Rather than a wedding, the departure point for this remake of Liliek Sudjio’s same-named 1981 Indonesian cult horror item is a reunion of sorts at an orphanage. Mr. Bandi (Yayu A.W. Unru), will any day now breathe his last, and a trio of acquiescent repatriates are coming to pay their respects to the man who raised them. Haqi (Muzakki Ramdhan), the young son of former orphan Hanif (Ario Bayu) and wife Nadya (Hannah Al Rashid), bears the brunt of much of the film’s introductory exposition: as a current resident tells him, twenty years ago, Ms. Mirah (Ruth Marini) returned alone after an outing with orphan Murni (Putri Ayudya) and alleged that the young girl was abducted by a demon. Her rantings led to banishment behind the mysterious green door, currently situated just down the hall from the children’s wing. Some say her ghost spent the ensuing decades locked in the room. As for Murni, she was never seen again. Not only does Haqi discover the door, the inquisitive tyke also find
Horror movies were a primarily US form for many years, as the genre was variably considered too juvenile, preposterous, violent, grotesque and/or tasteless in some nations. Government censors blocked their release where such material was considered inappropriate for public consumption; in certain other locations, the public simply wasn’t interested, whether the films in question were imported or homegrown.
Today, however, such cultural differences are largely gone. For myriad reasons, particularly the exported ubiquity of certain franchises online and in home formats, horror has become the most international of genres as well as the one that (due to its commerciality and usually low budget demands) many young filmmakers choose to start their careers with. So it’s not that unusual that this week brings new entries in the form from not just the US, but Argentina, Chile, Indonesia, and Iranian expats.
Directed by Kimo Stamboel.
Starring Ario Bayu, Hannah Al Rashid, Adhisty Zara, Ade Firman Hakim, Sheila Dara Aisha, Tanta Ginting, Salvita Decorte, Imelda Therinne, Miller Khan and Shenina Cinnamon.
SYNOPSIS:
When a group of friends reunite at the orphanage where they grew up, they discover that they may have been brought together by some sort of sinister dark sorcery.
Indonesia is currently on something of a high when it comes to horror movies. In fact, the country’s entry for the Best International Feature Film award at the upcoming Oscars is the grotesque and unsettling
Impetigore, which was released via spooky streamer Shudder. The same service is responsible for Kimo Stamboel’s blood-soaked new movie