Purana Mandir – Mondo Macabro (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: India, 1984
Directors: Shyam Ramsay, Tulsi Ramsay
Writers: Siddiqui M.S. Rahman, Dr. Gurdeep, J.K. Ahuja, Kumar Ramsay
Cast: Mohnish Behl, Arti Gupta, Puneet Issar, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Anirudh Agarwal, Sadhana Khote, Satish Shah, Trilok Kapoor  

Release Date: November 11th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 144 Minutes 17 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Hindi
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.99

"The film begins two centuries in the past.  Raja Harriman Singh is stranded near the Black Mountain when the wheel of one of his carriages is broken. While they wait for the wheel to be repaired, Hariman Singh’s daughter Rupali wanders off to explore the nearby deserted temple. There she is captured by the evil magician Samri. He sucks out her life force, turning her eyes white as she dies. The Raja catches Samri and orders his death. The monster is decapitated, his body buried in one location and his head kept in another. That way, so it’s believed, he can never be brought back to life. Before he dies, Samri curses Harriman Singh, saying that every female member of his line will die in childbirth.

In the present day, the mid-1980s, a descendant of Harriman Singh is a successful businessman with a teenage daughter, Suman. She has a boyfriend, Sanjay, of whom her father disapproves. She thinks it is because Sanjay is not of royal blood. Finally, he tells Suman of the family curse. He forbids Suman to see Sanjay again. Suman persuades Sanjay and his friends to come with her to the ancient temple in the countryside where the head of Samri was buried. There, she believes, they will be able to lay the curse to rest and she and Sanjay will be free to have a relationship." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Brand new 4k transfer from film negative, digitally restored."

Veerana: Vengeance of the Vampire comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 40.2 GB

Feature: 38.8 GB

The source has some minor debris and emulsion stains, which vary in degree throughout. Flesh tones look healthy, colors look very good, image clarity and black levels are strong, and there are no issues with compression. That said, this transfer is a noticeable upgrade over Mondo Macabro’s DVD release.

Audio: 4/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Hindi with removable English subtitles. The audio is in good shape; any distortion is minor and never too intrusive. Dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, ambient sounds are well-represented, and the score sounds appropriately robust.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an introduction by Indian horror expert Tim Paxton (4 minutes 7 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Summary:

Two hundred years ago, a monster known as Saamri roamed the land, murdering and eating young children. One evening, he is finally caught by the king’s men, who chop off his head and roast the rest of his body in a fire. Before the severed head, Saamri manages to spew out a curse that he is casting over the king and his female descendants, who will become unrecognizable and die during childbirth. A century later, one of the king’s descendants, a young woman named Suman, is having a secret affair with a young man named Sanjay. Her father greatly disapproves of their relationship, and when he is unable to break them apart, he tells them about the family curse. So Suman and Sanjay, with the help of two friends, decided to go to the temple where the curse started and find a way to end it once and for all.

Purana Mandir is one of the most influential horror films ever to come out of India. It is the film where directors Shyam Ramsay and Tulsi Ramsay establish a formula that they will exploit successfully for the next decade.

In Bollywood horror films, how effectively they employ comedy and musical numbers can make or break a film. Case in point: Purana Mandir, a film that has fewer comedy and musical numbers than most of Shyam Ramsay's and Tulsi Ramsay’s other horror films. That said, when it comes to the musical numbers, they work well with the narrative that is unfolding; they never feel forced.

When it comes to the stylish visuals, they do a phenomenal job creating atmosphere. Another strength of the visuals is their inventive camera techniques and movements, which heighten the mood. Also, there is a solid sound design and an eerie synth score that perfectly captures the mood.

When it comes to the performances, the cast are all very good, especially Anirudh Agarwal’s (Bandh Darwaza) portrayal of Samri, an evil wizard resurrected after 200 years. He delivers a genuinely menacing and creepy performance.

The most surprising aspect of Purana Mandir is the amount of detail that went into the set and costume design. The narrative holds your attention, and for a film that is just under 2 and ½ hours, things move at a good pace. Purana Mandir is a melting pot of genres; there is hand-to-hand action, sword fighting, dancing, singing, and a girl taking a shower in her bathing suit while the water turns to blood. Ultimately, Purana Mandir is a solid example of Bollywood horror cinema, and it deserves its reputation as one of this genre's best films.

Mondo Macabro gives Purana Mandir its best audio/video presentation to date; highly recommended.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer