GUEST HOUSE [1980]

Directed by - Tulsi Ramsay & Shyam Ramsay
Starring - Vijendra Ghatge, Padmini Kapila, Narendranath, Komilla Wirk, Premkishan, Sujit Kumar & Premnath.
Music- Bappi Lahiri
Genre- Horror.

Memory of the film - The first and biggest memory for this film is the Cut piece of a Human Hand chasing a girl with a backdrop of a Guest House. As a kid we use to see this poster and use to wonder what will be the story. but the big "A" in the censor certificate stopped us from watching the film. Later after few years had seen the film and were terrified to see the hand killing people. The second memory was of Premnath who played a important role in this film, he had different looks in this film and had great personality. Though it was his hand which was killing the people, but we never felt fear from Premnath as he was a good guy taking revenge of his murder. But on other side the hand was damn scary. Sadly after this film the makers started more of Dead body killing people etc and later the creativity disappeared.

Besides Premnath and his hand, one more person I remembered was Komilla Wirk who was the girl on the poster being chased. I dint get opportunity to watch this film again as It was hardly showed on Television and later was never released on DVD or VCD.

Hunt for the film - When I started collecting movies, trashy films and horror films {Good Ramsay films} were also in top of the list. Films like Purana Mandir, Veerana, Do Gaz Zameen ke Neeche, Darwaza,etc were bought as spotted. But Guest House was rare to find, bought 2 VCD with same name- one was B/W film starring Ajit and another a South Indian dub. I must have asked in almost all shops about this film but never got positive answer. One day saw a 4 in 1 DVD set which had Guest House poster on it and had Ramsay written over in {Very Small Size}, I immediately bought it only to find the south Indian dub inside it. When I met the director of this film, Mr.Tulsi Ramsay I asked him for the copy, but sadly he too dint have it. Finally a friend of mine had a original VHS of this film and he converted this film especially for me. Sadly I dint get opportunity to watch it until today.

Impact in today's time – When I started the movie it had everything a Ramsay film had, Actors like Narendranath, Sudhir, Mac Mohan, Padmini Kapila, Vijendra Ghatge, Rajendranath,etc. With Haunting tune by Bappi Lahiri,etc. I still felt the theme of this film was far superior than other horror Indian films. The impact of Premnath was superb in the film. The way he calls the Dead spirit for his client in lonely Guest house was superb. But the best scene of the film was the hand chasing Komilla Wirk even now after so many years this scene looks classy and great. The scariness was missing, probably due to my exposure towards more and advanced horror films in so many years. But then again the concept kept me interested in the movie and in today’s time too managed to impress me and thus did not end in trashy films list.

Bappi Lahiri’s music was haunting and both the songs were melodious. The main lead actors had very less to do in this film, but Padmini Kapila looked great. The movie belonged to the Villains {Narendranath, Komilla Wirk, Sujit Kumar and Mac mohan} and Premnath.

My Verdict - With hardly any modern special effects and Dolby sounds the movie is a winner and deserved to be watched keeping in mind of that era. I wish someday a better print will be released and that too on DVD.

Also I hope I have a sound sleep and try not to have dreams of the Hand chasing me…..