Zinda Laash

Zinda Laash (Urdu: زندہ لاش, lit. 'Living Corpse') is a 1967 Pakistani Urdu-language horror film directed by Khwaja Sarfraz,.[1][2] and starring Asad Bukhari, Habib, Deeba, Rehan, Zareen Panna and Nasreen. The film's plot borrows heavily from the 1958 British Hammer Horror film Dracula, as well as from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of the same name.[3] It is the first horror film produced in Pakistan, and also the first to be X-rated.[4]

Zinda Laash
DVD cover
Directed byKhwaja Sarfraz
Written by
  • Naseem Rizwani
  • Khwaja Sarfraz
Produced byAbdul Baqi
Starring
Cinematography
Music byTassaduq Hussain
Release date
7 July 1967
Running time
103 minutes
CountryPakistan
LanguageUrdu

Zinda Laash was released internationally under the title The Living Corpse, and was released in the United States as Dracula in Pakistan.

Plot synopsis

Professor Tabini is experimenting on an elixir that he believes will conquer death. When he tries it on himself, however, he dies. His assistant finds his body, and carries it downstairs and into a crypt in the basement. He rises from the grave as a vampire and chomps down on her neck.

Cast
  • Asad Bukhari as Dr. Aqil Harker[1]
  • Habib as Aqil's brother
  • Deeba as Shabnam
  • Rehan as the Vampire
  • Yasmin Shaukat as Shirin
  • Talish as Doctor
  • Cham Cham as the Dancer
  • Nasreen as the Vampire bride
  • Rangeela Guy at Nightclub
  • Munawar Zareef Guy at Nightclub

Release

Theatrical release

Zinda Laash was released theatrically on 7 July 1967, and was a box office disappointment.[5]

Festival screenings

Zinda Laash has the distinction of being the first ever horror film to be screened at two major film festivals abroad; the Sitges Film Festival in Spain and the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland.[6]

Home media

In 2003, Zinda Laash was released on DVD by the label Mondo Macabro. This release includes an audio commentary by Omar Khan and Pete Tombs, a making-of documentary, and "South Asian Cinema", an episode of the Channel 4 TV program Mondo Macabro.[7][8]

Reception

In a 2004 review of the film's DVD release, John Beifuss of The Commercial Appeal called the film "arguably the find of the year, for cult movie fans", writing: "A mind-bending fusion of Hammer-style vampirism with the exotic song-and-dance numbers that are all but mandatory for movies made in Pakistan and India, [Zinda Laash] is both derivative and innovative, campy and scary."[8]

References
  1. Khan, Rayan (9 October 2011). "Dracula in Pakistan: 'Whattay scary'". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  2. Trenholm, Richard (18 December 2021). "Turkish Spider-Man and the weird world of foreign remakes". CNET. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. "ZINDA LAASH - The Living Corpse - El Muerto Viviente (1967)". 15 January 2012. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  4. Paracha, Nadeem F. (9 August 2012). "Also Pakistan - IV". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  5. "Zinda Lash". Pakistan Film Magazine. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021.
  6. "Veteran actor Mir Rehan battling illness with no governmental support". Daily Times. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  7. "The Living Corpse (Khwaja Sarfaraz)". Mondo Macabro. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  8. Beifuss, John (19 February 2004). "'Living Corpse' is the find of the year for cult movie fans". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. E6. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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