Impetigore

From the studio (or producer) that brought you 2016's "The Wailing", though in my opinion not as great, "Impetigore" is an evidence that Joko Anwar (Jokan) is ever ready to take the global market with his horror, mind-twisting work of art (or at least just Asia, or maybe the south-eastern part of the continent). It's an improvement of his directing, writing, and movie making skills; Plot-twist was unexpected to me (I had it figured in my mind, then I was like, "oh, it's nothing like I had thought before"). Blood cgi is already perfect, ghost cgi? not so, still need a lot of improvement. mature content was still shying away from being frontally shown, no wonder since we live in a country that BBC (or CNN? I kinda forgot which one) considers as "ultra-conservative country". There are still so much of bad horror movies produced in this country, some at least have a kind of storytelling and movie directing technique that even put Hollywood-own horror stories to shame. Korea, Japan, and Thailand are probably still kings in this matter, but I'm sure sooner or later Indonesia will catch up to those three thanks to the creative power of individuals like Jokan and the Mo Brothers. Oh talking about Mo Brothers, their next projects, "Ratu Ilmu Hitam" and "Sebelum Iblis Menjemput Ayat 2", will be released 3 weeks in the future and in the next year. Whether both will be the same level as, or even better than (or maybe worse than, please don't!!), "Impetigore" is a matter time will tell.

The set up of this film feels very convincing. The dialogue is pretty good. The interaction between characters in this film feels natural and believable.The setting and tone of this film is no doubt one of the best in Indonesian film history. One of my favorite aspect of this film is the depiction of a culture that feels sacred and real. This really helps bring up the feeling of uneasiness from the audiences.

After a convincing build up, the film feels like it ended in a hurry. The mysteries that have been built slowly from the start are forced to be answered in some flashbacks that are annoying and feel too long.The motivation of the villain feel poorly developed. At the end of this film, I feel there is a scene that can be compared to the "save Martha" scene which I think is quite stupid.

Maybe the problem with this film is rooted in the film's duration which is not long enough. This film can be a real masterpiece, but sadly this film did not reach its full potential. I really hope that Joko Anwar fix these problems in his next films.

I found this to be a disappointment as my expectations were high cos of Joko Anwar. His Satan's Slaves is a solid horror film n his Gundala is an amazing action thriller. This one started off very well, a young woman working in a toll booth during the wee hours, a man passes the booth regularly n stares at her giving her the creepy vibes. Her fear comes alive when the man tells her everything about her, from her name, her father's name n her village wher she was born, all these info creeps her out even more. After this suspenseful start, the film lost the pace but the atmosphere kept it going when the woman unearths that she has inherited a big, old dilapidated house n visits her village so that she can sell off the house. The old woman's mumbo jumbo dancing is hilarious. In most of the horror/thriller films things get messy due to the cell fone or its ringing but why the need to throw away the phone when it can b put on silence or vibration. The end came very rushing n the twist isn't that shocking. Generous with a 7 cos of some fine direction and as a fan of Joko Anwar.

I really like the visual tone of this movie. Joko Anwar always use shades of yellow lights and dim, making the audience's perception to get into the movie storyline. Traditional and cultural elements are blended in the details in several scenes. In my opinion this movie is the development of the Pengabdi Setan (Satan's Slave) movie, but equipped with many plot twists.

Impetigore is the saviour of Indonesian horror in a currently formulated and oversaturated industry. Joko Anwar's ability to blend traditional mysticism with his trademark twists and directing is a feast to the eye.