MONSTERZERO NJ’S SATURDAY NIGHT DOUBLE FEATURE: SATAN’S SLAVES and IMPETIGORE

This edition of MZNJ’s Saturday Night Double Feature is a good match for quite a few reasons! One, they are both Indonesian horrors, two they are both written and directed by Joko Anwar and three, they both feature the beautiful and talented Tara Basro as the lead! So, head over to Shudder where both these spooky flicks are currently streaming and enjoy!

SATAN’S SLAVES (2017)

Indonesian horror is from Impetigore writer/director Joko Anwar and tells of the ailing matriarch (Ayu Laksmi) of the Suwono family. When she passes, strange things start to occur around the house, causing eldest daughter Rini (Impetigore‘s Tara Basro) to look into her mother’s past. Rini finds to her horror that her mother was part of a Satanic sect and the price of what benefits she gained from it are to be paid to that sect in the form of the youngest child in the family, little Ian (Muhammad Adhiyat).

Anwar directs again from his own screenplay, this time based on a 1980 Indonesian horror of the same name. It’s a spooky film with some offsetting visuals, such as ghastly specters and the dead rising from their graves. It’s not quite as consistently intense as Impetigore and seems like about ten minutes, or so, longer than it needs to be, but it is more of a slow burn that comes to a very creepy last act and climax. The benefit of a slower pace is that we get to know the members of this family well enough to care, especially Rini, and we find out the details of the hidden part of their mother’s life gradually, as they do. Anwar also plays with the motivations of some of his spectral guests in the family’s modest home, providing some interesting twists. The writer/director gets really good work out of his cast, including the kids and especially leading lady Tara Barso, as a young woman forced to take over as head of a supernaturally embattled family. Anwar juggles a fairly large number of characters, and it helps that his strong storytelling skills are at work. Can this clan keep together and save little Ian?…and themselves?…the flick is worth a look to find out the answer. On the technical side, the visual and make-up FX are well done and provide some very chilling entities to populate this supernatural thriller and Anwar’s visual eye keeps things atmospheric and unsettling.

This is a spooky and atmospheric film from a filmmaker who is proving he is good at supplying both scares and story. Director Joko Anwar and leading lady Tara Basro are also proving to be a formidable team as they were in Impetigore. Film can be found streaming on Shudder and if you liked Impetigore, you’ll probably like this!

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) sisters of Satan’s spawn!

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IMPETIGORE (2019)

Impetigore is an Indonesian horror that finds a young woman named Maya (Tara Basro) looking into her past after a mysterious individual tries to kill her. Also down on her luck, Maya returns, with her best friend Dini (Marissa Anita), to the rural village that is her birthplace, to seek her inheritance. Having been away from her family home since she was a child, she finds that there is a curse on this small village. Worse still, the locals believe her family is involved and the only way to end the curse is to kill the last remaining member of her family…Maya.

Very spooky and well-made flick is written and directed by Joko Anwar and is a nice mix of dark folktale and city girl in a backwoods nightmare. Anwar creates a very thick atmosphere of malevolence and dread as Maya enters her former hometown, that she hasn’t step foot in since she was five years old. As those around her plot against her, Maya finds a past filled with jealousy, infidelity, murder and black magic. The writer/director slowly lets us find out the real facts about Maya’s past, as she does, with a nice last act reveal that finally unveils the dark truth behind the curse and its origin, as well as Maya’s role in it and how it can be stopped. It’s classic storytelling and the elements of dark fairy tale, backwoods horror and Indonesian culture are all blended skillfully. The last act has some very suspenseful moments, as the outnumbered Maya is hunted through the village and surrounding woods, and it’s all delivered with a very impressive visual style from director Anwar and cinematographer Ical Tanjung. Up till that point, the film is consistently unsettling as Maya gradually finds out what’s going on and how much trouble she’s in. It helps that our heroine is also very likable, as is her spunky best friend Dini. There is some bloody violence and gore and the plot elements involving village newborns, missing children, and puppets made out of human skin are extremely effective, especially when woven into the story so well. Anwar is a skilled storyteller and one who knows how to tell one in a very chilling and unnerving way.

The cast are all very good with lead Tara Basro standing out as Maya. She is a young woman trying to make a living in the city and who remembers very little about her past. When that past comes for her with a vengeance, she bravely, though cautiously, goes to get some answers, though her dire financial situation also plays a factor in her decision. When she realizes there is a village out to kill her, her resilient side comes through. Marissa Anita is cute and feisty as her friend Dini. Dini is a true friend indeed, traveling with Maya to this spooky little village in the middle of nowhere and the actress makes her very endearing. Ario Bayu is very effective as the film’s villain, village elder Ki Saptadi. He is the one who believes Maya’s demise is the answer to the village’s curse problems and Anwar does throw us a nice curve concerning Saptadi in the last act and Bayu plays it all well. In support there is Christine Hakim who oozes malevolence as Nyi Misni, Saptadi’s mother and Zidni Hakim and Faradina Mufti play Maya’s parents in flashbacks with no dialogue.

This is a very spooky and atmospheric film from a filmmaker who knows how to tell a story. It’s part backwoods horror and part dark folktale, with a young woman whose past comes back to haunt her. There is a very effective mood of danger and malevolence, some very atmospheric Indonesian locations, really taunt suspense and some surprising reveals and unlocked secrets, that enrich an already engrossing tale. Highly recommended and both director Joko Anwar and leading lady Tara Basro are talents to keep an eye on. Now streaming on Shudder!

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 and 1/2 (out of 4) unfortunate heirs to a family curse!

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BARE BONES: DEADSTREAM (2022)

DEADSTREAM (2022)

Found footage horror/comedy finds internet influencer Shawn Ruddy (Joseph Winter) facing his fears on his web show The Wrath of Shawn. To regain his audience, after being banished for six months when one of his stunts causes injury, Shawn decides to face his biggest fear upon his return…ghosts! Locking himself inside an actual haunted house Shawn learns the hard way that this may be one fear he may not live to overcome.

Laugh out loud flick is written and directed by star Joseph Winter along with Vanessa Winter and is deviously entertaining. It is a clever blast of a good time that not only skewers internet stars, live stream web shows, paranormal shows and found footage horror, but wonderfully captures the manic energy and ghoulish laughs of Evil Dead 2 in its overdrive last act. Winter’s hyperactive Shawn is annoying, endearing and hilariously funny all at the same time and he makes a worthy “Ash” for a new generation facing all sorts of scary spooks, being covered in various bodily fluids, and getting the crap beaten out of him. It’s energetic and entertaining and the filmmakers even get some legitimately spooky sequences mixed in with all the fun stuff. The Utah location is very creepy, and the Winters use it well. The spooks are nicely rendered FX, there are some surprisingly gory moments and some bonkers sequences with motor-mouth, coward Shawn fighting for his life against various ghosts and ghouls. The Winters pull off a nice mix of horror and comedy, give it some spooky atmosphere and manic energy, and it all adds up to a really fun Halloween time treat. Deadstream also stars Melanie Stone as Chrissy, a fan that follows Shawn to the haunted location. Flick is currently streaming on Shudder. FUN!

MZNJ: Not only is this one of the funniest and spookiest horror comedies in years, but definitely a strong candidate for being on the horror best of list for 2022.

-MonsterZero NJ

BARE BONES: MOLOCH (2022)

MOLOCH (2022)

Netherlands horror finds widowed Betriek (Sallie Harmsen) returning home with her young daughter Hannah (Noor van der Velden) to her family farmhouse after the death of her husband. Upon returning she is greeted by some odd deaths, a stranger attacking her family and the discovery of a group of buried bodies of woman with their throats slit. What is going on and why does Betriek feel something ancient, and evil has targeted her family.

 

Dutch horror is directed by Nico van den Brink from a script by he and Daan Bakker. Despite some intriguing story elements involving a malevolent biblical entity and a woman suspected of witchcraft, the film is very routine and kind of dull. There are some spooky visuals, and a few effective moments, along with some nice folklore elements but the film is very talky and takes far too long to get to the spooky stuff. The cast and setting give it some atmosphere and a refreshing look and feel, but there is little tension or scares, and it ends exactly as you expect it to. A disappointing example of some good ideas executed in a mundane and pedestrian manner. Flick is available to stream on Shudder.

 

-MonsterZero NJ

HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: SUPERHOST (2021)

SUPERHOST (2021)

Disturbing yet fun flick finds travel vloggers and couple Teddy (Osric Chau) and Claire (Sara Canning) picking a remote house in the woods for the next installment of their failing vlog, Superhost. The home is owned by Rebecca (Gracie Gillam) a woman who seems a bit eccentric to say the least. The longer Claire and Teddy stay, the more they begin to feel something isn’t right in this house and something is certainly very wrong with their Superhost, Rebecca.

Flick is written and directed by Brandon Christensen (Z, Still/Born) and despite being a familiar story, it is still a very effective and entertaining horror. Christensen lets us know from the start that something isn’t right with Rebecca and we know where it is all headed from the moment they get there, but unlike Teddy and Claire, this is about the ride and not the destination. What a ride it is, as we slowly find out, along with the couple, just how deranged Rebecca is and what she’s prepared to do—aside from what we find out she’s already done. What starts out as unsettlingly eccentric becomes diabolical and viciously violent, as the two are stranded in the middle of nowhere with the demented Rebecca watching their every move and listening to their every word. It’s a creepy fun flick, though it does get straight-up disturbing and bloodily violent before the credits roll. Christensen has a nice visual eye and creates an atmosphere of dread from very early on, then delivers a suspenseful and blood-spattered last act that might have you spilling your popcorn here and there—or even laughing uncomfortably in a few spots.

The small cast really helps make this work! Gracie Gillam, who, under her former stage name of Grace Phipps, starred in Some Kind of Hate, Dark Summer and Tales of Halloween, gives an over-the-top tour de force performance as the demented Rebecca. She’s unsettlingly cute and energetic one moment and full-blown vicious psychopath the next. She nears Heath Ledger Joker heights at times with her ability to change levels of crazy at the drop of a hat and being equally scary both in her exaggerated moments and in the calm ones, too. She and The Loved One’s Lola could be roommates no problem. Osric Chau is very likable as Teddy. Teddy is the weaker and more emotional of the couple, but is sweet and sympathetic. Claire is the more ambitious and business minded of the two…and the stronger. She sees Rebecca as prime ratings subject matter and is willing to continue with the episode long after Teddy’s alarms are going off about the alleged homeowner. Sara Canning plays her well and yet keeps her likable, despite her putting the vlog before boyfriend Teddy. Rounding out the cast is horror legend Barbara Crampton, who plays Vera, a woman with a grudge against Claire and Teddy. A solid cast!

Overall, this may be a familiar story and there is no doubt how this is going to end up, but it is a chilling hoot getting there. Brandon Christensen proves yet again he is a skilled director who can freshen up familiar tales and provide some nice atmosphere, chills and suspense. He has definitely become a filmmaker to keep an eye on. The small cast all perform well, with a delightfully demented performance from horror veteran Gracie Gillam. Superhost is now streaming exclusively on Shudder!

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 1/2 (out of 4) Superhosts.

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BARE BONES: SLAXX (2020)

SLAXX (2020)

Slaxx finds eager young Libby (Romane Denis) starting a new job at the posh Canadian Cotton Clothiers clothing store, working a night shift in preparation for a new clothing line launch. She and her new co-workers are sealed inside the store and come under attack by a pair of possessed designer jeans.

Canadian horror/comedy is directed by Elza Kephart from her script with Patricia Gomez. She wisely plays the material straight, letting the proceedings deliver the fun, and the audacity of the premise works much better this way. Not making this an outright joke was definitely the way to approach such a whimsical concept. Anyone who has worked in retail, especially for some upscale brand, will appreciate the plentiful satire aimed at the shallow and vapid atmosphere of such places. There is also some strong commentary on the treatment and unethical use of labor, such companies as the fictional CCC employ. There is plenty of gore and cute Romane Denis makes for a solid heroine, with her Libby being the only one strong-willed enough to take on the possessed pants. Even a killer pair of designer jeans can only be so scary, but Kephart uses her tale to deliver a message, not only entertain. Not a great movie by any stretch, but there is amusement to be had, as the pants decimate the shallow staff, and Kephart adds some strong commentary and sly satire to go along with the blood and bloomers. Now streaming on Shudder the flick is smartly a brisk 76 minutes.

-MonsterZero NJ

BARE BONES: LUCKY (2020)

LUCKY (2020)

Writer May (an excellent Brea Grant) believes a man is stalking her. Each night he appears and breaks into her house and she has to fight him off. Her husband Ted (Dhruv Uday Singh) seems to be very glib when discussing it, to the point where he leaves May and goes to stay with his parents, when she confronts him about his cavalier attitude. Even the police don’t seem to be taking her very seriously. Feeling abandoned and alone, May decides to deal with it in her own way, as each day the mysterious stalker (Hunter C. Smith) returns. Is this all in May’s head?…or is someone really out to hurt her?

Film is directed by Natasha Kermani, who gave us the interesting Imitation Girl, from a script by star Brea Grant. The film is partially commentary on how female victims of sexual assault, or harassment, become the ones under scrutiny and who have to prove themselves amid disbelief. May constantly fights to be believed and finds herself having to defend herself to everyone around her. Lucky is also about living in constant fear after such a trauma and learning to confront those fears. With each encounter, May becomes stronger and more resilient, as the mysterious attacker gets bolder and more violent. The people around her also become more and more dismissive and are of no help, so she is on her own. If it seems like something is a bit off here, with so many people not believing and even patronizing May, you would be right. It’s a slasher film as a metaphor for trauma and it’s effects. If there is anything predictable about the unconventional Lucky, is that this obviously isn’t going to end like a typical slasher movie and everything is not what it outwardly seems. We also know from early on there is more beneath the surface than Kermani and Grant are telling us, or plan to tell us. There is no spoon feeding here, or revelatory reveal. It’s up to the viewer to fill in the blanks and the pieces are there if you want to put them together. The film may ultimately be unsatisfyingly ambiguous to some, but as someone who grew up in a household with an abusive parent, the film’s messages about alienation, trauma and living in fear are well received, as are those of learning to face those fears and fight back. Another bold and innovative film from Kermani and a strong, clever script by Brea Grant. Lucky is streaming on Shudder.

-MonsterZero NJ

BARE BONES: SHOOK (2021)

SHOOK (2021)

Shudder original finds internet beauty and make-up personality Mia (Daisye Tutor) dog sitting for her sister Nicole (Emily Goss). While at Nicole’s house, Mia comes under attack from a mysterious individual who taunts her and makes her play sadistic games with her friends’ lives in the balance.

Newest addition to the internet/cellphone stalker sub-genre is written and directed by Jennifer Harrington from a story by Alesia Glidewell. It’s fairly routine story-wise, as this recent trend of horror flicks go. Jennifer Harrington does direct effectively and there are some chilling moments. It doesn’t really get interesting till the last act reveal of who is stalking Mia and why. It is a nasty revelation and a bit unexpected, but works well in being fairly disturbing, as it makes things unsettlingly even more personal. Mia’s selfish behavior may have come back to haunt her. The commentary on our online social lives, especially in these COVID isolation times, is becoming commonplace in these flicks as of late, but when Shook does it’s own thing with it’s familiar tale, is when Harrington most shows she has some potential. The cast is also solid with Tutor doing good work as our initially shallow heroine and at under 90 minutes, it is also short and to the point. Far from perfect, but still worth a look if you are into the recent spate of social media based thrillers. Available to stream on Shudder.

-MonsterZero NJ

2020: THE YEAR THAT PUT INDONESIAN HORROR ON THE MAP!

Maya (Tara Basro) returns to her birthplace to find a decades old curse that’s marked her for death in the Indonesian horror Impetigore.

The horror genre is no stranger to Indonesian cinema, in fact they make spooky flicks quite prolifically. It’s just that, up till now, this was only known to die hard horror movie buffs and dedicated cinephiles. That may have changed this year, thanks to streaming networks like Shudder and Netflix, whose acquiring of some recent titles has brought Indonesia’s horror cinema to mainstream attention…and availability! Film’s like Netflix’s May The Devil Take You and Shudder’s Impetigore have gotten solid reviews for being really spooky and well made movies. It’s also brought much deserved attention to not only their respective writer/directors, Timo Tjahjanto and Joko Anwar, but their resilient final girls Chelsea Islan (May The Devil Take You, May The Devil Take You Too)  and Tara Basro (Satan’s Slaves, Impetigore), as well. This has also brought attention to the fact that Netflix has numerous other Indonesian horror offerings such as The 3rd Eye franchise, The Doll and Kuntilanak, and the same goes with Sudder, Amazon Prime and Tubi. Now everyone is aware of what only a few movie fans have known for some time and thanks to these streaming networks, we have a whole new world of horror flicks to choose from!

Four recent releases that helped put Indonesian horror on the map!

(To get to our reviews of the flicks covered here, click on the highlighted titles!)

2018 Indonesian horror May The Devil Take You has teen Alfie (Chelsea Islan) and her step-siblings paying the price for their father’s occult practices.

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-MonsterZero NJ

BARE BONES: LINGERING (2020)

LINGERING aka HOTEL LAKE (2020)

Lingering aka Hotel Lake finds Yoo-mi (Se-yeong Lee) taking charge of her little sister Yoon Ji‑yoo (So-yi Park) after the death of their mother. She doesn’t plan to do that for long, as she returns to an old lakeside hotel run by her mother’s friend Gyeong-seon (Ji-Young Park) to leave her sister with the woman known to them since childhood as “Auntie.” Upon arrival, things are not as they seem, as strange events begin to occur and soon Yoo-mi starts to believe she and her younger sibling may be in danger. What follows is an unraveling mystery of both the human and the supernatural kind with Yoo-mi and her little sister caught in the middle.

Korean horror is written and directed by Yoon Een-Kyoung and is a disappointingly mediocre supernatural thriller. It has some nice atmosphere, the cinematography by Hyeong-bin Lee is quite sumptuous and the locations are quite spooky. Se-yeong Lee makes a solid heroine as Yoo-mi and Ji-Young Park is good as “Auntie” Gyeong-seon. It’s just the story is predictable and the haunting elements are routine. We know something isn’t right at this beautiful old hotel and that there is something Auntie is not telling us. We also never quite trust the almost too gracious and agreeable Gyeong-seon from the start, which makes later reveals more of the “I thought so!” kind. Still it has some effective moments and there are some gruesome make-up FX and abundant bloodshed in the second half, when Yoo-mi starts to unravel the hidden secrets of Auntie and this haunted hotel. Not a bad movie, but not especially memorable either. Streaming on Shudder for those interested.

-MonsterZero NJ

HALLOWEEN HOTTIES: HALLOWEEN HOTTIE OF 2020!

MONSTERZERO NJ’S HALLOWEEN HOTTIE OF 2020…

TARA BASRO!

It’s Halloween🎃!…and as it has become tradition, it’s time to announce MonsterZero NJ’s Halloween Hottie of the Year!…an actress that has not only captured our hearts, but gotten our attention with a strong performance, be it as a final girl or a femme fatale!…

…and our Halloween Hottie of 2020 is…Tara Basro!

Tara Basro is a talented Indonesian actress and model who seems to have become the go-to leading lady for Indonesian director Joko Anwar. She had previously starred in his spooky horror flick Satan’s Slaves and his superhero flick Gundala, before her attention getting role as heroine Maya in the Shudder original Impetigore. This very intense and creepy flick finds down on her luck Maya looking into her past after a mysterious individual tries to kill her. Maya travels, with her best friend Dini (Marissa Anita), to the rural village that is her birthplace, in hopes of securing her inheritance. Having been away from her family home since she was a child, she finds that there is a curse on this small village. Worse still, the locals believe her family is involved and the only way to end the curse is to kill the last remaining member of the family…Maya. Thankfully the resilient and resourceful Maya proves to not be the easiest target. Not many final girls have taken on an entire village full of killers, black magic and ghosts, all at one time, but Basro’s Maya does exactly that and made an impression doing so! A talented actress we’d like to see more of, especially in the horror genre!

(Click on the highlighted links or on the movie poster to read a review of the Shudder original, Impetigore!)

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Tara Basro as Maya in Impetigore!

Down on her luck Maya has been going from one mundane job to another.

A close call with an armed madman leads disturbingly back to her ancestral village.

In the hope a life changing inheritance awaits, Maya travels back to her birthplace.

Almost immediately Maya and bestie Dini, find something is not right in this small remote village.

The more Maya finds out about her family history, the more she finds reason to be afraid…for her life!

Maya finds herself surrounded by black magic, mortal enemies and in deep trouble. Will she escape alive?

MONSTERZERO NJ’S HALLOWEEN HOTTIE OF 2020 RUNNER UP…SEO YE-JI!

As it is now tradition, we have a runner up! A new face on the horror flick scene! Korean actress Seo Ye-Ji made an impression in the Shudder Original Warning: Do Not Play as young, up and coming film director Mi-Jung. Mi-Jung has two weeks to come up with a screenplay in order to keep her first big directing job. Research leads her to a student film, that when shown at it’s premiere, caused panic and even death. Intrigued, she sets out to to find this supposedly haunted film and it’s equally elusive maker Jae-Hyun (Jin Seon-Kyu), who disappeared along with the movie. Mi-Jung learns to be careful what she wishes for and some urban legends are better left alone!

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Seo Ye-Ji as Mi-jung in Warning: Do Not Play

Mi-Jung will lose her directing job without a script, until an urban legend about a haunted film catches her attention.

Mi-Jung soon learns to be careful what you wish for and some things should be left alone.

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This year was, again, a tough choice…or maybe MonsterZero NJ is just an old softie when it comes to final girls. Both these ladies were great in their roles and really brought it as their respective film’s lead!

-MonsterZero NJ

(And don’t forget to check out our previous Halloween Hotties by simply going to our Halloween Hotties main page!)