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Reviewed by OAK 

Shaitani Dracula (2006)
Cast: Harinam Singh as Dracula and Shweta as Sheetal
Written, Produced and Directed by: Harinam Singh
Synopsis:  Superlative sequel to the smash hit Khooni Dracula

 

After the rip-roaring success of his previous Dracula movie Khooni Dracula, Harinam Singh sets out once again in similar vein with equally spectacular results taking Bram Stoker's novel to another realm altogether.  Clearly a man of prodigious talent and blessed also with enviable handsomeness, Harinam Singh not only stars as Dracula but also doubles as the writer, director and producer of this little gem.

 The dashing Singh takes on the title role of the Shaitani Dracula who appears to live in the woods in his mansion with his two wives from whom he expects a horde of little Draculas.   He is a power lusting evil madman, prone to laughing maniacally in his fits of delusion.  Dracula dreams of a world overrun by Draculas and it is up to him to make this happen.  For this specific purpose he has recruited several disciples who are also known as Lady Draculas though he also has the odd male helper too.

 His wives have the specific duty of discovering more women, sucking their blood and thus turning them into an army of Lady Draculas.  His male followers are to follow suit with all men, turning the world slowly but surely into one super race of Draculas with the Shaitani Dracula as their supreme leader.

 In the opening scenes Dracula is busy recruiting his Lady Draculas but then a golden opportunity falls into his lap as a group of students and their teachers leave for a college trip and decide very unwisely to camp out in Dracula territory.

 Thrilled at the delicious prospect of all the potential victims/recruits, a very excited Dracula informs his Team Dracula of the impending feast and they all have an extended rapturous laughing session in celebration.  Soon the students arrive and make themselves at home but little do they know that the whole area is infested with Lady Draculas who have polystyrene angel wings that help them to stalk and giggle at their victims in the most brazen manner.  Giggles that kill.

 One of the feistier students on the trip against her elder brothers’ specific instructions is the scantily clad Sheetal who it soon transpires Dracula has a very serious crush on.  He slowly uses his considerable telepathic powers to try to draw Sheetal closer to him so he can make her Mrs. Dracula and announces to his brides that he has been waiting for Sheetal for 600 years.  There is considerable friction among the brides who are not too thrilled at the idea of playing second fiddle to Sheetal.  However, Dracula is adamant and also a little peeved that the wives have as yet failed to produce the thousands of baby Draculas that he demanded.  They reach a compromise grudgingly and accept living as his concubines even if his mind is set on having Sheetal as his ultimate wife.

 There follows much drama, thunder and lightning and a whole lot of masked Lady Draculas on the prowl and their first victim is the old teacher who is accosted by three or four Lady Draculas but luckily, he appears to escape their rubbery clutches.  Meanwhile Dracula telepathically continues to try to woo Sheetal and often inserts his joke vampire teeth in his mouth for better telekinetic effect.  Once in a while he seems to leave his mansion and stalk Sheetal but time and again she escapes his clutches and grows strangely resistant to his telepathic pulling powers.

 Dracula grows frustrated as Sheetal eludes him time and again and resorts to taking extreme measures in order to snag the bride he yearns for.  Meanwhile his wives grow impatient and nag him incessantly to forget about Sheetal and that his obsession will bring about his downfall but Dracula will have none of it.  It is Sheetal he wants and now.  He tells his wives to go and take cold showers and to cool down, still they continue to henpeck him.

 Finally, we learn that Sheetal, under the veneer of a hot chick wearing a red latex bikini top with matching hot pants is in fact a very devout and pious girl and she calls upon her Protector to provide her with the courage and the determination that it will take in order to take down not only Dracula, but also his devoted and disgruntled wives.  A classic confrontation awaits; the ultimate battle for survival.  Can Sheetal stop Dracula and his army of disciples from turning the entire population of the world into the living dead as they plan?

 Another majestic slice of cinematic awfulness served up with such aplomb and front that you simply have to salute Harinam Singh and herald him as the unsurpassed King of Shit of the modern era.  The film surpasses all previous horrors and sets a new benchmark of atrociousness for others to follow.  Harinam Singh must now be recognized and honoured as the newest torchbearer of cinematic crap of a level that transcends awfulness.

 In Shweta, Singh introduces a highly talented star in the making even if her talent is perhaps even smaller quotient than her outfits.  She does however make an effective adversary for Dracula and shines in the dramatic and terrifying climax.  Perhaps the best aspect of the film is that recognizing a good thing, Harinam ends with a movie with a promise of more Dracula mayhem in times to come which can only be joyous news for the purveyors of such cinematic ghastliness.  Essential viewing.  Utterly ghastly, but in the right frame of mind, delightfully so.

 To date the most plausible explanation for the marvellous guest appearance by the uncredited Goose appears to have been Harinam Singh seizing an artistic opportunity by the neck and probably eating it for dinner that night and expunging it in the form of a perfectly formed bowel movement the next morning.  A bit like his Shaitani Dracula, a bowel movement of a movie.

 Another aspect of this modern rendition of the Dracula tale was that despite Dracula himself going into extended soliloquies about his credentials as the "son of Satan, the prince of darkness, the almighty evil devil spawn”, it doesn't appear to impress any of the new generation at all.  His wives are constantly nagging him and show little respect to the Lord of Darkness and all Evil.

 Then occasionally when he goes out to stalk his victims, he finds a young woman and informs her of his almighty evil powers and that she should dare not look into his eyes; the eyes of death as he claims them to be.  The young woman seems least convinced of any of Dracula's claims and even less afraid that he might cause the slightest harm asking him bluntly what he is doing out there in the middle of the night.  Clearly the days when the name Dracula was barely whispered out of fear have long since evaporated.

 Here Dracula is spoken to as though he was a mere cockroach to be squashed at the first opportunity.  None of that silver bullets stuff required here, not even a tantrik or a holy Trishul (trident).... just a cheap plastic cross that causes a massive clunk upon hitting human flesh appears to be enough to do the trick.  Dracula does however possess some pretty nifty moves and shows particular dexterity while attempting to subdue Sheetal by pummelling her with his elbow; an elbow that sounds strangely like the plastic cross that sounded like a great big clunking piece of metal.

Rated: F for Fantastic. 

April 30, 2021 by Omar Khan

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