The success of this particular Ramsay entry proved to be a turning point for Bollywood horror - for the very first time, the genre became a viable business proposition with plenty of potential Box Office earning power. Purana Mandir was a roaring success and it wasn't long before the Ramsay brothers were joined on a bandwagon that they single-handedly invented as producer-director Mohan Bhakri and Vinod Talwar jumped on. Looking back it seems a tad bewildering as to why the film became such a rage becoming the first Bollywood film to have sequels and spin-offs and indeed it was the film that spawned Bollywood's first home grown monster in the form of Saamri (Ajay Agarwal).

The film opens 200 odd years ago with a raj kumar and kumari breaking down in the middle of nowhere. While the prince struggles to rescue the situation his princess goes wandering off to a nearby dilapidated mandir (temple) where she is assailed by the monstrous, bloodthirsty Saamri. Later, the Raj kumars men manage to apprehend the dreaded Saamri and convict him for a series of heinous crimes including murdering and eating little children. Saamri's head is lopped off and then he is roasted in a large, crackling fire, but before he departs he curses the Raja's family and swears that he will rise once again to destroy their entire clan. Meanwhile Saamri's severed head is stashed away in a black box and hidden away in the dark environs of the Purana Mandir.

Years pass by and we are now introduced to the heirs of the long dead Raj kumars who now reside in the city well away from the old Haveli and the neighbouring Purana Mandir. The Rajput heir has a bimbette daughter who he is constantly gushing over, clucking like a demented mother hen. Meanwhile the bimbette spends most of her time frolicking with her boyfriend in a selection of flimsy bikinis. Daddy doesn't approve of bimbette's boyfriend though and when pressed to provide a good reason for his hatred of the fellow (other than for his ape-like appearance and inferior intellect), he struggles to find words. When put on the spot, Daddy blurts out the story of Saamri's curse and how his own wife turned into a hairy demon upon giving birth (to Bimbette) and that the same will happen to daughter dearest if she decides to get married and have kids.

Undeterred, the feisty bimbette (Aarti Gupta) and her beau (Mohnish Bahl) troop off to the old Haveli to try to break the curse that they are plagued with. It's not long before Saamri is accidentally resurrected and all sorts of mayhem unleashed. True to his word, Saamri returns to wipe out the heirs of the people who had executed him all those years ago. The question is will our Bimbette and her beau be able to muster the courage to confront and destroy Saamri or will the beastly undead monster reign supreme once again, pulverizing the hapless community into submission.

Purana Mandir has all the trademark ingredients of a typical Ramsay horror potboiler…the flesh exposure, the cheap double entendres, the floating mists, the blue and red tinted lighting, the overwrought performances, the hairy monster, the old dark house…yet it remains one of their few moments of glory. The story is involving enough and the action moves along rapidly despite Jagdeep's best efforts to slow things down to a halt with his inane Sholay parody. The films real stars are the fine, energetic camerawork, the background score and not least of all, the wonderful Ajay Agarwal who tackles the role of Saamri monster with such admirable relish - and is far and away the most frightening of Bollywood's largely laughable screen monsters. The haveli too is also suitably creepy and when given the red and blue Ramsay lighting treatment and all that billowing mist………..it's akin to a particularly kitschy psychedelic Hammer set.

Purana Mandir is a vintage Ramsay shocker - for what its worth - despite being plagued by dull stretches due to the forced inclusion of songs and comedy sequences which remain the bane of Bollywood horror.