TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Fear factors in 'Takut'
Horror has become a mainstay in the country's film industry these past months though only a few can be classified as good horror films and deserving of praise
Change Size
Horror has become a mainstay in the country's film industry these past months though only a few can be classified as good horror films and deserving of praise.
Typical traditional ghost characters -- pocong, or the walking dead with scary and bloody faces dominate, along with poor special effects.
But a production with more ingredients and better special effects -- Takut: Faces of Fear -- the newest horror movie from Komodo Films, has come to town and offers something new.
As a new kid in the Indonesian film scene, Komodo Films are supported by old players with international reputations such as San Fu Maltha (producer of Paul Verhoeven's Black Book) and Brian Yuzna (director of the legendary horror, The Dentist).
"Indonesian filmmakers produce a great number of supernatural horror films but they are not generally finding their way to international audiences. Along with San Fu, I believe that our collaboration with Indonesian contacts and partners can develop fantastic films that I hope will be exportable to every significant world market," Brian Yuzna said.
Takut:Faces of Fear is actually an omnibus from seven young Indonesian directors -- Rako Prijanto, Riri Riza, Ray J Nayoan, Robby Ertanto, Raditya Sidharta, Kimo Stambul and Timothy Tjahjanto, collectively known as The Mo Brothers -- with each of their short pieces having horror as the main theme.
The film was launched at the opening of the Indonesian International Fantastic Film Festival 2008 (INAFF), jointly organized by Jive Entertainment and Blitz Megaplex. It was also released to the public late last month. And after 83 minutes, the audiences have indeed experienced a new brand of Indonesian horror and supernatural happenings.
Actually the idea of compiling different ideas into one body of work is not new in the film industry. Thailand had a recent movie consisting of four stories called 4BIA (Phobia), also a joint creation of five directors.
In 2005, the Hong Kong film industry launched Three, starring among others, Bailing, Tony Leung Kar Fai and Eric Tsang. So what makes Takut:Faces of Fear different from the others?
Like 4BIA, Takut: Faces of Fear presents six types of movies with unique and attention-grabbing themes from different genres of horror. In addition, these directors have avoided the trap of what is seen in a typical Indonesian horror flick these days, such as long-haired, female ghosts dressed in white dresses with faces designed to be scary.
The final product appears to successfully quench the horror-freak's thirst for the different faces of horror.
