Zibahkhana

Zibahkhana: Hell's Ground
Film poster
Directed by	Omar Ali Khan
Produced by	Pete Tombs
Written by	Omar Ali Khan
Starring	Ashfaq Bhatti Sultan Billa Osman Khalid Butt Rubya Chaudhry Rooshanie Ejaz Najma Malik Salim Meraj Haider Raza Rehan Kunwar Ali Roshan
Cinematography	Najaf Bilgrami
Editing by	Andrew Starke
Distributed by	Mondo Macabro
Release date(s)	30 March 2007
Running time	80min.
Country	Pakistan
Language	Urdu / English
Budget	60 lac Rs
Box office	10 week run at Cinepax (Rawalpindi) Gross: Rs. 400,000 Approx

Zibahkhana (English: Hell's Ground) is an Urdu-English slasher film directed by Omar Khan. It premiered at the NatFilm Festival in Denmark and has since been screened at festivals all over the world including Toronto, New York City, London, Neuchatel, Stockholm, Cape Town, Austin, Philadelphia, Cambridge, Puerto Rico, Sitges, Valencia, Oslo, and Helsinki. Recently, the film has passed censors in Pakistan (with 8 – 10 seconds cut) and will soon become the first non 35 mm, HDV feature film released in Pakistan cinema history. It also holds the distinction of being shot in 30 days.^[1]

Plot

"Doozakh-pur" (Hell's Ground) is a town that is notorious for crimes such as robberies and murders, and many lost commuters disappear without a trace. Some protesters are shown demonstrating against the act of polluting the drinking water. In the same scene, some villagers are seen gathering the same water for drinking purposes. Five college students, namely Vicky, Ayesha, Roxy, Simon, and O.J. are on their way to a concert. While in Hell's Ground they make a brief stop so O.J. could throw up near a river after eating spoiled Laddus. While he is vomiting he is bit in the leg by an unknown man. After crying for help and escaping his attacker he rendezvous with his group and they decide to move on. However, they haven't driven too far when they run into a crowd of zombies in the woods, who has turned into the undead presumably because of the contamination in their local water. The group narrowly manages to escape. Later, when the group feels lost, they are left with no choice but to seek help from the local natives living in the isolation of the Jungle. Upon exploration, a strange man dressed in a robe and representing the attire of that of a Fakir agrees to help them. However, after witnessing his strange and obnoxious behavior the group decides to force the man out of the car. When he barricades the car with his body, Vicky drives over him, crushing his body. Eventually the rented van is out of gas, and Vicky decides to get help from a nearby house. Little did he know that the house was only used as a trap to lure visitors so they could be killed and butchered into pieces by a strange character wearing a Burqa. From that point the plot unfolds to reveal the fate of each character.

Major characters

Ayesha

Ayesha is introduced as the Final girl played by Rooshanie Ejaz. She is the modest one of the group, she has the most trouble getting permission to go on the road trip from her mother and does not smoke Marijuana like her friends. She is very religious and wears a necklace with "Allah hu Akbar" engraved on it.

Baley

Baley is the elder brother of the main killer and holds a similar profile to the Hitchhiker and Chop Top from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Baley's mother refers to him as a healer, he is introduced in a small tent reciting something, surrounded by candles, he gets into Vicky's van uninvited and gives them directions. He demands water and the teenagers tell him they don't have any, he retaliates by showing them a severed head of a previous victim and is immediately kicked out of the van. He is played by Salim Meraj.

Bari Bua

Played by Najma Malik, Bari Bua is the mother and dominant member of the killer's family. She is initially shown as a sweet, hospitable woman living in a tent. She is widowed and she keeps the remains of her husband in a closet with his photograph attached to his skull. She dislikes urban development as the new highways are cutting the rest of Pakistan from her humble village, but she does mention she is grateful to Allah as many customers come from the cities to purchase her "goats".

Burqaman

Played by Sultan Billa, the Burqaman is a large, hefty butcher wielding a morning star. The character is shown as a cross dresser, his history shows that he was born a boy, but as he grew up he became more feminine, started wearing make up and dressing like a girl. He is mute throughout the film, the only sound he makes is loud, heavy breathing. He works in a workshop where he butchers stranded travelers, his profile is similar to Leatherface, he also has one hole in his mask to see like Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th Part II.

Deewana

Deewana is the owner of a tea shop in the rural areas of Pakistan, played by Rehan, he is introduced as a retired actor who lost his career and ended up serving tea, the film does not explain how, but he denies being in the film industry when the teenagers ask him about it. He is proud of his shop and claims that many famous people including Queen Elizabeth, Lady Diana, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have visited his shop.

O.J.

A teenage stoner from Islamabad played by Osman Khalid Butt, he is a fan of classic horror movies and is often seen smoking weed, he is the first of the group to be attacked though he survives it, he later becomes a zombie and tries to attack Ayesha.

Roxy

A promiscuous teenage girl played by Rubya Chaudry. She is wealthy and spoiled by her family, she is Pakistani American and longs to go back to the U.S. saying "Nothing can keep me in this stinkin' shithole".

Simon

Simon is a lower classed, but well educated boy from the minority Christian group of Pakistan. He is bullied by his father who demotivates him from his studies telling him that the son of a sweeper will always be a sweeper. Like Ayesha he is slightly more innocent than his friends. He is played by Haider Raza.

Vicky

The unofficial leader of the group played by Kunwar Ali Roshan, he tries to be the dominant one and shows a courageous attitude whenever there is trouble, he drives the van for the group and is shown to be "in between" innocent and rule breaker, he tells O.J. to light up the charas but at the same time he is not obsessed with it, he isn't shown doing any drugs.

ZibahKhana is an Urdu word meaning slaughterhouse.^[2]

Zibahkhana will screen at the forthcoming Compass of Mystery Festival held in Bristol, UK on 18 October 2008.

Reception

the film gained a rare 100% from critic aggregator Rotten Tomatoes from 6 reviews.

Awards

• Won "Jury's Award for Best Film of 2008" at the Riofan Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Won "Jury's Special Award for Best Gore 2007" at the Fantastic Film Festival, Austin, Texas
• Won "Best Film" award at the Fantaspoa film festival 2009. Port Alegre, Brazil

References

1. ^ Variety's coverage of Zibahkhana
2. ^ Time Magazine coverage of Zibahkhana

• Fantastic Festival 2007 awards coverage
• Cinematical's coverage of the Fantastic Festival awards, 2007

External links

• 31 Flavors of Death - Bidoun magazine profile by Achal Prabhala [1]
• - Official website
• Article on Zibahkhana - Time Magazine
• Zibahkhana at the Internet Movie Database
• Zibahkhana at Fantastic Film Festival 2007, Austin, Texas
• Hell's Ground at the 2007 Philadelphia Film Festival
• zibahkhana at Rotten Tomatoes