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MYSTICS OF BALI has to be seen to be believed. Up until this time (1980) Indonesian cinema had been following along India cinema - where the movies pretty much had EVERYTHING in them - musical numbers, slapstick comedy, violence, horror, etc. MYSTICS was one of the first times they tried to make just a flat-out horror film and specifically for Western horror audiences. The film is a strange blend - with some genuine creepy moments and others that will have you unintentionally laugh out loud. Obviously they had no budget to pull off the special effects so when the woman's head leaves her body and she becomes this flying head with her entrails still connected - well, she looks like a badly made prop from George Romero directing Let's Go Fly A Kite in Mary Poppins. A western women comes to Bali to study their "black magic" and gets in too deep and before she knows it, Indonesian forest witches control her and make her become this nocturnal flying head that flies around....and there is one scene where she attacks a pregnant woman and bad effects or not - it is downright creepy. The other truly bizarre thing in this film is the evil witches - they are gnarled old women with bad teeth and long fingernails and they laugh/cackle for five solid minutes at times (or so it seems) - it becomes comical because they are giving it 110% percent in their evil laughing but it ends up sounding like Witchiepoo from H.R. Pufnstuf. What a weird film - check it out.

Cathy (Ilona Agathe Bastian), an American student of witchcraft, travels to Bali in order to learn about Leák, the most powerful of all black magic. With the help of local man Mahendra (Yos Santo), Cathy becomes an apprentice of the Leák queen (Sofia W.D.), an ugly old hag who talks like Yoda and laughs like Salacious Crumb. But although the queen seems happy to reveal the secrets of her dark arts, she is actually using the young woman to increase her own powers, detaching Cathy's head from her body and sending it on night-time missions to collect the regenerating blood of new-born infants.

Despite featuring such bonkers sights as a flying head with vampire teeth and dangling entrails feeding on a woman about to give birth, talking fireballs engaged in mortal combat, Cathy and the queen transforming into animals (including a pig creature with breasts!!), Cathy vomiting up live mice in green goop after a night spent in the form of a snake, and a supernatural showdown with lightning bolts and electric fingers, Mystics in Bali isn't quite as enjoyable as one might imagine: the action is rather repetitive, the queen's incessant manic laughter gets really, really annoying, Mahendra's romance with Cathy is as dull as ditch-water (no gratuitous nudity here, folks!), and the visual effects are absolutely dire.

For a slightly more satisfying example of Indonesian craziness, check out The Queen of Black Magic.

An American woman named Cathy asks her Indonesian boyfriend Hendra to help her investigate Balinese black magic known as 'Leyak'.Leyak is the most powerful black magic there is and she soon begins to pay a terrible cost when she turns into a flying head that feasts on unborn babies.I have seen my share of crazy Indonesian horror cinema and "Mystics in Bali" is perhaps the most known of 'em all.It is based on Indonesian mythology and for a supernatural culture largely undiscovered by Western movie fans.The special effects are incredibly cheesy and inept,the dubbed dialogue is absolutely hilarious,still there's a flying head which has the body's internal organs trailing behind,along with a little foetus eating and an evil sorcerer for all of you fans of Indonesian trash.The main actress Llona Agathe Bastian is incredibly wooden-in fact she was never an actress at all,but a German tourist spotted in Bali by one of the producers.Give this amusing trash a look.7 out of 10.

'Mystics in Bali' - sometimes known as 'Leák' - this Indonesian horror film focuses on an American woman whose research into black magic leads her Bali where she gets more than she bargained for upon befriending a local witch. With her constant cackling, unusually long fingernails and snake-like tongue, the local witch makes for a genuinely creepy character and all her scenes are divine. The low budget special effects also work more often than not, with gooey transformation effects, lots to like in the sheer bizarreness of a floating human head with entrails attached and a highly unsettling bit in which the said head confronts a pregnant woman. Whether the film has much to offer beyond its sheer weirdness is debatable. The protagonist's romance with a local Bali man lacks sparks and comes off as under-developed (does she really love him or is she just using him since he can help her with her research?). The acting is hardly top notch here either. There is, however, enough zany and offbeat imagery on hand that the film engages the whole way through. Quite a few aspects of the plot resonate too, especially how quickly she becomes a victim of the very black magic that she is trying to disprove and how her sheer skepticism makes her all the more vulnerable. The film almost in fact works as a cautionary tale regarding the risks of dabbling in things that one does not properly understand.

This is the story about a woman doing research on black magic. After having learned everything about Voodoo, she travels to Indonesia to meat and great "Leak", a monster-ghost.

Nearly everything is horrible in this movie, from the special-effects, over the acting to the story. On the other side it's so bad that it becomes funny. Everybody in the movie-theater was laughing tears (what you can not say of most of the newer Eddie Murphy Films). So if you have the chance to see this Indonesian horror movie do it ! In Europe this film was shown under the title of "Mystics in Bali".

There are many strange horror-fantasy- films from countries like Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia and even Nigeria and Ghana to discover if you are open minded enough

Finally tracked down a copy of this gruesome horror story about a young woman who wants to learn the black arts of Bali. She does and becomes a vampire in the process.

To be honest this isn't a very good film. Its okay, and were it not for the vampire, this film would be long forgotten. The first 40 or so minutes are mostly endless talk as the woman finds a teacher and then learns the magic. When the master sends her out in her vampire form to get the blood of newborns for her, all hell breaks loose. These sequences are the reason the movie exists, the very non-western vision of a vampire on the prowl. They are creepy. There is something disturbing about the sequences even when you can see how they were done (which is very obvious).

After this the film plods along for another 50 minutes as teacher uses her pupil for vile ends while her boyfriend and his family try to free her from the evil.

That sounds more interesting then it is. Its rather dull with only the magic/vampire scenes being of any real interest. Frankly while they are low or no budget, they are effective and make this film worth renting for those who love horror films. Just don't expect to be feeling scared or singing the praises of anything other than the beasties.

6.5 out of 10

American author Catherine travels to Bali to learn the art of "Leák" – some kind of black magic. Her native boyfriend Mahendra introduces her to a shady Leák mistress. The witch teaches Catherine strange rituals including (but not limited to) maniacal laughter, erratic dancing and pig transformations. Pretty awesome, isn't it? Well, unfortunately the witch turns out to be evil. She takes control over Catherine's head at night and forces her to gather blood. Mahendra tries to cut the bond between Catherine and the witch, but that's easier said than done.

"Leák" (better known as "Mystics in Bali") is an Indonesian horror movie about the mythological figure Leyak: a flying head floating trough the night and sucking the blood of newborn babies, with the entrails of its former body still hanging from it. For Indonesians, this legend might be familiar, but for us westerners it's decidedly weird, especially because the director H. Tjut Djalil doesn't feel the need to explain what's happening on screen. But regardless of our cultural background, I think we can all agree that this movie wonderfully crazy trip which will conjure a smile on the face of every trash fan out there.

The plot is strange from beginning to end, and there's no point in me listing all the lunatic scenes - you have to experience them first-hand. What makes "Leák" so funny is the fact that neither Catherine nor Mehandra seem to be bothered by the outrageous events. They're like: "Let's meet with this disfigured witch and learn black magic! You can't go wrong with that, can you? Oh, could it be that Catherine killed someone?! Ah well, whatever. Let's kiss and be all lovey-dovey!" Those two might be the most carefree couple in film history.

Amidst all the chaos there are some quite effective scenes. The cheap special effects are disturbing at times. But "Leák" seldom is truly scary. The story is told roughly. The ending is an overhasty jumble: Things seem to happen at random, and then the movie ends abruptly.

All in all, "Leák" is an interesting yet clumsy introduction to Indonesian mythology. The shocks are few and far between, but the movie amuses with obscure ideas and visuals.

Adventuresome film lovers looking for the most warped stuff from around the globe would do well to check out this terminally weird Indonesian horror film. "Leak", a.k.a. "Mystics in Bali", is a real trip, one where you won't believe what you're seeing. It's equal parts cheesy, creepy, silly, and mysterious, and establishes an interesting lore. It's this lore that intrigues an American named Cathy (Ilona Agathe Bastian), who seeks to know more about the powerful magic known as Leak, supposedly more powerful than any other form of magic. Well, she really gets in over her head, as the female Leak cult member whom she meets (Sofia W.D.) is willing to mentor her in all things Leak, but the horrific old crone mainly wants to use Cathy for her own ends. It's up to Cathy's good friend Mahendra (Yos Santo) to help save the day. The special effects in this thing may not always be terribly slick, but it's this very crudeness that makes them so endearing and, sometimes, hysterical. The audience may howl with appreciative laughter seeing the way that the crone manipulates Cathy's body, separating her head from her body on occasion and sending it out on killing missions. There are also a couple of transformations, as Cathy is shown how to become lower animals, such as a pig and a snake. The music, by Gatot Sudarto, is very atmospheric, as is the jungle setting; director H. Tjut Djalil handles everything with a certain degree of panache, ensuring that the stupefied viewer will keep watching. As can be expected, the actors performing the dubbed in voices are hilariously bad, while the people on screen gamely perform this material with the straightest faces imaginable. It's worth sticking with this just to see how this wild story will resolve itself. While it was a big hit in Asia back in its day, it never got a proper release stateside as it was thought North American audiences wouldn't be able to appreciate its weirdness. Of course, now we can watch it on the DVD from Mondo Macabro and soak up its ambiance and flair. Anybody who's a fan of strange cinema is advised not to pass it up. Eight out of 10.

This film has an atmosphere of creeping evil and a sense of the presence of the unknown that's highly unnerving. It's something to do with the almost documentary like way it's shot. The most bizarre scenes and exotic transformations are shown straightforwardly, with no hint of flashiness. And this makes them even more strange and unsettling. In many ways it's reminiscent of Cocteau's theory of the fantastic, approaching it from the perspective of realism rather than announcing how strange it is through camera angles and clever tricks.

There's no denying that the film was shot on a shoestring. However, the obvious commitment of all involved and the unusual use of the scope frame lift it to a level above that of many low budget Asian horrors of the period. It actually makes a virtue of its limited means, forcing us to use our own imagination to fill in the blanks.

Anyone searching for something out of the ordinary, something truly unique, will find lots to treasure in Mystics in Bali. It's a film that can be watched again and again. It has an almost hypnotic quality that draws the sympathetic viewer into a strange, hallucinatory dream.

A great piece of foreign obscure. Complete with laughing witches, black magic, flying heads, gore, percussion tunes and Indonesian people running around with traditional clothing.

Plot line: This Australian girl, expert in voodoo, want to learn more about the original Indonesian black magic called ""leák"", the strongest en most dangerous form of black magic known to mankind. When she arrive she's been helped out by this local citizen guy. He introduced here to the master of the leák, the ugliest and having the most nasty laugh of them all. Pretty soon the local town is experiences all kind of strange voodoo things attacking them.

8 out of 10

This movie is full of all manner of bizarre and offensive imagery and yet I was bored to tears by it. This is because while it is certainly insane, it lacks the commitment to go completely insane in the manner of films such as Lady Terminator.

It has been said that there is a version of this movie that is 30 minutes longer. Egads! I do not use that word often, but I felt I had to use it now. I could not imagine this movie being any longer than it already is. It may run under 90 minutes on the US DVD but it feels like it is several hours long.

I have given it a 5 mainly for the pig people as they made me laugh. As for the rest of the movie, once you've seen the head fly around once you've seen it enough. I'm sure there is a way to make a version of this movie that is a blast but this is not it.

Watch it if you must humans. You may be slightly amused.

"Mystics in Bali" is a wonderfully bizarre, off-the-beaten path Indonesian horror/supernatural flick about an American writer researching black magic. She's experienced the voodoo of the Caribbean, but she runs into some real trouble as a student of the Leak in Bali.

There are a lot of disjointed plot points and the dialogue is weak, but the music (I doubt traditional Balinese music has been used in a horror flick before) and total oddity of a flying head make this a worthwhile view for fans of the unusual.

Seriously, how many Indonesian horror films have you come across? This one is the only one I know of and that makes it an interesting watch right off. There is some real creativity here with the flying head and transformation scenes as the story follows a Serpent and the Rainbow kind of plotline. The acting is not bad but the dialogue is hokey (my version was dubbed) but the real success is the soundtrack which varies from spooky to psychedelic rock and the witches cackle which was perfect except overdone. Havent heard a cackle like that since Margaret Hamilton. The films editing is a bit choppy as it combines elements of early 80's f/x ("Tron" style) with Asian martial arts. Overall worth the watch, but not the Indonesian Psycho...but how would I know.

In Balinese mythology a Leyak (or Penanggalan) is a vampiric, disembodied head that flies around, dragging along it's entrails, as it heads into the night to find pregnant women, so that it can feed on the blood of their newborn babies.

There are two female and one male Leyak. The Queen of the Leyak being the widow-witch Rangda.

She leads her army of evil witches against the forces of Barong- who is a lion headed creature that represents the good shamans.

And together, they engage in the Barong dance...during which Rangda and her forces are defeated...so as to restore order to the universe.

It is around this mythology that the tale that plays out in the Indonesian cult horror classic Mystics of Bali- made by H. Tjut Djalil in 1981- takes place.

And, despite it's obvious flaws, it has become a landmark of Indonesian cinema.

It tells the story of a young female anthropologist, who has come to Bali, from America, so that she can learn more about; and be initiated into the Leyak tradition- the most powerful black magic tradition known to man.

She has a local boyfriend, who acts as her fixer...setting her up with a shapeshifting old witch who lives in the woods.

She promises to teach the young woman; but only if she offers her fresh blood, and agrees to do her bidding.

After a few meetings, the young anthropologist becomes a full blown Leyak...after which the old witch takes control of her head, in it's disembodied, entrail laden state...so as to seek out fresh blood so that the old witch can retain her youthful beauty forever.

However, the white shamans are monitoring the situation, under the tutelage of her boyfriend's uncle- who is the main nemesis of the old witch.

A whole lot of cheesiness ensues, alongside some mild hilarity...and what is surely the model that Dragonball Z would use as inspiration for the battle scenes in their later cartoons.

And in the end, it is all a graphic reinterpretation of the aforementioned Barong dance- where Rangda and Barong face off; and during which Rangda is defeated, in order restored to the universe (and all in comic book stylized fashion).

It's part psychedelic; part schlock; and comes off like a Japanese B movie with some humourously odd animation sequences...but that is what brings the film some of it's charm.

The special effects are awfully cheesy and downright budget, but totally hilarious at the same time.

With the disembodied flying heads and scenes where the two Leyak women transform into pigs, being the highlight.

The way they tied in the vampire theme (associated with the Leyak) in with the Great Goddess mythos- by having the witch take on a different form every time she makes an appearance- is also intriguing.

The main problem that plagues this film, concerns it's storyline and plot structure.

It just doesn't have very good flow.

There are some things that go wholly unexplained...like how they knew they needed/where they got all that bottled blood- that was offered to the witch during their first meeting- from.

While other elements of the film are way too confusing. For example, I had no idea what was going on when the young anthropologist first started killing people in her sleep after being turned. At one point her boyfriend calls her a murderer...and we have no idea why. We only come to suspect the answer later.

It's almost as if the film suffered from a series of government induced cuts...and ended up how it is (or something).

Criticisms aside, however, it's actually a pretty damn entertaining film.

One of those "it's so bad it's good" kind of films. Though, really not so bad.

Except for the end.

The end is so abrupt it is just confusing.

I'm still waiting for the sequel... (unless that was Shrunken Heads (1994))...

6 out of 10.

It can't be adequately described in words so I implore you to experience this bizarre film yourself, but every line by the main characters is delivered in an uninterested deadpan monotone, and they act as though there was nothing remarkable happening. Meanwhile the female lead is turning into animals, vomiting up snakes, witnessing black magic duels and having her severed head fly around as a vampire-like creature. The juxtaposition is very funny. Why she puts herself in this insanely dangerous situation is never really explained either, she just says she's "studying black magic", which may as well have been "I thought it would be a laugh."

I'm guessing that at least some of the lower scoring user reviews saw a subbed version?

Let me warn you that in terms of nearly every element this is just too cheesy to bear.

I came to this knowing something of its history. It is based on magical principles as described in what was thought to be an authoritative book, and had to be produced on another island for fear of "offending" Balinese. This was underwritten by the corrupt government as an attempt to get foreign currency.

The reason I was excited was because I know a bit about Balinese religion. Its a sort of Haiti/New Orleans of the Pacific where old pantheism and ancestor worship mixes with the colonial religion. In this case, that wrapper a strange brew of old Hinduism with Buddhist rituals. And the whole is surrounded geographically by strident Islam which tends to make the minority religion stronger.

I know, for instance, that ritual and theatrical displays are at the heart of this magic. And I know that it is highly cinematic in its potential. Julie Taymor's work, even with her recent Beatles project is based on this inner ritual. There's a powerful old film, "Legong" that captures a bit of the genuine stuff, and is pretty darn haunting.

So imagine my surprise to encounter not something Balinese or even magical but Starwars in Indonesian garb. Yes, folks, Star Wars, most particularly the second film (now numbered what, 5?). You have the two young skywalkers, Yoda, the senior Jedi, the evil dark emperor (here a witch). Yes, you even have the levitation and light saber effects. The telekinetic objects lifted and thrown in battle.

What's taken from the old magical tradition are the notion of a disembodied head with attached ka who stalks villagers as a vampire. And the special power of vaginal blood, especially when accompanied and caused by a miscarried or aborted fetus. Its powerful stuff but made comic here by the Ed Woodish nature of the thing.

Its a miss folks. Maybe next time.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Arriving in Indonesia to study black magic, an aspiring writer hears about a powerful witch in her search and begins her training in order to understand its power only to suddenly come under a series of supernatural inflictions believing the lessons were a lie and must fight them off.

This is one of the finest foreign exploitation offerings. Most of its enjoyment comes from the utterly delirious and bizarre series of sequences presented here which make this one such fun to sit through. From seemingly omniscient tongues that have a mind of their own, bizarre black magic rituals, body transformations and full of trashy low-budget charm, there's a feverish intensity to the scenes here that oftentimes feels like it was simply throwing ideas out simply because they could. The initial meetings of the two out in the woods, where the witch uses the tongue to slurp up blood or writing markings on the body to the later scene of the witch engaging in ritualistic dances or the two transforming into animals creates a lasting visual impression here. The final half is where this one really takes a turn and becomes even more delirious and bizarre. The witch turning the student into a fanged being with only her head and interior organs dangling beneath her to go around and attack a random house with a pregnant woman about to give birth is a fantastic sequence, while the later moment showing the two transforming in detail into snakes and slithering off into the jungle together has some stellar moments here. The mid-air battle of the fireballs adds some nice action into it all while the idea that the witch can control her with various spells and transformations allows for some demented fun. Aside from being so bonkers, the film does have another positive quality. This one takes great care towards the supernatural and superstitions of locals, not being content to whip it out in just any scenario but only just to utilize it for effect and impact. Numerous times there's mention of it being warped or dangerous yet the whole film continually reverts back to its power being about those that wield it. While the two may indeed have the best of intentions about studying black magic, there's always the warped way in which the lessons take that provide the horror which is always brought back to how she uses it. Especially prominent is the use of the good magic to combat the witch as that creates a fine distinction between the two forms as seeing how the local priest uses his skillset against the witch offers plenty of supernatural thrills in the finale. These here allow this one a ton to like, as the only real issue to be had here is the low-budget quality to the special effects which always manage to look low-budget and it can ruin some scenes. Otherwise, there's not much to dislike here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.