WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
It was interesting building this article and seeing that the rise in Indonesian horror seems to be a very recent thing as the films below only seem to span from the late 2010s to early 2020s. Many of the films I came across are based on the occult, superstition and religion so I apologise in advance if the themes across the following films are similar to each other.
Impetigore
Now, the only way to explain the start of this film is ‘a little weird’ – from the interaction Maya has with the guy who nearly kills her to the note that seems to have been concealed in her leg wound! I guess some would consider this as a “buddy” horror as it is based specifically around Maya and Dini facing up to the horrors of Maya’s childhood. I guess what happens to Dini can be considered as being her own fault, however in her defence she doesn’t know what these men want with Maya/Rahayu, so she naturally posed as her for her friend’s protection. The way the old woman simply walks in and casually slits her throat is quite terrifying! It’s as if she’s asking those men what has taken them so long to deal with her. From the moment the villagers realise that they have killed the wrong girl, this film turns into a game of cat and mouse as Maya does what she can to keep herself alive. Now, I know they mention about skinless babies in this film, however I was not expecting to be able to see a new born baby’s internal organs! This is only made more disturbing when a ghost of a girl rips her skin off causing a cab driver to crash.
Side Note: I think you can tell a story of infidelity without the sex scene! Oh, and prepare yourselves for a dark ending.
Siksa Neraka
This film starts out so softly, a family sitting around mourning their late granddaughter, when one of the children sees her chained to the wall with very little face! Because of this I started to think no wonder this was rated 18, but from then on, with the amount time spent on them finding the children rather than them in Hell, I would possibly reduce that to a 15! It was the Hell scenes themselves being reasonably disturbing that brought me back to the censors’ way of thinking, which considering this is based on a comic is pretty dark. I guess this is the type of film that would fall into the subgenre of religious horror considering that in focuses more on the punishment of the characters rather than the rise of an unholy, supernatural being. For a moment, I honestly thought “this film is brave, sending four young children to Hell and punishing them” and then the 10 years later flashed up on the screen. It was unclear to me, at first, what the children’s sins were outside of Saleh’s gambling. If I’m honest, most of the sins seem to be surrounding Saleh instead of his siblings.
Trinil
I don’t think this film could have started off much better, a little of bit of humour before a reasonably disturbing death of the sceptical Jalu at the “hands” of the one thing he doesn’t believe in. Let’s just say I’m using the term “hands” loosely considering the ghost in this film spends the majority of the time as a floating head – which when it appears in the bowl looks unbelievably realistic! The comedic part of the film continues throughout – especially in the way Sutan is wound up by Yusof or Rara reactions to Joko being in her bedroom. What I couldn’t figure out however is whether Ma’am Ayu, the floating head in question, was making the song play or if it was what summoned her each time. The latter would explain why they were all so scared of hearing it. Weirdly, her laugh reminded me of a Halloween Trick or Treat bag I used to own. I also love the way this film sets you up for a jump scare, but it ends up being something simply innocuous – like the mute boy standing behind Yusof when as the viewer you’re expecting to see the floating head with the way the suspense is built. I had so many dark theories about how this film would pan out but it turns out it was far simpler than I was expecting.
Side note: Can someone please explain to me when they watch this, why Sutan kills Yusof? It doesn’t make sense in my opinion.
Kuyang
This film feels a lot more like a folklore horror than some of the others featured in this article. Especially considering its title Kuyang references a typically female ghost or sorcerer that wishes to feast on the blood of pregnant women. With that in mind, we actually don’t have much of a clue in the beginning that Sri is even pregnant. I thought I had missed something but judging by the reactions while visiting Mani Uwe, none of them knew she was. Outside of the opening scene in the car and the floating head following them, it takes a while before the kuyang appears again. There’s always something disturbing about using children to wield the darker parts of a story, and this film seems to learn into that as Mayang and the others chant Sacrifice at Sri whilst in a possessed state. It’s probably the smallest thing in the whole film but the way Sri bends her body honestly grosses me out! Considering the description given online for a Kuyang, I was expecting to be confronted with something a lot more gruesome than the floating head and latter fireball we are presented with. I wondered when we found out that Mr Tingen was a follower of Tambi Nyai, the kuyang in question, if he had intentionally chosen Bimo because Sri was pregnant but given not even she knew – how could he have known!
Once the twist is revealed, prepare to be shocked!
Sumala
I love the fact that this film has such a sweet opening, simply children playing football with a make-shift ball. Until two of them stray into the corn field because they lose said ball and end up stuck there after dark, and then it has the bravery very few films taken on. The killing of children on screen! Trisno’s death isn’t even softened, it’s pretty brutal! From that point on, the tone of the film really weakened in my opinion, only really picking up again with around an hour left. Even with the slightly disturbing ritual performed on Sulastri and the murder of the new born baby. I get that was supposed to show a back story for the spirit girl but it just seems to drag. I can’t deny though, Sumala’s spirit is creepy! Parts of this film, mainly the interactions and switching of bodies for Kumala and Sumala reminded me of Look Away but really – this is a child vs child revenge horror. Credit to the young girl who played Kumala/Sumala as she is just the right amount of violent and terrifying! The moment her bones crack back into place during the fight with Sulastri I wanted to be sick!
The Queen of Black Magic
I would definitely consider this film as a slow burner. Don’t get me wrong, I usually quite like them, however it feels like it takes much longer than it actually does to get to the good stuff! The disturbing scene with the bus of dead children happens around 25 minutes in and then the plot slows again. When things like this happen, it slightly takes me out of the film – just pick a pace and stick to it in my opinion. Especially when you’re able to hit the viewer quite hard with death scenes like Ton’s! The way the bug crawled all over him and into his mouth made me want to be sick, but I guess it doesn’t help that I’m not a fan of creepy crawlies! Unfortunately for me they seem to become a theme in quite of few of the deaths. It’s at this point that the film genuinely starts to get good as the dark side of the story truly sets in. Now, if all of this had started much sooner, it would have been a much better film but it definitely is not one for the faint hearted once things begin to hit the fan!
Side note: I’m not too sure there was a need for the paedophile part of the story line. Ms Mirah could have simply been practicing black magic in the orphanage. I understand that it is used to make her look like a better person, but the events of this film could have been left as a retaliation by Murni for the boys locking her mother in the room all those years ago.
