(1980)
Dir - Sisworo Gautama Putra
Overall: MEH
A notable entry in the Rapi Film cannon for featuring Muslim religious concepts in place of the tradition Christian or even Buddhist ones found in various other Eastern horror films, Satan's Slave, (Pengabdi Setan), has an aloof, low-budget charm to it despite some unintentionally funny blunders along the way. Tonally, director Sisworo Gautama Putra, (who had already been behind the lens on two other horror movies in as many years), sets up an eerie atmosphere, opening with a somber funeral and then a scene right out of the Salem's Lot television miniseries before any dialog is even uttered. The undead ghouls here could be vampires, ghosts, or demons for all that we know, but they have a unique, fun look to them with their white contact lenses, pasty faces, and dirty, off-white robes. They also move as slow as Lucio Fulci zombies and therefor fail hilariously as a threatening menace. Occasional scenes are drenched in unnatural lights and/or make use of creepy shadows, but other moments are shot in broad daylight or fully lit rooms that unfortunately enhance the low production values. The story is as simple as they come and does not offer up any surprises, but genre fans will get a kick out of certain elements that are here.
(1981)
Dir - Liliek Sudjio
Overall: GOOD
The only of Rapi Films' horror products to be directed by Liliek Sudjio, The Queen of Black Magic, (Ratu ilmu hitam, Black Magic 3), is a memorable tale of vengeance with plenty of outrageous supernatural sequences and a consistently serious tone despite its humble production values. Taking its cue from the Shaw Brothers' two Black Magic movies from a few years prior, this is an appropriate starring vehicle for Indonesia's "Queen of Horror" Suzzanna, whose tragic title character is pitted against a small village that has lost its faith and given into mob justice, learning the black arts from W.D. Mochtar's practitioner who has a revenge scheme of his own underway. Wonderfully gruesome moments take center stage, like a guy ripping his own head off which then flies around and bites people, character's boiled flesh bursting right off of their bodies, a guy's stomach ballooning to full-blown pregnancy, and live bees, worms, and snakes all interacting with any manor of actor, (including a small infant). Occasional moments in between do meander, but Sudjio does a better job than most with maintaining a momentum that makes the rudimentary plot just inciting enough to stick around with. He also manages to stage some striking cinematic images that are equal parts amusing, weird, and creepy.
(1984)
Dir - Ratno Timoer
Overall: WOOF
For anyone hoping that an Indonesian sword and sorcery epic made in the niche genre's camp-fueld heyday would wield enduring results, the embarrassing turkey that is The Devil's Sword, (Golok Setan), will sadly crush such expectations. While there are occasional bouts of hilarity which generally stem from absurd, awkwardly stilted dialog such as "You nymphomaniac! With all of these handsome young men around you, you must have more of them. So you steal my husband! Bitch!", the movie's plot line is Neanderthal-brained and is played out in a ceaselessly boring manner. If the long, nudity-less orgies do not put one to sleep, then either the snore-inducing fight scenes or endless amounts of characters simply standing around and saying nothing to each will act as the equivalent of taking a Xanax to veer off to Lala Land. Considering that the movie is exclusively filled with nothing BUT these long, nudity-less orgies, snore-inducing fight scenes, and characters saying nothing while staring each other down in uncomfortable close-ups, good luck being entertained by the abysmal production values and accidental moments of laugh-out-loud stupidity. Speaking of which, there are also alligator people who spring up out of the earth with rubber reptilian helmets on their heads that Star Trek's Gorn would be humiliated by.
No comments:
Post a Comment