AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

hwg1957-102-265704 Filmed in 'Strangloscope!' no less 'The Stranglers of Bombay' is a Hammer film directed by their usual director Terence Fisher about the historical Thugee cult in India. People and goods have been going missing from caravan trails and the officers of the East India company are worried. That is Colonel Henderson and the merchants are worried about the goods but Captain Harry Lewis is more worried about the missing people, overwhelmingly Indian. He comes to realise that devotees of the goddess Kali are responsible and begins to track them down. It is an entertaining film that gallops along to a good (but rushed ending) taking in murder, gore, suspense and excitement. Guy Rolfe is solid as Captain Lewis and George Pastell scarily convincing as the High Priest of Kali. They are supported well by Allan Cuthbertson, Andrew Cruickshank, Jan Holden and Marne Maitland (who actually was born in India.) Splendid support is also given to the frontally blessed Marie Devereux, thankfully. In minor parts are Roger Delgado and Warren Mitchell. Hammer regulars James Bernard provides an excellent musical score and Roy Ashton supplies suitably effective make-up. Good use is made of English locations and perhaps it might have been better in colour? Possibly,Apparently a few minutes were cut from the film though the 76 minute version I saw was adequate. There is supposedly more Marie Devereux and more mongoose/snake footage which is a shame as I think you can never have enough mongoose scenes in a film.

GusF A classic and sorely underrated Hammer film in which the British East India Company officer Captain Harry Lewis - played very well by the engaging Guy Rolfe whom I recognise from something else but can't remember what - fights the cult of Kali which is responsible for the kidnapping and murder of thousands of Indians. The film has a very strong and effectively creepy and violent storyline and is directed to perfection, as ever, by Terence Fisher.Unlike most Hammer films, it is based on real events though I don't know how closely as it's well outside my historical area of interest. One historical aspect of the film that I appreciated was Lewis' criticism of the East India Company, which he points out to his superior Colonel Henderson (a wonderful Andrew Cruickshank) is not investigating the disappearances of several thousand Indians out of any sense of morality or responsibility but because it is related to the disappearance of several English merchants' caravans. Another very effective piece of social commentary is Henderson giving the job of investigating the disappearances not to Lewis, the logical and seemingly obvious choice given that he has spent two years doing so on his own initiative, but to the supercilious and not very bright Captain Connaught-Smith (played, again very well, by Allan Cuthbertson) whose father went to school with Henderson. Shari Patel described Connaught-Smith very well in the film: "Captain Connaught-Smith is pleased by the obvious. It does not exercise his dull mind." The treatment of the Indians in the film is far less condescending and insulting than the treatment of the Chinese in the similar Hammer film "The Terror of the Tongs" but, as was standard at the time, very few of the actors with speaking roles are actually Indian. The only actor of Indian descent to play a major role was Hammer regular Marne Maitland as Shari Patel. The other two major Indian characters are played by George Pastell and an uncredited Roger Delgado, both of whom were also frequently seen playing foreigners in the studio's films. David Spenser and Warren Mitchell are really the only non-Indian actors playing Indian characters who stick out like sore thumbs, in stark contrast to the fake Chinese people in the aforementioned film including, funnily enough, Maitland and Delgado.

MartinHafer THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY is included on a DVD of another Hammer film, THE TERROR OF THE TONGS. Both films are very similar, though STRANGLERS is definitely the better of the two despite the absence of big name actors. This is because the film did a great job of making the sets look like India and using actors that might be Indian--whereas in TERROR, English actors almost exclusively played Chinese parts (making the film look really cheesy).Amazingly, THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY is based on a true story, though I am pretty sure the names and a few details were fictionalized. In the nineteenth century, a bizarre cult dedicated to Kali (the goddess of death and destruction) was ultimately destroyed by the British in India. This cult not only adored Kali, but was dedicated to murder and robbery--and it was apparently a pretty serious threat.The film gets very high marks for its script and direction. The film is exciting, well-paced and engaging. Despite having little of the cache of many other Hammer films (no Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing) and being in black and white, it's as solid and exciting a drama as you can find from this studio.

Chris Gaskin The Stranglers of Bombay was made by Hammer in 1960 and I found this quite good. It is rather violent for its time.A series of rather gruesome murders in India turn out to be the work of a religious cult, known as the Stranglers. These people kill just for fun and they enjoy it. A British soldier based over there investigates these killings and nearly becomes a victim himself, but a mongoose appears and killing one of these animals is one of the Stranglers' tabu's. The leader of the Stranglers is killed at the end, along with most of the other members.The cast includes Guy Rolfe (Mr Sardonicus), Jan Holden, Andrew Cruickshank, George Pastell, Allan Cuthbertson and Roger Delgado (First Man Into Space). Good parts from all.The Stranglers of Bombay is worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of Hammer.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.