Shaitan Khopdi (1999)

Having endured Khopdi only a few days earlier and found the experience little short of excruciating, choosing Shaitan Khopdi as a follow-up required a degree of courage bordering on recklessness. Fortunately, within minutes it became clear that this was no mere rubber-mask endurance test. Indeed, it swiftly proved itself several notches above the sort of bargain-basement nonsense routinely churned out by North Indian horror producers.

Shaitan Khopdi hails from the South and immediately demonstrates a level of ambition that places it comfortably ahead of much of its contemporary competition. Set in the distant future of 2022, the film opens at a prestigious awards ceremony where a celebrated Indian scientist is being honoured for discovering a cure for AIDS. Overcome with emotion, the doctor recounts the tragic death of his beloved mother and reveals how witnessing her decline inspired his lifelong mission: to ensure that nobody would ever again be robbed of life prematurely.

Unfortunately, like so many cinematic scientists before him, his noble intentions soon take a decidedly Frankensteinian turn.

Assisted by his brilliant protégé Vishnu and his devoted daughter Varsha, who is conveniently engaged to Vishnu, the scientist begins pushing the boundaries of life and death. Before long he has acquired a fresh corpse from the local morgue and embarks upon a series of experiments that would make even Victor Frankenstein raise an eyebrow.

Predictably, things go horribly wrong.

The dead man, Ajay, is successfully revived and promptly embarks on a murderous rampage across the countryside. His first victim is an unfortunate beachgoer enjoying a peaceful picnic at Lovers Beach. After trampling the man’s lunch, Ajay reacts to criticism by strangling him and terrorising his companion. For reasons never adequately explained, these moments are periodically accompanied by squads of black-clad disco dancers bursting into elaborate routines, lending the proceedings a wonderfully surreal quality.

As Ajay’s killing spree gathers momentum, tragedy strikes closer to home when Vishnu becomes one of the monster’s victims. His brutal death leaves Varsha devastated and finally forces the scientist to confront the catastrophic consequences of his ambitions. Yet fame, pride and scientific obsession are not so easily abandoned. The doctor hesitates, torn between destroying his greatest creation and preserving the achievement that has made him famous.

Eventually he arrives at the obvious conclusion:

“I will destroy the Shaitani Khopdi!”

A commendable sentiment, but easier said than done.

Having successfully created an almost indestructible monster capable of absorbing bullets and recovering from virtually any injury, the scientist discovers that killing something already dead presents a number of practical difficulties.

Fortunately, the local police force can call upon an inspector who bears an uncanny resemblance to Joe Spinell and appears to conduct all investigations while wearing a pair of startlingly bright red wellington boots. The sight alone would be enough to intimidate most criminals into immediate surrender, though Ajay proves rather less cooperative.

What follows is a reasonably entertaining battle between creator and creation as science attempts to clean up the mess it has unleashed upon society.

Written and directed by Vasan, Shaitan Khopdi is far from a forgotten masterpiece. The pacing occasionally sags and the horror never becomes particularly frightening. Yet compared with much of the rubber-faced rubbish being produced at the time—films such as Khopdi, Khooni Dracula and their numerous cousins—it feels almost sophisticated.

The film’s greatest virtue lies in its willingness to attempt something different. Rather than relying upon the usual procession of white-sari ghosts, bargain-bin monsters and endless Tantrik confrontations, it offers a distinctly Indian variation on the Frankenstein myth and injects just enough eccentricity to keep things entertaining.

Not exactly a thrill-a-minute chiller, but several cuts above the depressing avalanche of low-budget horror that dominated the era. After surviving Khopdi, this almost feels like quality cinema.