Son of Dracula (1999)

The film opens with a lecherous Joginder driving up to a couple in the forest and asking a young man about his shapely sister.  He is told that she is not his sister but his girlfriend, and she chimes in by lecturing Joginder that he wouldn’t know what the love for a sister is as he doesn’t have one and goads him, rubbing him up the wrong way rather brutally. Joginder reacts rather badly by pulling out his pistol and threatening the young man.  The two lovers react defiantly, but Joginder wastes no time blowing the young man away.  Munnia flees into the forest with Joginder in pursuit, but he catches up with her, and with some ominous special effects, it seems as though he has satisfied his animal lust and probably left her for dead.

The following scene has a sleazy-looking young man bragging about how his father has dispatched a young couple to their graves. He adds that he is a step further than his dad and ready to take on two couples, not just one.  The scene cuts to a young, nubile woman being chased in a jeep by the leering, lecherous Joginder in a similar jungle-like village.  Once again, sparks light up the screen as Joginder closes in on his kill.  Along his chase, he remarks on how important his pursuit is as it allows him to sleep peacefully at night. 

Seconds later, the scene switches to his son, who boasts that he and his father are locked in a battle to see who can score more conquests.  These initial scenes set the tone for the film as a battle between Joginder (Dracula) and his son to see who can rape and murder as many women as possible—an auspicious start to the film from one of Harinam Singh’s most promising protégés Saleem Suma.

As the police are baffled and unable to stop the nightly body count, the scene transforms into the realm of the Dark Side, where a hairy devil with fangs lectures the young, freshly killed girls about taking revenge.  exact revenge. He instructs them to return to their killers with a renewed purpose.  The hairy Shaitan appears to be a man of some principles.

Another person of lofty principles is Thakur’s long-suffering wife, who nags him to change his ways and warns him that one day, his excesses will catch up with him. However, he has no time for such trifling lectures of doom. He considers himself high and mighty, rather like Donald Trump in many ways. He can grab as much flesh and abuse as he enjoys. It’s his due as a superior human among lesser mortals.

Meanwhile, the raped, dead girls, carry out their Shaitan Master’s orders and appear at the Thakurs Haveli wearing panties and bras and break into a seductive song and dance, specifically Thora Resham Lagta Hai, the Bappi Lahiri anthem that Dr Dre famously stole and was sued for.  The girl’s dazzling beauty and vixen moves have the Thakur’s thugs severely compromised, which is when they strike with their first vengeful act.

Alas, all doesn’t go as planned, and each of the three babes sent by the Shaitan fails to make any headway and fails miserably in their quest despite several seductive dances.  Meanwhile, the shunned Thakur’s wife, who has been sent to a backwater Haveli with the sons, tries to reform her sons, but they won’t have any of it and vow to continue in their vile father’s footsteps aiming to break all his records of Rape and Murder.  In despair The Shaitan turns to his last sultry siren and tells her she must become impregnated by the Thakur and produce a Shaitan spawn who will then do the necessary.

This time, the Shaitan’s dead concubine does make progress and manages to seduce the Thakur, and minutes after the sexual act, a devil spawn is given birth to, and the ghastly flying creature with a rubbery mask gets to work with frightening and murderous rage.  One of Thakur’s lecherous sons is drained of his blood and left to rot by the Devil Spawn, who has grown at an alarming rate.

One by one, the brothers try to find out who is killing their siblings, and they seek advice from the local Tantrik, who has a fearsome Trishul and the power to hurl magic red balls to counter satanic forces, but this Shaitani Baby is much more than they bargained for.  He even pops up brazenly at Police Officer Raza Murad’s office, taunting them to dare to try and half his cannibalistic rampage.  The Tantrik’s Balls appear to have little effect as another sibling is devoured; his blood slurped out of his body with only the bones remaining.  It’s all extremely frightful, with the vengeful spawn seemingly unstoppable.

Finally, their fortunes change as the Thakur repents listens to his saintly wife and taunts the Tantrik for being a fraud. There is an almighty showdown between the forces of the undead controlled by the Shaitan and the undead girls and their demonic Baby, the Son of Dracula and the Tanktrik, who summons all the gods, trishuls, Allah medallions, Crosses and some mighty balls as the film heads towards its spellbinding crescendo.

Will the rapist murderers face justice, or will the tantrik manage to swing things in their favour and allow them to say sorry and be redeemed by their saintly mother, or will the vengeful Shaitan and his posse of victims and The Son of Dracula hold sway? 

It is as awful and horrifically constructed as Harinam Singh at his most inspired, which is the highest praise for a Bollywood horror film.  Incredulous special effects, thunderous and bewitching sexy dances and blood-sucking scenes of hair-raising terror elevate this film to among the classics, among the everyday garbage.  It is a memorable film for all the right reasons.  Terrifying and utterly atrocious but equally compelling.  Watch out for this director and his future work.  M. Night Shyamalan should take notes and learn.