Admitting that they have “bad taste in movies,” Azzam Fi Rulah and Alzein Putra Merdeka, known as Amer Bersaudara (Amer Brothers), are a young film-making duo trying to find a place in the Indonesian independent cinema scene. With their love for campy, low-budget motion pictures, often referred to as B movies, this has not been easy. In the last few years, the duo have produced some wacky and provocative titles such as Pocong Hiu Unleashed (Ghost Shark Unleashed, pocong is a mythical ghost in the form of a white-shrouded ghoul that hops around), Rangsangan Gaib, which has official international title of Corpsegasm, Sebuah Film Karya Setan (A Film by Satan) and more. The goal is to revive a genre that once, for better or worse, ruled Indonesian cinemas.

Thanks to VHS and pirated VCDs, 28 year-old Azzam grew up on horror movies. He found them scary, and yet strangely addictive.

“I remember watching Ringu [the original, Japanese version of the famous horror franchise, The Ring] on [video], which made the experience scarier, since it felt like I was watching a cursed movie,” Azzam recalled, “Plus the censorship on national TV wasn’t as draconian as it is now, and they would air Hong Kong and Indonesian horror movies in the afternoon for everyone to see.”

“I got exposed to all that and became really acquainted with the genre."

A graduate of the Jakarta Institute of Arts (IKJ), it was only in 2017 that Azzam released the first movie he is proud of, Pendakian Birahi (The official international title is Deranged Behaviour), the story of a young woman selling her body to finance her sick mother gone wrong.

Hearing about the movie, Yogyakarta-based horror comic artist, Alzein, known as “Deka”, approached Azzam online and the two exchanged their creations. They immediately hit it off. Deka would later make posters for Azzam’s movies before the two began making movies together.