Director – H. Tjut Djalil (LAdy Terminator, White Crocodile Queen)
Starring – Ilona Agathe Bastian, Yos Santo (The Devil’s Sword, The Warrior and the Blind Swordsman), and Sofia W.D. (Teen Idol, Fatima)
Release Date – 1981
Rating – 3.5/5
Blu Release – 3.5/5
The last few weeks have truly been eye opening to me. I’ve had an eye for foreign and international horror for several years now after discovering Japanese splatter but I never really ventured into the world of Indonesian horror. Severin opened the door with their Suzzanna box set but Mondo Macabro took me further with their releases of The Queen of Black Magic and Mystics of Bali.
Mystics of Bali is one that I had heard about for many years but never actually had the chance to see it. I want to thank Mondo Macabro and CAV for sending this one over for review. I’m glad I was finally able to check this one off my watch list!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a woman writing a book on black magic with the help of a local. He takes her to the cemetery late at night and they find an old woman with long nails laughing. She offers to help her with her book and give her some of her black magic power. However, she is tricked and turned into a penanggalan at night. The penanggalan is a disembodied head with the organs still attached that feeds on the blood of the living. She begins terrorizing the locals who are then forced to stop her. **Spoiler Alert**
I went into this one assuming it was about a penanggalan from seeing some of the artwork for the film. I was only familiar with this creature due to Dead by Daylight and I’m not going to pretend like I’m an expert on the creature. However, I knew enough about the basics to appreciate the film for what it was.
The acting in this one is a lot of fun. Sofia W.D. made the film for me as the old witch. Her performance stole every scene she was in and really stood out from the rest of the cast. It was on the campy side but I enjoy the theatrics in horror films with great atmosphere and tension. The supporting cast does a decent enough job but no one else in the film delivers a performance like Sofia W.D.
The story for this one is a lot of fun. It doesn’t really offer up anything we haven’t seen before but it does give it a unique spin. Black magic as the center focus in an Indonesian horror film is nothing new and was already done several times in 1981 alone. However, adding the penanggalan angle made it stand out from the crowd. It does get a bit dull and repetitive as the film moves on but it still finds a way to work.
Finally, the film has some fun effects. We get some classic camera tricks and some fun make-up effects. While the kills are not that imaginative and gruesome, they do fit the film. Overall, Mystics in Bali is a fantastic film with a creature that many genre fans have never seen before. I highly recommend this one and this release from Mondo Macabro looks fantastic. Check it out.
Special Features:
Introduction by film-maker Joko Anwar.
Video essay Monsters, Movies, and Myth, by Jake Gallo.
Extended 2-hour cut of the film.
Original trailer.
Interview with director H. Tjut Djalil.
