ALIEN (1989) Bollywood
No, not that ALIEN, but, rather, a Pakistani joyride from 1989 that has the distinction of being that country’s first special effects blockbuster
HAR HAR MAHADEV
Hindi Devotional movie madness doesn’t get much madder than this 1974 epic
SAMPOONA RAMAYANA
This Hindi language oddity from 1961 is what is known in its native India as a Devotional Film
1982: The Year in Bedlam
What follows are the type of little-known films that tend to comprise my “Look Back in Bedlam” listings, of which this is the 1982 entry
TUMBBAD
An example of new school Bollywood horror, meaning the music numbers and inflated runtimes of its predecessors are nowhere to be found
PURANA MANDIR
By Bollywood standards this 1984 film is quite good, packed with chills and boasting a tight storyline that nearly manages to sustain itself over a fast moving 145 minutes
1992: The Year in Bedlam
For me the cinema of 1992 will always be shadowed by one all-encompassing real-life event: the rioting that took place on April 29 to May 4 in Los Angeles
DON’T DISTURB THE DEAD
DON’T DISTRUB THE DEAD is the first-ever book about the Ramsays, and must be counted as the premiere print resource on the subject
ROBOT
A prime example of Kollywood, or Tamil, movie madness that plays like some unholy combination of THE TERMINATOR, ROBOCOP and I, ROBOT
1995: The Year in Bedlam
Some great films premiered in 1995, including Michael Mann’s HEAT, Todd Haynes’s SAFE and Mike Figgis’s LEAVING LAS VEGAS