerpt from the Friends Video VCD release of the Ramsay family's sorry excuse for a horror film called AUR KAUN. The monster-filled artwork for the VCD is very misleading, as I don't remember seeing ANY of these hoary bits in the film.

Then sitting down to watch the two disc set is even more disappointing. A sad purchase indeed.

In addition to a sub-par encoding of the video track, the audio is so over-saturated as to make it almost too dangerous to try and play on your DVD player without damaging your speakers. I had to keep it on the lowest setting to even try and understand the audio. What's worse is that the source for this VCD comes from a shitty VHS that has problems tracking. Geeeeez!

So, don't expect a lot when you pay 75¢ to $2.25 for a VCD. Paying a few bucks more for the DVD of  AUR KAUN won;t guarantee the quality won't be any better, which is why I haven't given that one a chance.  Yet.