Slasher Films in the Pakistani Cinema
Pakistan is a developing country that has been struggling for decades in its many eras, ranging from business to the cinema. Despite the tussle, it has managed to develop its film and television industry rapidly. “Lollywood” is a term that was coined back in the day to glamorously describe the cinema culture of Pakistan. Though, as we all know, in comparison to Bollywood and Hollywood, Lollywood, in majority has not been much popular. Nevertheless, upon profoundly observing the television industry of Pakistan, one learns that it is much more refined and efficacious in contrast to the film sector. Particularly, in the present times, the drama or television industry, as you may call it, is flourishing not just locally but all around the globe, reaching out to many Pakistanis and providing them with twenty four hours of fruitful entertainment.
Pakistani Cinema has touched upon a variety of genres which predominantly revolve around documentaries, dramas, thrillers, horror, romance and action. This paper will, however, depict and deliberate upon a subgenre of horror films; slasher films in Pakistan. A slasher film is preeminently defined as a horror film which involves the use of an unearthly weapon such as an axe by a psychopathic slaughterer who mainly pertains to aggressively slaying a number of victims. These movies follow specific cinematic techniques where close-ups and special effects are used in a variety of ways, primarily representing women as sexual objects. The conception of showing the “Final Girl” rescuing herself is the foremost ideology a slasher film ordinarily focuses on.
Over the years, Lollywood has managed to accomplish the two most successful horror films using the true slasher and storyline techniques; Zinda Laash (“Dracula in Pakistan/The Living Corpse”) and Zibah Khana (“Hell’s Ground”) produced in 1967 and 2007 respectively. It is interesting to know that the recent production; Hell’s Ground makes continuous relations with the thirty year
Pakistani Cinema has touched upon a variety of genres which predominantly revolve around documentaries, dramas, thrillers, horror, romance and action. This paper will, however, depict and deliberate upon a subgenre of horror films; slasher films in Pakistan. A slasher film is preeminently defined as a horror film which involves the use of an unearthly weapon such as an axe by a psychopathic slaughterer who mainly pertains to aggressively slaying a number of victims. These movies follow specific cinematic techniques where close-ups and special effects are used in a variety of ways, primarily representing women as sexual objects. The conception of showing the “Final Girl” rescuing herself is the foremost ideology a slasher film ordinarily focuses on.
Over the years, Lollywood has managed to accomplish the two most successful horror films using the true slasher and storyline techniques; Zinda Laash (“Dracula in Pakistan/The Living Corpse”) and Zibah Khana (“Hell’s Ground”) produced in 1967 and 2007 respectively. It is interesting to know that the recent production; Hell’s Ground makes continuous relations with the thirty year
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