For anyone who finds the genre of Indian horror as fascinating as it is bizarre, HotSpot Online is a good place to start. And their ‘Eye Candy‘ section is possibly the best repository of Indian Horror movie posters that I’ve come across online.

There were some easily identifiable faces on the hand-drawn posters, like this one for Red Rose – the hindi version of Sigappu Rojakkal, directed by Bharathi Raja. Rajesh Khanna with his Gurkha looks was easy enough to identify, but the sexy girl in blue happens to be Poonam Dhillon. But posters like this one of ghost-hunting(?) superhero, Shiva-man, complete with mask, cape and the Trishul insignia, took some googling to find out.

Someone made a casting coup for Pyaasa Shaithaan, when they got Kamal Haasan to play Dracula. Either that or someone did a great job doctoring these posters in the pre-Photoshop era. But seriously, does anyone know if Kamal really acted in this movie? ( I also saw the names Vijay&Ajit, but they just turned out to be an obscure Bollywood composer combo).

Most of the creature illustrations are downright hilarious, but my favorites have to be the deadly octopus from Anmol Moti and the Yeti mutants from Khatarnak. And as amusing as the posters are, some of the movie titles by themselves are pretty descriptive. Bhaago Bhoot Aaya (Run, the Ghost comes) sounds like another classic horror title, but could actually just be a ‘funny’ title of a Deven Varma comedy flick.

What’s an Indian horror movie section without the Ramsay brothers featured in it? Surprisingly enough, their music director of choice happened to be Bappi Lahiri. Wonder what Hollywood classics were ripped off to generate the background score for Veerana, Mahal and my favorite titles – Aakhri Cheekh and Shaitaan Ilaaka.

There also seems to be an underlying fascination for cats, even though this oddly named movie featuring the chunkiest version of Catwoman yet, Da Khwar Lasme Spogmay, seems to have a seriously disturbing plot. In fact, reading the review, one gets the impression that Lollywood(Lahore-wood) is a festering pot for demented horror movie-makers. Thankfully, other Catwoman movies are more truer to life, than inspired, atleast according to this poster, which calls it a “terrifying true story”.

From what little I know of the genre, it’s my understanding that most of these movies have a female protagonist, who inevitably seeks revenge on a bunch of baddies that had ‘wronged her’, usually in a graphic bedroom scene. And nothing sums that premise more than the tagline for Mein Phir Aaongi.

Jismo Ke Jakhmon Ko Marke Na Bool Paaongi
Un Dharindon Se Badla Lene Main Phir Aaongi