Impetigore - Herança Maldita

I was supposed to be arriving in Bali, Indonesia yesterday, but thanks to Covid-19 that trip didn't go ahead. So I decided to do the next best thing and watch an Indonesian film. And I'm kind of glad I did. I'm not sure I've seen an Indonesian film before, and if this is my first taste then I'm okay with that. It wasn't a bad film by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm not exactly sure what the title 'Impetigore' means, but the word gore is in there and the film certainly had plenty of that. It falls back on that more often than not. It tries to scare you in a few places (not with a lot of success) but for the most part it would certainly rather gross you out. There was some pretty genuinely hard stuff to watch in the mix too I'd have to say. The stuff involving newborn babies was particularly tough. But that's what a good gore-based film does, it challenges its viewer to outlast it and stick through until the end. It's not supposed to be easy.

I really liked the opening scene and the very final scene in this movie. They bookended the film perfectly. I also liked how the movie always kept the viewer in the know about what was going on. It's never fun being confused in a horror film, so I was very pleased they did a good job of making it easy to follow. I had a good time with 'Impetigore' and would recommend it as a worth a look.

From the writer-director of Satan's Slaves comes another dark, direful & disturbing nightmare that's drenched in dread & reeks of death from start to finish. Impetigore (Perempuan Tanah Jahanam) opens on a very promising note, sustains its sinister atmosphere for a good portion of its runtime but just like the aforementioned chiller, it loses its grasp in the final act.

Written & directed by Joko Anwar, the film exudes an unnerving sense of mystery & history with its opening scene and then silently envelops the story with a foreboding mood that only magnifies as our characters step into the remote village where most of the plot unravels. Anwar's grip on horror elements is firm, and though he indulges in violence & gore, he doesn't overdo it.

The small, secluded village bears marks of death, loss, suffering & plague-like aura. The steady camerawork & low-light photography add to its ominous tone. But there are also false alarms in here that seem forced while the lame exposition feels like a shortcut. Performances are good, ambience is threatening, and it does many things right yet it falls short of delivering on the expected terror & chills.

Overall, Impetigore is a skilfully crafted folk horror that comes steeped in curses & black magic, utilises its eerie setting to good effect, and finds Joko Anwar in better control of his craft, thus serving as another solid addition to his filmography. There are several impressive bits in the final print, scattered here n there, but as a whole, this Indonesian horror still leaves behind an underwhelming feeling due to its weak third act.

This movie exceeds my expectation from the usual indonesian horror movie genre. I've watched Pengabdi Setan and wasnt really impressed by it. So my expectation when watching this movie was not very high, but all that was gone just after seeing the opening scene. It was good, it was thrilling and full of tension, the scene captures my attention immediately. But as good as the opening scene were, the story especially the motives behind it all seems a little bit convoluted and forced. I do gave props for mr.anwar for setting up some takes as if it was gonna be a jumpscare but ended up didnt do it and then show us the take that completely took us by surprise. He reversed our expectation of jumpscare. The pacing is great, the lead actress and actors are great with the exception of the old lady and some extras, she overdone it a bit in my opinion. Also the use of language is rather odd, mixing jawa language and formal indonesian accent was kind of created an imbalance of the whole atmospheric feeling. It threw me off every time I hear it. It would've been better if they used full jawa accent, the lead with full jakarta's accent and didn't mix the two.

All and all this is a solid cinema work. Mr anwar managed to capture the eerieness of a small village, the horror of black magic and what the mob mentality of an isolated villagers can do.

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.

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.