Modus Anomali

A luckless individual wakes up from being buried alive in the forest with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Stumbling across a cabin he finds a horrific snuff film. From there on, he slowly regains his memory and realises he and his family are being stalked by a mysterious killer. So begins a murderous game of cat & mouse as he attempts to save his family and stay one step ahead of his pursuer...

Let's face it, this premise sounds pretty generic and bog standard, doesn't it? Well... it isn't.

And I'm not gonna tell you any more except to recommend you stick with this unusually shot in English Inonesian offering as it's a smarter film than it appears to be. While standard in set up at first, director Joko Anwar cleverly pulls the rug out from under your feet with a surprising and smart little revelation.

So horror fans, have patience with this one, as its payoff is well worth it, and while the eagle eyed and sharp listeners may realise what's going on, it's still a satisfying film that puts a nicely innovative spin on the survivalist horror sub genre.

7.5/10 a decent little horror and what with 2009's Dara, Indonesia are showing themselves a force to be reckoned with for horror cinema.

Well, i've gotta say that i was interested to watch it because of its catchy title and the idea about an English spoken film made by Indonesians (i reckon it's the 1st Indonesian film which used English as the main language in it).

The 1st 50 minutes, the film seems to be so dull with the shallow explanations, barely interactions from one character to another (unlike other previous Anwar's films), how kid characters ruin it with the way they converse in the forest poorly shows lack of thrilled & anxious expression, seemingly to be a shallow no-background story plot, and unsynchronized & unexplained details(necessarily prepared for the ending). All can lead the audience to a boredom and sleepiness.

Endure it, then the film will show you the worth of Joko Anwar as a writer-director and Rio Dewanto as an actor.

Anwar prepared an unexpected suspense plot mixed with some thrilling horror ingredients blending them all in the perfectly fit location, and served it to the audience with some quite decent cinematography. Dewanto as the leading actor made convincing enough expression and acting (great pukes as well) so that his performance made "John Evans" becoming a more interesting character.

After watching it, some questions may show up in mind regarding the background story that causes things that happen in "Modus Anomali" and how the story goes after the film ends. Generally it's a recommended nice flick to spend the evening with.

8/10.

This tale begins with a man waking up in a shallow grave with amnesia. Not knowing exactly what to do, he begins to wander aimlessly through this remote Indonesian forest, eventually finding a cabin with a car parked outside. Inside he's horrified to find the cabin empty except for the bloody corpse of what he believes to be his wife as he discovers a wedding ring on his finger. Then, after watching a video of a faceless attacker killing her, he ventures back into the forest, scared & confused, with only a lantern to guide his way. The atmosphere in the first thirty minutes was creepy & unpredictable as the viewer watches and waits to get a handle on what exactly is going on in the film.

As more information is introduced, the level of suspense does come down a little and at times I found myself scratching my head a bit. Certain things happen that seem at the time a bit absurd, but if you stay patient and continue into the final act, there is a nice twist on things that IMO made it a very original worthwhile watch. Some camera work was a bit shaky, but for the budget the production value was just fine for the duration of the film. The acting wasn't a problem, there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue for it even to become an issue. It is an English speaking film despite it's locality & ethnicity of the cast. In all, it wasn't a highly suspenseful thriller or a gory horror flick, although it did contain some elements of each. If horror fans are looking for something different than the same old clichéd plot line than I do recommend taking a look, it's originality & clever end make for a solid 6/10.

I was going to watch another movie, but due to the similarity of the name, I watched this movie by mistake. Glad I watched this movie.

I think it was a movie full of horror, suspense and mystery. It felt many emotions at once. Moreover, some psychological messages were given at the end of the movie.

I was trying to predict the next scene, but each time what happened in the movie surprised me.

I don't understand why the IMDb score is so low. Of course, there was a lot of confusing stuff, but at the end of the movie, everything was clear.

I like to see mystery - horror - thriller subjects in one movie. Watching this movie was definitely not a waste of time for me.

Well this is a movie made with love! Yes, the good old times are coming back to us, because here we have something not made to bring millions from the box office, but to entertain, to explore the beauty of cinema.

OK, let's get down to business: indeed, the plot is not the most original, but not the most used one either, it will present itself as new to most and as a beautiful deja-vu to the rest. The acting was quite lovely, the plot makes you wonder a lot and the ending will snatch some applause from the beginners and a smile or two from the elders.

There isn't much to say about Modus Anomali without spoiling it, therefore I have to pick my words carefully, so, I'll sum it up like this: it's a nice breath of fresh air, which I for one was dying to take, not scary, a little suspense yes, some thrills and overall a good story.

Do I recommend it? Well if you want to see a nice film, sure, this one will do the job. Just be aware, don't come here thinking you'll fine the lost gem of horrors, just walk by, grab a seat, some chips, relax and enjoy. It's a movie made with love, you won't wanna buy to see it, but you will want to watch it! Cheers!