Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

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.

Woodyanders A notorious death cult known as the Thuggees terrorizes India. Gutsy and aggressive Captain Harry Lewis (a fine and commanding performance by Guy Rolfe) stirs things up by investigating a series of disappearances attributed to the Thuggees. Director Terence Fisher, working from a taut and absorbing script by David Zelag Goodman, relates the compelling story at a steady pace, delivers a rich and flavorsome evocation of the period setting, and doesn't pull any punches with the film's potent moments of shocking violence and brutality (one of the single most unnerving scenes occurs when a Thuggee cult member kills his own older brother!). This movie further benefits from sound acting from a sturdy cast: Rolfe makes for a dashing and engaging hero, Marne Maitland as the suave and cunning Patel Shari and George Pastell as the bald and charismatic High Priest of Kali register strongly as the main villains of the piece, plus are are solid contributions from the fetching Jan Holden as Lewis' loyal wife Mary, Andrew Cruickshank as the ineffectual Colonel Henderson, Paul Stassino as the corrupt Lieutenant Silver, and Allan Cuthbertson as the arrogant and condescending Captain Christopher Connaught-Smith. Arthur Grant's sharp black and white cinematography makes nifty occasional use of artful dissolves. James Bernard's robust ominous score hits the rousing spot. Best of all, the tight 80 minute running time ensures that this film doesn't overstay its welcome. Well worth a look.

MARIO GAUCI Watching this, I was reminded all over again just how invigorating the output from Hammer Films was during its heyday; even so, this isn't a horror film as such – and, in fact, has recently been released on DVD through Sony as part of a double-disc 4-movie collection entitled "Icons Of Adventure" (none of which I'd previously watched).The film has a good reputation quality-wise, but it's even better-known as one of the company's grisliest efforts – not that there's excessive bloodshed on display, but director Fisher was certainly able to milk the inherent savagery of British-ruled India for all it was worth (there's plenty of implied physical violence throughout, to be sure, which seems all the more obscene for being triggered by religious fanaticism!). Tying up with this fact, the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) came down on THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY with particular alacrity. Unfortunately, many of the cuts they enforced back then (notably a female hanger-on's ecstatic reaction shots to the violence perpetrated by the titular cult have been all but eliminated, thus rendering her character virtually pointless!) have been retained for the R1 edition…though a scene involving a fight between a mongoose (the hero's pet which saves its master – having fallen prisoner to the vicious stranglers – from certain death at the eleventh hour) and a cobra, reportedly also trimmed by seven seconds, seems intact here! I'm ambivalent about the picture being in black-and-white: admittedly, this allows it a gritty realism unusual for the company – however, at the same time, the lack of color tends to dilute the film's potential for exotic flavor…especially since this would have alleviated its unremitting bleakness somewhat! Incidentally, while the come-uppance of the cult itself feels a bit rushed, this is eventually redeemed by a satisfactory aftermath – wherein a former spiritual leader, now reduced to mere negotiator between his people and Britain's East India Company, gives himself away as an associate of the so-called "thuggees"; similarly devious had been a half-caste officer, whom the hero dealt with personally during a scouting mission for a 'lost patrol'. In any case, THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY features one of Hammer's strongest (and most sympathetic) male leads from this era in middle-aged Guy Rolfe – though he's matched by an intense display of villainy from George Pastell as the High Priest of the strangling cult; on the other hand, Allan Cuthbertson's overbearing snob of an upper-class officer fails to rise above mere cliché! By the way, it's always a pleasure to see the names of all the Hammer stalwarts among the credits – with cinematographer Arthur Grant and composer James Bernard chief among them, they deliver exemplary work on this picture as well; having said that, THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY was uniquely scripted by an American – David Zelag Goodman – whose best work (Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS [1971]), coincidentally, would also be filmed in England and prove a censorship milestone!

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.