A handful of young folks en route to a rock concert find themselves stranded in the woods after their van runs out of gas. The kids have harrowing encounters with flesh-eating zombies, a deranged hitchhiker, and a ferocious burga-masked killer (a frightening portrayal by Sultan Billa).Director Omar Khan, who also co-wrote the eventful script with Pete Tombs, keeps the enjoyable story moving along at a brisk pace, displays an utterly engaging affection for go-for-the-throat low-grade fright fare, makes inspired atmospheric use of the mist-shrouded sylvan setting, and delivers oodles of outrageously excessive and over-the-top gore. The vibrant acting from the enthusiastic cast keeps things humming, with especially spirited contributions from Rooshanie Ejaz as uptight goody-goody two shoes Ayesha, Rubya Chaudhry as the brash and selfish Roxy, Haider Raza as nice guy Simon, Osman Khalid Butt as laid-back stoner O.J., and Rehan as sinister tea shop owner Deewana. Najaf Bilgrami's sharp cinematography boasts several snazzy comic book panel stylistic flourishes. Stephen Thrower's infectiously groovy score hits the swinging spot. While this movie doesn't break any new ground, it's gleefully pandering kitchen sink approach nonetheless proves to be a whole lot of good'n'gruesome fun just the same.

Omar Ali Khan's "Hell's Ground" is essentially a fan film using familiar horror genre staples audiences are accustomed to, such as taking the dreaded short cut which is a detour into terror, cell phones that don't work, a van which will soon run out of gas, a family of psychos who chop up passersby using their meat to supply demand, and polluted water supply that contaminates the citizens turning those who drink it into gut-munching zombies. And, your final girl is virtuous, forgiving, kind-hearted, and soft-spoken. I thought the film is a Pakistani reworking of THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE with a little NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD to stir the pot a little. Admittedly, like a lot of horror buffs, I was drawn to the fact that this seems to be Pakistan's "first gore film", after seeing a trailer preview on another movie's DVD. It seems Khan is heavily reliant on a fish-eye lens distorting the frame, creating a disorienting atmosphere for the cast of city kids whose parents have no idea that they have snuck out to go to a concert...a trait in horror that always works, the fear that you are out there in an unfamiliar territory and your loved ones don't know where you are. Certainly the image of a flail wielding madman in a burqa(..his demented eye peering through a cut away hole as he swings it with a ferocity ready to plant it's spikes into the skull of a frightened, fleeing victim)isn't easy to forget and the idea that you are on the receiving end of a head crushing increases the suspense of the situation..the flail is pretty much a terrifying tool replacing Leatherface's chainsaw, the burqa in the same vein as the human-skin or hockey mask.The Pakistani characters aren't too different than an American group being stalked by predators, you have Roxy(Rubya Chaundhry), a rich, opinionated snob, or OJ(Osman Khalid Butt), the pothead horror geek. Rooshanie Ejaz is the virginal innocent, Ayesha, who will obviously withstand the horrors until the end. Haider Raza is Simon, a male mirror equivalent to Ayesha, a smart kid from a poor family with wealthy friends(..his dad is a "poop sweeper" for the rich with a disdain for his son who hangs around the crowd he doesn't belong to). OJ is bitten by an infected local and slowly succumbs over time to the plague sweeping across the land. The group encounter zombies which attempt to get in their van and a religious nut who temporarily "bums a ride" promising to guide them to their destination. Lots of enthusiastic set-pieces, particularly the chase scenes where the burqa psycho follows close behind those running for their lives, and we get an old-fashioned flesh-eating session which should bring a grin to the faces of Italian zombie fans. Khan injects a healthy dose of blood splatter when weapons hit the desired targets of our maniac, and the pace is full throttle, with a camera that moves throughout, rarely staying still not allowing the viewer to settle down at almost any point. I'm guessing, judging by how spirited the whole film feels, that this was a dream come true for director Khan. Nothing at all content-wise is original, but the setting is unique, and Khan is aiming to please the target audience. I think zombie fans will feel a little disappointed that Khan shifts focus from the plague sweeping across the people to the predator chasing the lost sheep in the wilderness, but it seems that Khan wanted to get in as much as possible in regards to the films that influenced him the most..homages here and there. My favorite image might just be the opening attack where the moon becomes engulfed in blood.

Saw this just two nights ago and the experience produced a fair amount of discussion.First off, not the sort of thing I'd have expected from Pakistan, or that part of the world. That in itself makes the movie a nice surprise! And I want to thank this movie for knowing when to leave something off-screen! There were parts where others could have made a half-hearted (HEH!) attempt to have something on screen, then it would have looked REALLY bad. Instead, there is a key moment where the action is left off screen, and you only get to see the result.For the gore fans, no worries! There's plenty of graphic gore to come! However the soundtrack...where did they ever dig that up from?? It reminded me of Grindhouse and the type of music I'd have expected from something anywhere from the mid-60's to early 70's.This movie was easy to watch. We never found ourselves in a lull where we were checking our watches or itching to fast-forward a bit, it is well paced.*** SPOILERS AHEAD *** The plot is simplistic, which is okay as there were no high expectations. The characters were fairly well set, for what parts the different character traits come into play, which isn't much.However, we saw two movies in this. The first part having to do with the disease and zombies and pollution, the second having to do with a psycho slasher. The two lines do not seem to have...ANYTHING...to do with one another! And again, that's OK depending on what your expectations are.The language was interesting...I don't know how many different languages may have been in this movie, but it was interesting to have the characters' dialog switch from 'native' (Farsi?) to English WITHIN THE SAME SENTENCE! Just seemed odd. And the English they did speak had a small variety of accents (we counted Jamaican, British and possibly German).Watch, and enjoy!

First of All I'm huge MOVIE FANS means got 1600+ DVDs/VHS and of all Genre. One of the biggest Horror Fan and Zombie / Masked Killer type of Films are in my beloved league... (NOTLD, TCM my all time favorite) Well this is my own country's first ever effort in gore / splatter kind of genre and naturally since I first heard of this movie, I was Mad like hell to watch it... and my dearest wish come true last night in LUMS Premiere of this movie I must say It was Fun experience, means what we were promised in the trailer in lots of different discussions in many site ( I Read almost all Zibahkahan related Blogs) is all what we get. The movie as per director himself is not Bollywood piece of commercialism, nor its Iranian directors piece of artwork.. I was campy fun ride and was beautifully done... BUT .. If you just think on my line in summary that its its all purposely and it should be deliberately... I mean this is good effort we appreciate but according to me in these type of films usually cheesy and campy stuffs are deliberately placed.. and its viewer who spot them and than CULT FOLLOWING comes.. but in the movie I got a feeling that Placement of such material was forced and there was clear purpose behind them to get noticed.. for example... Deewana Character.. first we got DVD Cover than 1 min clip of Zinda Lash.. some shots of that actor as Dracula... than during Tea Stall scene O.J even asked him aren't you the same guy who play Dracula..... seee....instead of let the audience guess it or let the reviewer write it in trivia section.. director just make it clear to everyone what he is intending to do... I hope you get what I was trying to say....but thats nothing what you will see in this 90 Min's films is very entertaining stuff... my only disappointment was they start of with so much footage of protest, contaminated water, than zombie attack.. but somehow left the plot to ignorance.. mean I know movie switched to Slasher /Masked Killer/ Psycho genre but it will be kool if its like Team of teens stuck in middle of nowhere with family of psycho and surrounded by Zombie... even O.J as zombie VS Burqa MAN (realllly ;-0) kind of scene can be different , funny or even hilarious (thats campy) Also For God sake.. I hate Uwe Boll for this .. don't use same footage repeatedly again and again.. we spotted spider in web, hanging crows, cock /hen leg, dolls pieces , full moon all were perfectly visible in first spot.... (sooryy but its teasing....but its First effort to note this for next time...) On bright side.. gr8 movie score, gore, some very kool moments, kool depiction, shocking and overall good movie...I tried to disclose very few spoilers , will not discuss about standard of movie making etc.. as its Weldon.. keeping in mind first ever effort in Pakistan and to begin this is actually very good movie.. I know its easy to criticize and hard to actually make things .. thats why I will appreciate everyone involve in making this film.. keeping in mind the fantastic response its getting everywhere its screened .. great job everyone .. but always make sure.. there is always room for improvement.. hopefully things will improve with other ventures....