Lubang Buaya is a village in East Jakarta, not far from an Air Force base, where the Indonesian Communist Party murdered seven Army officers and unleashed chaos during their failed coup attempt. Frankly, the CIA had its doubts regarding the official story, but Sukarno, who had been flirting with the Communists with his anti-imperialist rhetoric, used the incident to decidedly turn against them. Frankly, even when Bramantyo finally reveals all, it is rather hard to see how the Sugeng and Arum’s story ultimately leads into that historical controversy—but somehow it does.
Arguably, even Sugeng’s marriage to Arum seems a little iffy, since Sukarya raised them both as his children. However, since Sugeng, the former street urchin, is not a blood relation, the local Imam gives his blessing. Unfortunately, the celebration will be short-lived. Since he knows the region, the national police assign Sugeng the investigation into the gruesome ritual murders of several prominent local citizens. Tellingly, each victim was denounced by the local Communist newspaper as part of their shameful gang of seven.
That would certainly constitute motive, but it does not explain the spectral woman who starts terrorizing Arum. As the bodies pile up, the Imam suggests it might be the work of curses cast from a Moorish Andalusian book of black magic. There also might be reason to suspect the local Imam could be somewhat complicit in the village’s sins.
Frankly, horror fans should make a point of watching The Hole whenever the opportunity arises, because it is frighteningly easy to imagine campaigns to censor it, for both religious and political reasons. Bramantyo takes some big, fearless swings and tackles some highly protected sacred cows. Its gutsy filmmaking, to the point of even thrilling with its defiant iconoclasm.
However, Bramantyo still takes care of genre business, building suspense out of an atmosphere of corruption and foreboding. There is definitely bad karma at work, to the point that viewers’ sympathies start to flip, or at least become considerably more complicated.
Bramantyo film is absolutely soaked in irony. It also holds the distinction of folk horror with a decidedly revisionist perspective on history. Orthodoxies get slapped around, but the film still builds to several memorably chilling moments. Highly recommended for fans of folk and Islamic-themed Indonesian horror, The Hole: 309 Days Before the Tragedy is worth looking out for.
