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6.2/10
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In the 1830s, a captain in the East India Company lobbies to investigate the criminal Thugee Cult of Kali, an organized crime group of stranglers and thieves.In the 1830s, a captain in the East India Company lobbies to investigate the criminal Thugee Cult of Kali, an organized crime group of stranglers and thieves.In the 1830s, a captain in the East India Company lobbies to investigate the criminal Thugee Cult of Kali, an organized crime group of stranglers and thieves.
Roger Delgado
- Bundar
- (uncredited)
Marie Devereux
- Karim
- (uncredited)
Margaret Gordon
- Dorothy Flood
- (uncredited)
John Harvey
- Burns
- (uncredited)
Jack McNaughton
- Corp. Roberts
- (uncredited)
Warren Mitchell
- Merchant
- (uncredited)
Michael Nightingale
- Sidney Flood
- (uncredited)
Walter Randall
- Thuggee Cult Member
- (uncredited)
Steven Scott
- Walters
- (uncredited)
Ewen Solon
- Camel Vendor
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAll scenes shot in the marketplace/village were shot at Bray Studios on the revamped set that was constructed for "Horror of Dracula (1958)." Once "Stranglers" was completed in 1959, the set was completely torn down. The sequences where Guy Rolfe's character goes to meet Allan Cuthbertson's character, the capture of two of the Thuggees in the process and the caravan sequences were shot at the sand-and0gravel quarry in Gerrard's Cross, Buckinghamshire. The tiger hunt and the scene where Rolfe's character finds more grave sites was filmed at the Callow Hill Sandpits in Virginia Water, Egham, in Surrey.
- GoofsThe pistol used in several scenes by Captain Lewis and Captain Connaught-Smith was a revolver. The time frame for this film was set in the 1820's. The revolver wouldn't be invented and patented until 1836.
- Quotes
Patel Shari: Whoever rules decides the truth.
- Alternate versionsFor its UK cinema release the film was cut by the BBFC with edits to the kicking of Lewis by thuggees in an alleyway, and the removal of 'reaction' shots of Karim watching men being branded and strangled. The same print was then cut by a further 7 secs for the 1996 video release with additional edits to remove a scene of a mongoose fighting a snake.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Aweful Movies with Deadly Earnest: The Stranglers of Bombay (1966)
Featured review
Terence Fisher's least appreciated Hammer horror
1959's THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY is easily director Terence Fisher's least known Hammer horror, and one rarely screened until its revival in the 2000s. Shot in gritty black and white rather than the usual color, it foreshadows a similar effort the following year, "The Terror of the Tongs," a star vehicle for Christopher Lee as Hong Kong tong leader Chung King, while this film boasts the underrated George Pastell as the High Priest of the secret cult of Kali, leaving behind millions of victims all garroted by the sacred cloth. Top billed Guy Rolfe ("Mr. Sardonicus") plays Captain Harry Lewis of the British East India Company, who has spent months in 1829 Bombay trying to find answers as to the mysterious disappearances of traveling caravans of various goods robbing the English of their profits (the corpses swiftly and ruthlessly buried in shallow graves). His superior, Colonel Henderson (Andrew Cruickshank), appoints an old school chum as chief investigator rather than Lewis, Captain Christopher Connaught-Smith (Allan Cuthbertson), a supremely pompous twit who simply conducts interrogations while seated behind his desk. Lewis decides to resign after his manservant, Ram Das (Tutte Lemkow), suffers a terrible fate (his hand cut off and sent to Lewis) while searching for his brother Gopali Das (David Spenser), revealed not only to be the newest recruit to the cult but also tasked to strangle his own beloved sibling. The level of brutality is unprecedented even for Hammer, and all the better for being so effectively rendered, though possibly cut for television. Two careless followers are punished for betrayal to Kali by having their eyes gouged out (we see the eye sockets following the gruesome deed), corpses have their stomachs slit prior to burial, all sadly historically accurate. It looks like curtains for a captive Lewis, staked out under the mercilessly hot sun waiting for a cobra to strike...surprise! He just happens to have brought along his pet mongoose, ably dispatching the venomous reptile, an ill omen that forces the high priest to set Lewis free. It's amazing how tiny Bray Studios could manage to convey far off places when never venturing far from the Thames, their professionalism led by production designer Bernard Robinson, who often lent his own props for a scene (for instance, the huge globe in the Castle Dracula library in "Horror of Dracula").
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- kevinolzak
- Aug 24, 2019
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- How long is The Stranglers of Bombay?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 20 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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By what name was The Stranglers of Bombay (1959) officially released in India in English?
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