Hell's Ground

Hell’s Ground (2007)

So when I heard that there was a new zombie movie coming out of Pakistan I swore to myself right there and then that I would see it. So it was with great anticipation that I popped the Hell’s Ground DVD into my player and sat back. Who ever called this a zombie movie was wrong, but not in a bad way. This is a gore fest that has more in common with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre than it does a zombie movie, though there are zombies in it.

The story picks up with a bunch of kids heading off to a concert. Of course they don’t tell their parents that. You see this is a boy/girl overnight trip and wouldn’t be allowed at all. So off they go in a beat up van. But when they take a short cut they end up in Hell’s Ground where all sorts of bad things happen. After an encounter with some zombies they pick up a hitchhiker who is not altogether there. This is made apparent to them when the severed head he has been carrying around falls out of his bag! They end up kicking him out of the van and running over him as they drive away. After running out of gas they wander off one at a time only to meet a burka wearing killer that chases them around with a flail. See the guy they killed was the normal one in the family and the burka wearing killer is his whacked out brother. Does anyone survive? How about those zombies?

Wow where do I start? The movie starts off really slow as we get to see each kid getting ready for the trip and interacting with their parents. The movie also does a bit of preaching about the environment and pollution before settling into the good stuff. First we get some zombie action, with a surprising amount of gore that is pretty well executed. But just when you think it is going to be a survival road movie where they have to avoid the zombies everything changes. Suddenly they pick up the stranger, run out of gas, and wander off to a strange house one at a time to meet their end. Now normally I’d be complaining that the movie kept shifting gears and made no sense. But I think there is something for being the first. I guess since this was the first Pakistani horror film that I’ve seen made some difference to how much I enjoyed it. Plus there is quite a bit of gore in this bad boy. The red stuff goes a long way in getting me to forgive some flaws.

Speaking of the gore lets talk special effects. There isn’t anything really special here. No memorable kills or particularly good lead zombie. But what the movie lacks in quality it makes up for with quantity. Now that doesn’t mean the gore is bad. It is just about what I would expect from a lower budgeted movie from a first time director. Where the movie is memorable is the look of the burka wearing killer, which is totally unique. Between the one eye peeking from behind the veil to the giant freaking flail I’ll not soon forget the killer, and because of that the movie.

So this isn’t a great movie but it is something different. There are flaws (it can be slow, switches gears, gets preachy) but can be fun also. I’m glad that I took the time to check it out and will most likely watch it again somewhere down the line. But I can also see it not being for everyone. I recommend a rental before a purchase. For more information check out the TLA Danger After Dark website at http://www.tlareleasing.com/results/product_list.cfm?oid=1119&g=1263&from=1

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer