Impetigore

The acclaimed Joko Anwar notches up his fourth horror film in his career and once again garners rave reviews and praise from critics. I personally was expecting a bit more, but looking back over the last month, this is definitely the best and most interesting of all the horror films that have come out. The protagonist and her friend head to her home village after 20 years thinking she might have inherited a fortune from her parents, but instead they are in for a fight for their lives, as there is already a long standing curse in the village linked to her family. I really liked the opening sequence, where the tension could be cut, and the scenes where children are executed are interesting even if not explicit, so it definitely has its atmosphere. There are a few throats slit and also skinning. The film may not be very scary, and the gore is spared too, but it has a very special surreal atmosphere as well as a fairly engaging story, nice cinematography and a well built mythology. I probably won't go back to it, but this film definitely has its qualities and is worth a look. Story****, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence***, Entertainment***, Music***, Visuals****, Atmosphere****, Suspense***. 7/10. (26.07.2020)

This concentratedly told horror drama offers the exotic setting of a remote Indonesian village and its surroundings, the mysterious atmosphere of the curse afflicting the village’s inhabitants and more than one cruel scene that Hollywood would never dare to make. Tara Basro in the lead role is not only pretty, but also makes a respectable driving force for a feature film. The Indonesians quite surprise me with their ability to make plot-driven, formalistically attractive, character-focused films. Though the climax may be overwrought in some of the characters’ reactions, it is not enough to degrade the overall experience. (11.10.2020)

This Indonesian film had such huge logic holes that elephants or heavy machinery could easily fall through them, yet paradoxically, I enjoyed the events set in a village somewhere in the middle of a jungle. Actually, I was entertained right from the start, when the conversations between Maya and Dini reminded me of firing from MG 42s (the girls’ barrels not overheating even for a second). Unlike America's constantly repeated vain attempts at making a horror movie, here, I came across a very unsettling atmosphere, and a high-quality theme. If it hadn't been for the seriously flawed logic, this could have been a real treat. (02.12.2020)