Horror movies don’t end on Halloween. After an October in which many horror fans seized the opportunity to watch their favorite films, November begins with new features designed to keep the viewer’s dose of panic steady. However, Netflix’s recent success in Spain holds many surprises: Elixir of immortalityIt is a horror film from a cinema that does not usually succeed outside its borders. Indonesia.
Elixir of immortality is a Netflix original premiere, directed and written Kimo StamboulOne of the major names in Indonesian cinema. in Elixir of immortalitya completely dysfunctional family runs a medicinal herbal company with a good and uniform reputation in the market. The company owner, in an attempt to innovate and stand out even further, tries to develop a new experimental potion, which, unexpectedly and uncontrollably, ends up sparking a devastating zombie outbreak that quickly spreads.
Indonesian horror films are in fashion
Although films produced by major studios have been overshadowed by blockbusters, Indonesia is home to one of the most productive film industries today. The deadly raid (Raid) is its most popular title, available on Netflix, but the real silent boom is horror movies.
Filmmakers love it Joko Anwar, Teemu Tjahjanto And his own Kimo Stamboul They collaborate (sometimes literally, as with… shockingco-directed by the latter two) to position the country as a global reference for this genre. he I am horror It doesn’t imitate Western, Korean or Japanese horror: it has a unique aesthetic.
To understand its roots, it is advisable to refer to the exceptional Danish documentary The act of killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012), in which some former executioners of Suharto’s bloodthirsty regime relive and even revive the crimes they committed in the 1960s, without any scruples. conclusion The act of killing is the premise underlying much of the recent wave of I-Horror: the dictatorship is over, but its traumas remain.
This legacy of oppression, condemnation, and neighborhood violence permeates the genre: the supernatural is present, but it is always less terrifying than everyday human cruelty. Movies like the remake of Queen of black magic (filmin) or Children of Satan They mix folklore with brutal realism. Indonesia confronts its painful past through terrorism, an inherited mirror of its collective misery.
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