What happens to five kids from Islamabad who hire a kitschy van to watch an all night rock concert featuring the 'Rocking Gujjars'? They get stoned, meet a creepy old man who runs a decrepit tea shop in a jungle and proceed to be attacked by zombies who live near a poisoned river. What follows is a bloody encounter with a Burqa clad mysterious killer whose spiked cast iron mace causes much damage. Pakistani director Omar Ali Khan’s film Zibahkhana: Hell’s Ground was screened at Osians Cine Fan Festival on Wednesday and Delhi’s thumping response has made him high as a kite. “It’s a great feeling to have an audience that gets the jokes, makes creepy noises and relishes the blood fest as well,” says Khan. Screened at several American and European film festivals, the film recently won the jury award for Best Film at the Riofan Film Festival in Rio de Janeiro. But it’s been such a long journey for Khan as he battled censorship and lack of funds to make what he calls a “love letter” to all the horror films that he’s watched, and been inspired by.

Khan’s love affair with horror films goes back to his salad days when he grew up watching films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween and My Bloody Valentine. “Unlike India’s Ramsay Brothers films, Pakistan does not have a tradition of horror films. I wanted to make a classic horror film while being anti-formulaic,” says Khan. The film does not have the staple scantily clad damsel in distress who’s mauled to death, nor does it have spookily sung tunes to stir up goose bumps. Instead, you have hammy dialogues, a romantic moment in the middle of all the murders and a warped relationship between the killer and his mother. The 40-something filmmaker is also inspired by comic strip panels and has included a few in some frames, building up the anticipation of more disaster.