Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic

As Suzanna Martha Frederika Van Osch embraced the horror genre, she added the additional “Z.” It was a shrewd decision, whereas opinions vary quite drastically regarding her second marriage. Regardless, “Suzzanna,” as she was affectionately known and billed (like Cher and Madonna) remains the face of 1980s Indonesia horror for fans both foreign and domestic. David Gregory chronicles her life and career in the documentary The Queen of Black Magic, which is included in the Severin Film Suzzanna boxset releasing tomorrow on BluRay.

Early in her career, Suzanna (with one “Z”) was practically Indonesia’s sweetheart. She appeared in sentimental dramas and even recorded sugary pop records with her first husband, fellow thesp and frequent co-star Dicky Suprapto. During the 1970s, she started making more exploitative genre movies for less formal “Layar Tancap” cinemas, often projected on bedsheets for neighborhoods without brick-and-mortar theaters. Of course, they loved her.

Suzzanna (with two Z’s) only made one horror in the 1970’s, but it became a sort of prototype for her 80’s output. In 1983, she also made an exploitation film about a mother’s lurid relationship with her estranged son, played by teenaged Clift Sangra, who in real-life became her second husband. Weirdly, he also portrayed her son in her final film.

To make things even more awkward, many of Suzzanna’s friends and family members clearly suspected him of complicity in her death. Some even accused him of trying to contract her murder. While Sangra sat for extensive interviews, he emerges as his own worst advocate. Sangra never legally compromises himself, but he just radiates bad vibes.

The Hole: 309 Days Before the Tragedy

Suppose Linton never existed in Wuthering Heights, so Earnshaw arranged a marriage between Catherine and Heathcliff. Then imagine their story turns into a horror movie that culminates in a notorious national trauma. That is the sinister and complicated fate in store for Sugeng and Arum in director-screenwriter Hanung Bramantyo’s The Hole: 309 Days Before the Tragedy, which EST N8 is repping internationally, following its Rotterdam festival premiere.

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.

Kimo Stamboel’s Janur Ireng: Sewu Dino the Prequel

Sabdo and Intan Kuncoro are like the poor relations of a gothic novel. After their father dies and their house burns down, their wealthy Uncle Arjo takes them into his home. The hyper-class-conscious might suspect the hardscrabble siblings will never be considered full members of Arjo’s family, but their uncle and his wife Lasmini are only too eager to accept them. Of course, there are terrifying reasons for this in Kimo Stamboel’s Janur Ireng: Sewu Dino the Prequel, which just opened in Cambodia and Vietnam (with EST N8 currently repping other territories).

Don’t worry if you haven’t seen Stamboel’s Sewu Dino. This is the prequel, so newcomers can easily follow the story, based on SimpleMan’s online story (just like Stamboel’s Dancing Village: The Curse Begins)—at least until the final scene somewhat bafflingly links it back to the prior (subsequent) film.

Regardless, orphaned Sabdo and Intan are rather intimidated by their stately new home. Indeed, despite the luxury, the Kuncoro manor absolutely drips with bad vibes. The decidedly gothic set-up soon takes a rather folk horror turn when Uncle Arjo forces Sabdo to sacrifice a goat. In fact, such ceremonies become a bizarrely regular thing.

It turns out their late father had good reasons for cutting ties with his brother’s branch of the family. These Kuncoros are scary people and Sabdo’s prospective role will be especially ominous, involving rites and literal demons. What transpires probably holds a great deal of tragic irony for those who have seen the original Sewu Dino (which currently streams on Prime). However, it probably lands with even greater force for those who haven’t.

Either way, there is an extended scene of third act lunacy that is so jaw-droppingly over-the-top, it ought to make Janur Ireng a cult classic and a perennial favorite for midnight movie screenings. You’ll know it when you see it. Yet, before that, Stamboel crafts a moody folk horror film, rich with atmosphere and foreboding.

Submitted by Indonesia: Sore, Wife from the Future

Jonathan Riady is single, but he is romancing a married woman. Yet, she is not being unfaithful, thanks to the paradox of time-travel. The titular Sore wants to reform all her future husband’s bad habits that contributed to his early demise. However, she eventually realizes the drinking and smoking were only symptoms of a deeper issue. Ironically, considering she is a time-looping time-traveler, Sore might be running out of time to help the once-and-future love-of-her-life heal himself in director-screenwriter Yandy Laurens’ Sore: Wife from the Future, Indonesia’s official best international feature submission.

When Sore arrives, Riady is an Indonesian expat in Croatia, engaged to the very wrong Elsa. He has not yet met Sore, so he is understandably surprised to wake up next to her. Blowing up his relationship with Elsa is always the first and easiest thing he does. Then she picks the right pictures out of his archive for a proposal that jumps starts his career as a fine art photographer. However, getting him to stop drinking and smoking are always trickier.

Unfortunately, each loop inevitably reaches a point when Sore realizes she has failed once again to “save” Riady. At that stage, her nose starts to bleed, she passes out, and wakes up back at the start of the loop again. At least that is how it always seems to work. The future Ms. Riady doesn’t really know the rules and principles of time travel any better than we do. This is definitely more of a magical realism time travel, in the tradition of Somewhere in Time, which is also a good tonal comparison. However, Laurens’ cleverly makes a connection to the North Pole, which has no time zone.

Wife from the Future was a big hit domestically, maybe because local audiences were familiar with Laurens’ web series that his film was adapted from. While Dion Wiyoko reprised his original role of Riady, Sheila Dara Aisha replaced another thesp as his time-traveling wife. That is bad luck for the previous Sore, but there is no denying Aisha has a heck of a screen presence throughout the film. It is a quiet performance, but she definitely conveys both passion and angst.

The Draft!, on Screambox

These college kids are sort of like Pirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” except they do not want their stories finished. That is because they are living in a horror movie screenplay. The more their screenwriter revises, the longer they live. Fortunately, the knowledge of their [un]reality gives them some power to survive in Yusron Fuadi’s beyond meta horror film, The Draft!, which premieres Tuesday on Screambox.

Five friends came to the spooky old villa owned by popular girl Ani’s parents, for reasons none of them really thought about. In fact, when later asked, nobody can remember much about the trip either. However, everyone immediately recognizes stereotypical elements of Indonesian horror movies, like the Dutch colonial cemetery and the decrepit old well out back.

Amir, the proudly nerdy aspiring filmmaker starts to figure out the meta-ness of their situation, very much in the tradition of Jamie Kennedy in Scream. Unfortunately, his suspicions will be confirmed, when Ami’s meathead boyfriend Budi resurrects from the dead, but with a new face, to satisfy a producer’s casting suggestions.

In a rather mixed blessing, their screenwriter is a talentless hack, who simply regurgitates one cliché after another. Amir and his friends much take care, because their speculations can be used against them. However, their suggestions for survival supplies, like a spectacularly well-stocked armory, will likely come true, because the screenwriter will think he thought of it himself.

The Draft is a wild ride that almost (but not quite) stops being horror as it encroaches into the tonal territory of some of the funnier Twilight Zone episodes. However, there are always fresh horrors lurking for the [mostly] four characters. Fuadi and co-screenwriters Richard James Halstead and B.W. Purba Negara incorporate several Indonesian cultural in-jokes, but genre fans who have kept up with Joko Anwar (whom is name-checked in The Draft) and the explosion of Indonesian horror should catch most of them.

Soul Reaper, Another Strong Horror Film from Indonesia

It is bad enough being in your own nightmare. Finding yourself trapped in someone else’s is even worse. Teenaged Respati discovers he has the power to travel to the dream dimension to witness other people’s nightmares—and their murders, whether he likes it or not. Unfortunately, he does not enjoy it anymore than the Nightmare Detective from the Japanese horror franchise. However, the new girl at school might have some helpful insight for him in Sidharta Tata’s Soul Reaper, which releases today on VOD.

Ever since the accidental death of his parents, Respati has suffered from vivid nightmares. Often, he witnesses their cruel final moments, but lately, he has also dreamed of murders before (or maybe as) they happened. Consequently, his health has suffered from what his guardian grandfather assumes is insomnia. Much to his shock, his recently transferred classmate Wulan seems to understand when he experiences a waking dream. She also has a capacity to consciously explore the dream realm, but it is much more limited compared to his.

Respati’s best bud Tirta makes an alarming connection between the victims he saw killed in his dreams. They all originally hailed from the same village. Ominously, it is the same village that was home to his grandfather for twenty years. According to legend, the villagers had elevated psychic receptivity thanks to the local flora. They also a had a murderous witch, until the villagers turned against her.

Soul Reaper follows in the tradition of Nightmare Detective (and to an extent, Nightmare on Elm Street), because it is the kind of horror movie that derives its terrors from the landscapes of the subconscious and nightmares. In fact, it does so quite successfully. Tata creates an atmosphere of dread that grows steadily heavier as the film progresses.

Pabrik Gula, from Indonesia

It is the Hotel Cecil of sugar factories. However, seasonal workers keep coming every year, because the factory keeps hiring. Admittedly, the management does their best to keep the evil spirits at bay. The weird curfew is for the workers’ own protection. Unfortunately, the new contingent of laborers unknowingly riles up the demonic forces in Awi Suryadi’s Pabrik Gula (a.k.a. Sugar Mill), which opens today in select theaters.

Years ago, several workers burned to death when fire engulfed one of the warehouses. Somehow, they saved the warehouse, but not the people. Since then, most workers shun the building, especially at night. It’s not like they have a choice. The mill maintains a strict 9:00 curfew. Not even porch-sitting is allowed once the night whistle blows.

Unfortunately, Endah did not understand the importance of curfew on her first night. Ill-fatedly, she follows her new housemate Rani, who appears to be under some outside influence, to the infamous warehouse, where the spirits are conducting a sinister ceremony.

Endah came with a group of college-aged friends, but the provincial twentysomethings are sadly not going to college. Harvesting and milling sugarcane seemed like a decent opportunity to them. It should help pay for Hendra’s wedding to the extremely modest and devout Wati. In contrast, Naning is definitely on the hunt for an eligible man. Sadly, that does not include the schlubby, torch-carrying Franky, which his awkward sidekick Dwi often needles him about.

Honestly, the core group could have been better defined and distinguished. They are basically the good Muslim girl, the slutty one, the potential final girl, and three dudes. However, the atmosphere is extremely dark and awfully thick. This place feels profoundly evil and only too real.

Suryadi is not above springing jump scares, but he also uses the full frame, to sugestively show things lurking in corners and reflected in mirrors. This is the kind of eerie stuff Indonesian horror films really do well.

Kimo Stamboel’s Dancing Village: The Curse Begins

They hold a dancing contest in this small Java village that is a lot like the 1930’s dance-offs seen in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They. However, in this case, the sooner dancers collapse, the safer they will be. The lucky “winner” will be damned to dance with demons forever. Mila will be lured back to her mother’s ancestral home, just in time to see the sinister ritual revived in Kimo Stamboel’s Dancing Village: The Curse Begins, which opens this Friday in theaters.

Rather suddenly, Mila’s mother was stricken with a mysterious, debilitating illness. According to a shaman, the affliction will lift if Mila returns the ancient bangle her mother took from the so-called “Dancing Village.” This would be the same village seen in the KKN films, the top-grossing Indonesian horror franchise based on SimpleMan’s novel. Since this is a prequel, you don’t need to worry about those earlier later films.

With her cousin Yuda, his friend Arya, and their reluctant guide, they find the village, but they do not receive much of a welcome. The village headman has inconveniently passed away and their spiritual leader, Mbah Buyut is out of town. Almost immediately, Mila starts having visions of Badarawuli, the demonic femme fatale. Rather ominously. The mother of her host, Ratih, also exhibits similarly severe mystery symptoms.

There is some blood and guts, but Dancing Village depends more on mood and atmosphere for its scares. This is folk horror and its folkiest. It is chillingly effective in a slow-burn kind of way. In fact, Dancing Village is probably Stamboel’s most suggestive and quietly eerie film to date, either as a solo director or working with Timo Tjahjanto as the Mo Brothers. Admittedly, some of the dancing damnation scenes are almost campy, but in a way that is still deeply creepy.

Sri Asih: A New Indonesian Superhero Rises

She is like Wonder Woman, except she has a red scarf instead of a golden lasso—and her latest film doesn’t stink. Tired of the MCU and DCU movies? Who isn’t? The CGI is terrible, the writing is too woke, and everybody who isn’t a super-fan has to google all the meaningless character cameos. Indonesia is doing a much better job of superhero movies—and they too have two shared universes going. The Legend of Gatotkaca launched the Satria Dewa. Now we get the second film of the Bumilangit universe. However, you do not need to know anything about the first film to enjoy UPI (Avianto)’s Sri Asih: The Warrior, which releases tomorrow on DVD and VOD.

Alana always had a lot of fight in her, even in the orphanage, following her parents rather spectacular volcano-related deaths. Fortuitously, her mother happens to be the wealthy proprietor of an MMA gym. That was a convenient happenstance, but obviously, not really.

As a young woman, Alana is a contender. Unfortunately, that means she attracts the attention of crimelord Prayogo Adinegara’s wastrel son Mateo, who fancies himself a cage-fighter. He pressures Alana to take a dive, to stroke his ego. Reluctantly, she agrees for the sake of the gym, but his jerky behavior ignites her anger.

It turns out Alana has anger issues, straight from the goddess of anger, herself. That is because the sinister deity knows the goddess Asih has invested Alana with her own powers of righteousness. There are people who can help her master her powers, so she can defeat the rival goddess’s earthly host and foil a gruesome sacrifice.

There is a lot going on in Sri Asih, but it all boils down to G vs. E, good versus evil. That is why it works better than any recent American superhero movie. If you were cool with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, you will be just as happy with Pevita Pearce as Alana/Sri Asih, if not slightly more so.

The Legend of Gatotkaca

This is the first cinematic foray into the Indonesian “Satria Dewa” superhero universe—and probably the perfect time for it, considering how stale the Marvel and DC franchises are getting. At least this is something different, inspired the Mahabharata, albeit in a very modernized kind of way. Our hero still fights the Kaurava, but now they are more like an evil, genetic secret society in Hanung Bramantyo’s The Legend of Gatotkaca, which releases tomorrow on DVD.

Yuda’s mother Arimbi barely saved her son from a sinister supervillain, but the battle cost her memory. Since his teen years, Yuda has cared for her, dropping out of school to earn money. He therefore hoped to at least vicariously enjoy his well-heeled friend Erlangga’s graduation, but instead the valedictorian is mysteriously murdered on-stage.

Many of Jakarta’s best and brightest have recently fallen victim to a serial killer, who has the cops baffled. Of course, it is not really a mortal agent doing the killing. It is the Kaurava secret society, especially Beceng, their chief costumed assassin, who is knocking off those who carry the rival Pandava gene. Beceng also killed the father and brother of Dananjaya, who is sort of like the Hawkeye of the Satria Dewa universe. As Yuda starts asking questions, he meets the small band of Pandava resistance against the Kaurava cabal, led by Dananjaya.

Yuda also forges and alliance and perhaps something more with Agni, the daughter of Erlangga’s professor. With all their help, Yuda will unlock the secret of his mother’s mysterious heirloom, which holds the power of Gatotkaca, but he still has a lot of butt-kickings in-store for himself, at the hands of Beceng and the Kaurava.

Or something like that. Bramantyo and co-writer Rahabi Mandra lean into the series lore, presumably to please pre-existing franchise fans, but they often leave newcomers a bit confused. Regardless, if you consider the film a Sanskrit fusion of The X-Men and Underworld, you might generally get the idea. In fact, many of the Javanese elements make a refreshing change from the vanilla superhero movies Marvel and DC have been churning out (more Ant-Man and Shazam movies, really?).

The action is also pretty intense. Let’s put it this way, Yayan Ruhian (“Mad Dog” from The Raid) plays Beceng—and he hasn’t lost a single step. He definitely delivers in the fight scenes, making a spectacularly nasty bad guy.

Death Knot, More Indonesian Horror

Instead of a "lottery," this rural Indonesian village has “The Harvest.” Each year, a shooting star appears in the sky and then several people commit suicide by hanging. Somehow, this was all Hari and Eka’s mother’s fault. When she hangs herself too, the locals do not offer much sympathy, but her estranged children are not very broken up over it anyway. Unfortunately, they soon start to believe the sinister forces plaguing the town are still claiming victims in Cornelio Sunny’s Death Knot, which releases Tuesday on DVD.

Neither Hari or his sister Eka had seen their mother in years. She changed after the birth of her daughter, picking up some rather pagan tendencies. According to the villagers, their mom made a deal with the devil, taking responsibility for the Harvest and basically terrorizing the locals. Weirdly, the night she hung herself, both Eka and Hari had vivid premonitory dreams, warning them to stay away.

Nevertheless, they come to do their duty, getting the cold shoulder from just about everyone, even their swindler uncle, who wants to cheat them out of their mother’s house. Pretty soon, creepy things start happening, especially to Eka’s boyfriend Adi. Of course, the locals won’t tell them anything, especially after another round of Harvest-style hangings.

Sunny and co-screenwriter Ike Klose conjure up some familiar-sounding folk horrors, but the execution is first rate. Indonesian horror films like this and Joko Anwar’s Impetigore certainly make the countryside look like a creepy place. To that end, Sunny (who also stars as Hari) relies more on suggestion than visual effects, which tend to be practical and rather modest in scope.

Satan’s Slaves: Communion, on Shudder

There are two ironclad laws of horror films: the Devil always gets his due and it is never just one. In the previous film, Rini Suwono lost her youngest brother Ian to the satanic cult her late mother had joined, but it could have been far worse. Their family remains united, just a little smaller. Based on the conclusion of the first film, we know they are still be watched. Unfortunately, they found a new home in the worst possible apartment building. The bad things about to happen there will be related to the bad stuff from before in Joko Anwar’s sequel, Satan’s Slaves: Communion, which premieres tomorrow on Shudder.

The Suwono family doesn’t really listen to their late, demonic mother’s old pagan folk records anymore, but someone in the building does. Rini has largely forgone a life of her own to take care of her traumatized siblings. Somehow, the family narrowly escapes another tragedy when the building elevator crashes, because their father Bahri walks away with only comparatively minor injuries. Even he is unsure how or why he was so fortunate. However, as the ten bodies lay at-rest, awaiting funeral rites, all heck breaks loose.

A freak storm cuts off power and transportation to the building. That is always a distressing portent in horror movies. Yet, the building seems weirdly empty, as if a lot of residents knew it was coming. Bad stuff is definitely happening to those who are left, including Tari Daryati, the new crush of Rini’s older brother. You can tell Anwar is pretty darn bold when it comes to horror, because he has the evil forces attack Daryati during her prayers. Maybe the lapsed Muslim is a little too lapsed, but they don’t seem to work. Like the last time, Budiman Syailendra, an expert in the occult, might have some answers, but he is cut-off by the floodwater.

Communion continues the story of Anwar’s original Satan’s Slaves (which was technically a remake) in ways that are consistent in theme and tone to the prior film. This film has a larger scale, but the supernaturally powerful cult is just as malevolent and their interest is just as personal as it was before.

However, the prologue that establishes Syailendra’s backstory is a vividly eerie origin story that should well-satisfy fans of the first film. Intriguingly, the 1955 Bandung conference of former colonial, “Non-Aligned” nations is also referenced in a potentially sinister way, risking the wrath of “de-colonizing” film critics (at least if they understood the history of the event). Honestly, Anwar is one heck of a bold filmmaker.

Preman: Silent Fury

Premen are not exactly triads, because they pretend to be guardians of their neighborhoods. Consider them Indonesian “community organizers.” Of course, when crooked politicians want a block cleared of residents, they are the ones to call. Naturally, they turn on one of their own when his son witnesses one of their murders in Randolph Zaini’s Preman: Silent Fury, which releases today on DVD and BluRay.

For various reasons, some related to his deafness, Sandi has profound self-esteem issues. He really believes he is only fit to be enforcer for Guru’s Preman gang. When he first joined the Preman, they were more like what they present themselves to be, because they were led by the respected Haji. Now, Haji is on the other side, refusing to vacate the neighborhood a mobbed-up politician wants to re-develop.

Unfortunately, Sandi’s son Pandu sees Guru murdering Haji. Sandi hopes to stash Pandu with his estranged mother, but Guru’s assassin is hot on their heels. The flamboyant Ramon is a notoriously messy killer, who enjoys snipping up his targets with his hairdresser’s scissors. Right, you won’t see a villain like Ramon in a Hollywood movie anytime soon.

Preman definitely isn’t Hollywood, but it and other Indonesian martial arts releases make a good substitute for the action films we used to enjoy from Hong Kong. Tragically, the HK film industry has been profoundly compromised by the CCP, to the point where the propaganda outweighs everything else. Preman has plenty of the old school, bone-crunching action we’re missing and it is also weirdly eccentric, which also follows in HK traditions. At one point, Sandi cuts through a small army of Preman thugs, who appear in his mind’s eye as fuzzy cartoon animals.

Zaini plumbs his antihero’s subconscious deeper and further than most martial arts films ever attempt. At times, it is downright neurotically existential. However, Zaini always takes care of the action business. Preman’s fight scenes are particularly distinctive, because of Sandi’s preferred weapon of choice: the monkey’s fist, a rope on a string that takes on lethal power through centrifugal force.

First Look ‘22: Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash

Viagra was patented in 1996. Unfortunately for Ajo Kawir, his chaotic story takes place in 1980s Indonesia, when the only available recourses for what ails him are dubious folk remedies. Of course, those never work, so he resorts to meatheaded feats of machismo to prove his nonexistent virility in (one-named) Edwin’s Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash, which screens at MOMI during this year’s First Look.

Everyone knows Kawir is a wet noodle, so to speak, but he fights at the drop of a hat to prove some level of manliness. He has become a thug for hire, since he might as well get paid for it. Kawir’s latest job is putting the hurt on a predatory, mobbed-up construction company owner. Unfortunately, his target just hired the rather impressive Iteung as his bodyguard. She quickly realized her boss was pondscum, but she remains duty-bound to protect him.

During their brawl, the two fighters fall head-over-heels. However, Kawir is reluctant to court her, due to his condition. As it happens, she knows his business, just like everyone else in their rough-and-tumble West Java district, but she is willing to try to make things work anyway. Of course, her thuggish ex, Budi Baik constantly tries to interfere. There is also Kawir’s final unfinished assignment hanging over his head. He was supposed to kill a reclusive retired military officer, but now he just wants to settle down with Iteung. This will become a long-term issue, because the Kurtz-like officer knew Kawir was coming from him.

Edwin’s take on Eka Kurniawan’s novel, co-adapted with the novelist, is deliberately unruly, which mostly works for it. There are probably one or two flashbacks too many, but the combination of 1970s exploitation-action aesthetic with social commentary and off-the-wall genre elements are entertainingly mashed-together. Stylistically and thematically, it bears comparison to Leonor Will Naver Die, but it doesn’t have as much soul. Edwin also works the emasculation motif like a rented mule.

Queen of Black Magic, on Shudder

Orphans are always in for a rough time in horror movies. By definition, they are vulnerable and without a family support network. Even if they survive the orphanage, something always comes for them eventually, especially if they return to their spooky old institutional home later in life. Three friends make that very mistake and their families will pay the price in Kimo (one half of the Mo Bothers) Stamboel’s Queen of Black Magic, a somewhat free remake of a 1981 Indonesian horror movie written by Joko Anwar, which premieres tomorrow on Shudder.

On his way to visit sick, old Bandi, the orphanage headmaster on his death bed, Hanif accidentally runs over a deer—except maybe it wasn’t a deer. Bad start, regardless. Everyone briefly feels reassured when they meet his two orphanage-mates Anton and Jeferi and their families, but nobody is exactly sure who called them there. Of course, strange things soon start happening and a strange, uncanny power will not let them leave.

Soon, they realize their tormentor must be the sinister witch they thought they had dealt in their teen years, under Bandi’s direction. Clearly, they had not completely finished her off. The circumstances surrounding the incident may not have been what they were led to believe either. However, she might be even angrier and more dangerous than advertised.

Anwar’s narrative really isn’t anything spectacularly new, but when he hits the classic horror tropes, he connects with haymaker roundhouses. Stamboel and cinematographer Patrick Tashadian drench everything in atmosphere and foreboding. They serve up some scary stuff, upholding the honor of Indonesian horror cinema.

Shudder: May the Devil Take You Too

The problem with surviving a horror movie is it’s never really over. This is the second demonic rodeo for all the characters we are about to meet, so that necessarily means some will not be so lucky this time around. In the previous film, Alfie Wijaya and her little step-sister Nara literally survived an encounter with the Devil, but she is still haunted by the experience. Nevertheless, a group of terrified Indonesian orphans abducts her in the belief she can help them defeat their old demonic tormentor, who has recently reasserted himself. Wijaya suspects her presence will be like fighting a grease fire with a can of gasoline, but nobody asks her opinion in Timo Tjahjanto’s May the Devil Take You Too, which premieres tomorrow on Shudder.

Budi, Jenar, Martha, Gadis, Leo, Kristi, and Dewi are sort of like the grown-kids from It, except they were horribly abused orphans—and Dewi will be killed in the prologue. They grew up in a provincial orphanage, where they became accustomed to the cruelty of wealthy founder Pak Ayub. However, they were forced to kill him when they discovered Ayub intended to sacrifice them to the demon Molloch. They thought that was the end of it until his demonic spirit started attacking Gadis, the weakest of their circle.

Martha, the bookish one, studied the old demon-worshiper’s Black Bible and identified Wijaya as a demonic survivor with enough mojo to deliver the necessary incantations. She did not go easily and she remains skeptical. However, when the irredeemable Ayub starts possessing and killing his former victims, Wijaya is forced to go along with the plan, in order to protect Nara.

Although the concept is not exactly unprecedented, there is still a good deal of utter and complete lunacy in Take You Too. Arguably, it is also a bit restrained compared to some of Tjahjanto’s previous work (especially as part of the Mo Brothers), but there are still a fair number of over-the-top gross-out scenes. It certainly should not diminish Tjahjanto’s fan following. To the contrary, the way the eerie sense of foreboding gets under viewers’ skin and leads to rapidly escalating anxiety should only burnish his rep.

Self-Quarantine Viewing: Foxtrot Six

Angga is a former commando now serving in Congress. He is sort of like an Indonesian Dan Crenshaw, except the Jakartan has made some ethical compromises along the way. Angga has a plan to wipe out a troublesome guerilla outfit, but he changes his mind when he realizes his long-lost love is their leader. He and his old comrades fight hard to undo the machinations he sets in motion in Randy Korompis’s English-language Indonesian action movie, Foxtrot Six, executive-produced by Mario Kassar (T2 & Rambo of fame), which is now available on VOD platforms.

Once a hero, Angga has been co-opted and corrupted by the Piranha Party, the political wing of the powerful “Piranhas Corporation.” They were going to call themselves the Evil Predators Inc., but the public relations department convinced the top execs to tone it down. Angga successfully pitches them a scheme to distract the populace and discredit the rebels known as “The Reform,” (again, so subtle these names), but he has to take on his old nemesis Wisnu as his chief enforcer.

Unbeknownst to Angga, Piranhas and Wisnu have hatched a much bigger and bloodier false flag operation. They intend to “martyr” seven of their own unsuspecting congressmen, including Angga’s closest ally. Of course, the Reform will be scapegoated. It turns out that includes Sari Nirmala, Angga’s great love and the mother of the daughter he never knew he had. Suddenly it is up to Angga, four of his former fellow commandos, and Nirmala’s taciturn lieutenant known as Spec to save the country and vindicate the Reform.

Frankly, none of the conspiracy stuff makes much sense and the Angga-Nirmala subplots are eye-rollingly melodramatic. What is most frustrating is that Julie Estelle, probably still best known as “Hammer Girl” in The Raid 2, really does not have any real action to perform in Foxtrot.

Sundance ’20: Impetigore

There is usually a reason why secluded villages are secluded. It might not be rational, strictly speaking, but it holds enough sway to prevent people from beating a path to town. Likewise, large empty houses are not left abandoned without some kind of rationale, especially in hardscrabble rural Indonesia. Unfortunately, a scuffling twenty-five-year-old will go out of her way, putting herself in harm’s way, in hopes of securing an inheritance in Joko Anwar’s Impetigore, which screens during the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Frankly, Anwar is criminally under-heralded as a modern master of the horror genre. In the future, film schools could very well show Impetigore’s opening sequence in horror directing classes, as a crackerjack example of immediate white-knuckle tension that could serve as a compartmentalized prologue, but steadily takes on greater significance as the film develops. Maya is a frustrated toll-collector who survives a harrowing attack from a passing motorist. Weirdly, he seems to know her, even calling her by a name she vaguely remembers from her early childhood.

The ordeal spurs Maya to examine her hazy memories of life with her late parents in the countryside, before the orphaned girl relocated to the city with the woman she always knew as an aunt. All that remains is a photo of little Maya (as she is now known) standing with her parents, in front of a large and presumably valuable house. Accompanied by her encouraging friend Dini, Maya treks out to the too-small-to-be-on-the-map village, hoping to claim title to the property. However, they find the village odd. The people are standoffish and there are absolutely no children to be seen—except for the three spectral girls Maya thought she saw standing by the road, during the overnight bus ride.

The evil vibe Anwar establishes right from the start only deepens as he reveals the details regarding the curse plaguing the town. Karma kills and tragedy compounds—brutally. Arguably, Anwar’s storyline is not blow-you-away original, but his execution is so skillful, he keeps the audience on pins-and-needles throughout every second and every frame. Like his previous horror film, the remake of Satan’s Slaves, Impetigore is straight-up terrifying.

Fantasia ’19: Dreadout

You can think of it as the Indonesian Silent Hill. Doesn’t that inspire bushels of confidence? It is the first Indonesian video game movie-adaptation, based on a locally produced horror-survival game. Staying alive will be no easy feat, but it never is in a Mo Brothers film. This time around, Kimo Stamboel helms on his own, bringing Dreadout to bigger screens, including Concordia’s SGWU theater, where it had its North American premiere during the 2019 Fantasia International Film Festival.

This will be a case of live by the smart phone, die by the smart phone, or vice versa. To score more followers than their upstart juniors, a group of well-heeled high school seniors decide to break into an abandoned apartment building that was the scene of a notorious crime. Super idea kids. Nothing could go wrong with that plan. To enter, they need the help of Linda, a financially strapped classmate.

Of course, we can immediately tell she was the terrified little girl who witnessed the disastrous exorcism during the prologue. Soon, she also starts regaining memories of that night when the entitled Scooby-Doo gang break through the old police tape cordoning off her former apartment. It had changed since she lived there. Much to everyone’s bafflement, there is now a deep pool right in the middle of the floor. Naturally, it turns out to be a portal to a sinister nether realm that pulls Linda and Jess (the queen bee) through to the other side.

This world is populated with demonic creatures, who all want a piece of Linda. Fortunately, she discovers the flash on her phone will keep them at bay—and possibly even vanquish them. Yes, much game-play-inspired demon flashing will transpire.

As half of the Mo Brothers tandem, with Timo Tjahjanto, Stramboel has jointly directed some pretty extreme movies, like Killers, but this time he goes it alone. The results are strangely ordinary, but the atmosphere is genuinely creepy. In fact, Silent Hill comparisons are indeed apt.

The set design and art direction of Dreadout are genuinely quite striking. The film looks good and Caitlin Haldman solidly anchors the film as down-to-earth Linda. On the other hand, the rest of her classmates are just generic horror movie teens. Only Mike Lucock really stands out from the pack, to any extent, as the older, more corruptible security guard.

Dreadout moves along at a respectable clip, but it has none of the visceral intensity of a film like Killers. It is mostly just okay, which is really the film’s biggest surprise. Still, by the standards of video game movie adaptations, it ranks up there, largely from lack of competition. Recommended for game fans, Dreadout had its North American debut at this year’s Fantasia.

NYAFF ’18: Buffalo Boys

The Dutch were something else, weren’t they, what with their windmills, tulips, and Indonesian colonialism. This movie will make then pay dearly for their Western imperialism, but it will use the conventions of the American western to do it. Two brothers and their uncle have returned from California to avenge their decimated family and kick some Dutch butt in Mike Wiluan’s Buffalo Boys (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 New York Asian Film Festival.

Jamar and Suwo’s father tried to make peace with the dastardly Van Trach, but that worked out poorly for him and his Javanese village. Their Uncle Arana had a feeling that would happen, but he didn’t have time to say I told you so. He was too busy escaping with his infant nephews. As soon as they return, they get into trouble rescuing a village headman’s daughter from Van Trach’s Weinstein-esque henchmen. Naturally, that brings down the full Wrath of the Dutch (how about that for a title?) on their former hosts.

As a result, the three outlaws are particularly ticked off when they blow into Van Trach’s corrupt Dodge City. They even take rooms above the saloon, as they bide their time. As if matters were not personal enough, Suwo rushes headlong into some ill-advised fights to protect the headman’s other daughter, the tomboy fighter, Kiona.

Buffalo Boys is so blatantly trying to stoke resentment against the West, you would think it was produced by Jackie Chan. At times, it really wallows in the level of agitprop. Nevertheless, it needs to be stipulated Wiluan stages some terrific action scenes. The final shootout is a real smoker that can hold its head up with many classic gun fights. Naturally Jamar and Suwo are grossly outnumbered, but they are not necessarily outgunned. Plus, they are considerably more mobile, since the Dutch insist on wearing their wooden shoes.

Indonesian superstar Ario Bayu cuts the right sort of broad-shouldered figure for Jamar, but his glum brooding allows Yoshi Sudarso to frequently up-stage him as the more dashing Suwo. Yet, Tio Pakusadewo towers over both of them as grizzled old Uncle Arana. Frankly, Reinout Bussemaker is laughably sinister as Van Trach, but that is the sort of mustache-twisting villain a film of this degree of subtlety demands.

Wiluan produced Headshot and Beyond Skyline, so he obviously learned a thing or two about how action should look on-screen. Both those films are more fun than his directorial debut, but he still notches some highly distinctive kills. Unfortunately, the didactic soapbox statements are more likely to inspire dismissive laughter than woke revelations. Still, between the two, you can’t say the film doesn’t entertain. It is messy and prone to embarrassing finger-wagging, but still kind of fun. Buffalo Boys screens Sunday evening (7/15) at the SVA Theatre, as part of the 2018 NYAFF, so proost everybody.