SUZZANNA: EMPRESS OF DARKNESS (1986-2024)
3-Disc 6-Film Blu-ray Box Set
PACT WITH THE FORCES OF DARKNESS (1991)
WHITE CROCODILE QUEEN (1988)
MALAM SATU SURO (1988)
KLIWON FRIDAY NIGHT (1986)
GHOST AMBULANCE (2008)
SUZZANNA: THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC (2024)
Severin Film's new 3-disc 6-film Blu-ray box set Suzzanna: Empress 0f Darkness celebrates the mysterious life and phantasmagoric horror films of Indonesia's iconic 'Queen of Horror' - the mononymous mistress of the supernatural, Suzzanna! This set marks the North American disc premieres of four of the films she made with Soraya Productions, as well as the David Gregory directed documentary Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic (2024), and a bonus film, her final feature Ghost Ambulance (2008).
PACT WITH THE FORCES OF DARKNESS (1991)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 85 Minutes 25 Seconds
Audio: Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Sisworo Gautama Putra
Cast: Suzzanna, Elly Ermawati
Clift Sangra, Piet Pagau, Yenny Farida, Soendjoto Adibroto, Malino Djunaedy, Tino Karno, Yongky DP, Rengga Takengon, Alex Bernard, Syarief Friant, Arief Raduma, Belkiez Rachman, Sunaryo Yakso
Pact with the Forces of Darkness (1991) is directed Sisworo Gautama Putra (Satan's Slave)and stars Indonesian horror icon Suzzanna, a wild tale of possession and revenge from beyond the grave that liberally borrows from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Ghostbusters, and even cribbing a bit from The Exorcist. In it Suzzanna portrays Kartika, the wife and mother of a family who are killed by ruthless thugs in wearing cheap Halloween rubber-masks, who were hired by her husband's crooked, one-eyed business partner, for reasons that were never quite clear to me. The spirit of Kartika returns however, now possessed by an evil male demon that she has made a pact with, to ensure those responsible for her and beloved family's death are properly dealt with. She starts off scaring a young couple of renters that arrive on the property, in a way the channels the librarian scene from the start of Ghostbusters. That's when the crooked business partner hires a horny exorcist of sorts, who upon arriving at the house and performing a ritual is seduced by the spirit of Kartika. Suzzanna is delightfully over-the-top and having a blast with this role. It's[retty obvious early on that this not to be taken too seriously, it's just a campy good time. The riffs on ANOES 4 include first and foremost, Kartika's spirit dons a finger-bladed glove on one hand for starters, and then we get fun practical effects and scenes that riff on the bug-arms weight-lifting scene scene, the Freddy-motorcycle gaga, and the insect transformation with an aquatic bent to it, and the Jaws-riff with Freddy's finger-blade glove emerging from the ocean and across the sandy beach like a shark fin, it's totally shameless, and totally fun. Other riffs on Ghostbusters include Kartika floating above the bed, and that scene with Dana being attacked by her sofa chair. The film's finale features Kartika kung-fu fighting a Muslim priestess, which is bonkers awesome, and I really enjoyed how wonderfully heightened the performances are, Suzzanna is mugging it up with her deadly stare, and there are cheap gore gags galore, including some decent body-horror elements, and of course the supernaturally charged finale with kung-fu fighting takes us out on a high note.
WHITE CROCODILE QUEEN (1988)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 98 Minutes 16 Seconds
Audio: Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: H. Tjut Djalil
Cast: Suzzanna, Jeffry Waworuntu, Soendjoto Adibroto, Vera Magdalena, H.I.M. Damsyik, Bokir, Dorman Borisman, Rita Sheba, Yulie Soleh, Atin Martino, Leila Waranjemi, Rudy Wahab, Arie Sandjaja
White Crocodile Queen (1988) is a treal weird one directed by H. Tjut Djalil (Mystics In Bali), and it opens with a pregnant woman and her husband sitting at the river's edge where she gives birth to a white crocodile and then a human baby. The parents are making some sort of supernatural pact with the mythical Crocodile God who gifts the couple with a glowing magic ruby - see it's already weird! Shortly after the couple of slaughtered by a local crocodile hunter named Sumarna (Soendjoto Adibroto, Kliwon Friday Night) and his henchmen, with Sumarna stealing the coveted magical ruby for himself, after leaping atop the husband's shoulder's and pissing on his head before killing him! Twenty years later the white crocodile that the parents gave birth to has become the gorgeous humanoid Crocodile Queen, played by the always stunning Suzzanna (Queen of Black Magic), who rules over her underwater crocodile kingdom in a throne room that is made to look like the mouth of a giant white crocodile. Meanwhile her twin sister, the sexy Larsih (Suzzanna, in a dual-role), has grown-up to become the village's seamstress, and seemingly the town tramp, too. Unaware of her strange heritage she is living in the village where she is having an affair with the married Sumarna, unaware that he was involved in her parent's death. When the hunter returns to the swamp and kills more crocodiles the Crocodile Queen decides to finally take her revenge on Sumarna, possessing the body of her sister with to seduce and lure those who killed their parents and her beloved crocodiles, beginning with Sumarna's horny teen son, whom she lures into the swamps to be eaten by crocs, and then tricking the poacher into killing his own infant son with illusory mystical-crocodile queen powers! This one has some fun atmosphere and set design, the kills are pretty decently bloody as well, with lot of vibrant colored lighting and ghostly apparitions as the twins dead parents return at various points to haunt their killers. It's also not very scary, but sort of a fun spookshow with a butt-load of wrestling with rubbery crocodiles, some croc-bite de-limbings, and a couple of rather bloody impalements. This one is even more comical as we get straight-up comic relief via a couple of bumbling grave diggers who frequently turn up for some slapstick humor. There is also an abundance of eccentric characters and awkward sexual scenarios that keep this goofy tale of supernatural revenge cooking at all time. This one does not rip-off ANOES like Pact with the Forces of Darkness, but it does have a fun Exorcist tip of the hat with a floating bed and Sumarna's teen daughter Murti (Vera Magdalena, Permainan Dibalik Tirai) turning into a green-skinned ghoul. Again, not scary, but like Pact... this one is quite entertaining and action-packed, I could have done without the extended musical number, but it didn't ruin it either. Other highlights include the Croc Goddess's pimped-out Croc Chariot, and a finale featuring the croc-queen flinging glowing orbs at Sumarna, and there's the killer-tree, too, just delightfully weird stuff.
(1986)
MALAM SATU SURO (1988)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 83 Minutes 55 Seconds
Audio: Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Sisworo Gautama Putra
Cast: Suzzanna, Fendy Pradana, Johny Matakena, Soendjoto Adibroto, Nurnaningsih, Belkiez Rachman, Karsiman Gada, Eddy Gunawan, Dorman Borisman
Malum Satu Suro (1988), directed by Sisworo Gautama Putra (Primitives), is considered one of Suzzanna's most iconic roles, starring as the folkloric ghoul Sundelbolong – which translates into ‘ghost with hole', a vengeful spirit with long black hair which hides a maggot-infested opening in her back! At the start of the film the witchy spirit Suketi (Suzzanna, The Hungry Snake Woman) is subdued by a witch doctor whose blood-spitting ritual subdues her, allowing him to drive a bronze or gold spike into her skull, which transforms her into gorgeous human young woman. The sorcerer apparently adopts her and beings her into his household after that, which seems weird, but I am not well-brushed up on my Indonesian mythology either. Some time later Suketi is living deep in the woods with her adopted family, when two hunters come upon the home and are invited to stay and rest there awhile. One of the hunters Bardo (Fendy Pradana) instantly is instantly enthralled by her beauty, and proposes marriage. Now married they move to the city which is quite an adjustment for Suketi, but they are in love and quite happy, and she gives birth to two children. Years later Suketi is recognized as Sundelbolong by the evil witch doctor Madam Talo (Nurnaningsih), who sends her henchmen to release her true form, which is apprently done by subduing her in her mortal form and removing the magical spike, returning her to her Sundelbolong spirit-form with her deadly stare, long black hair, kabuki make-up and maggot-ridden hole in her back. The gang then kidnaps her daughter Preti (Rachella Rosalvino), again to what end I have no idea, and hold her ransom, but end up killing the child in the process, causing the vengeful spirit to seek retribution against them. This flick has some heart to it, there's a scene of Sundelbolong digging up the corpse of her daughter and dragging her coffin behind her on a chain, and buying her steamed pork buns from a roadside vendor that she chastises with supernatural shenanigans, before setting out to get her revenge on those who killed her daughter. One is killed by her daughter's beloved stuffed teddy bear and hung from a tree, she snatches another off his bike killing him, and we get a finale with her battling the witch doctor and her right-hand henchman Joni (Johny Matakena, Revenge of the Ninja), turning her into a frog in the process, with a supernatural fueled finale, that includes a krasue, one of those disembodied skull and spina column flying around!
This one has another musical number performed by Bokir (Bokir, Sentet) dressed as superman flying around in a bit of fantasy, as with many of Sisworo Gautama Putra's flicks it's low-impact horror- comedy, so the tone is a bit on the goofy side, but also offers some cool atmospherics and visuals.
KLIWON FRIDAY NIGHT (1986)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 89 Minutes
Audio: Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Sisworo Gautama Putra
Cast: Suzzanna, Fendy Pradana, Johnny Mataken, Soendjoto Adibroto, Nurnaningsih, Belkiez Rachman, Karsim Gada, Eddy Gunawan, Dorman Borisman
Kliwon Friday Night (1986) is also directed by the legendary
Sisworo Gautama Putra (Pact with the Forces of Darkness), and is another banger of a supernatural revenger with the iconic Suzzanna is another dual-role. In it Suzzanna portrays author Ayu who is invited to stay at the family cavation house owned by her friend, only to discover it is haunted by the mythical Sundelbolong. While staying the property she is attack by multiple men, including the caretaker of the house and a local farmer, both of whom the dark-eyed Sundelbolong dispatches. The story is basically a bizarro Indonesian haunted house tale chock full of spookshow visuals and of course some wonderful dead-stare mugging from the gorgeous Suzanna. Ayu is beset by nightmarish visions, strange happenings, and violent men, plus we get some appreciated sexuality, and some gory maggot-ridden 'hole-in-the-back' Sundelbolong supernatural revenge and shenanigans. There are haunted paintings, a haunted record players, decapitated heads, levitations, and musical numbers, these Sisworo Gautama Putra/Suzzanna teams-up are always bonkers fun, and this one has a little bit of everything, including comic relief from the buck-toothed and rubber-faced Bika.
Special Features:
- Hantu Retribution: Female Ghosts Of The Malay Archipelago – Interview With Filmmaker Katrina Irawati Graham And Dr. Rosalind Galt, Author Of Alluring Monsters: The Pontianak And Cinemas Of Decolonization (28:43)
SUZZANNA: THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC (2024)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 87 Minutes 52 Seconds
Audio: Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: David Gregory
Cast: Joko Anwar, Ekky Imanjaya, Hikmat Darmawan, Clift Sangra, Shalfia Fala Pratika, Gope T. Samtani, Raam Soraya, Shankar RS, Kiki Maria, Katrina Irawati
Indonesian horror-icon Suzzanna starred in 42-movies and is beloved in her home country and throughout Asia, hailed as the ‘The Queen of Indonesian Horror’, best known for portraying vengeful spirits from Indonesian folklore, yet, even still she is largely unknown outside of Asia, which is why Severin's co-owner/director David Gregory (Enter the Clones of Bruce) set out to correct that and bring her some much needed attention outside of Asia with this fantastic documentary, which compellingly chronicles the horror-icon's controversial life, mysterious death, and of course her
wild filmography. The doc features interviews with directors Joko Anwar (Impetigore) and Shanker RS (Ghost Ambulance), her second husband Clift Sangra, her daughter Kiki Maria, Hope T. Samtani of Rapi Films and producer Ram Soraya of Soraya Films, makeup artist Didin Sysmsudin, Indonesian cinema authors Thomas Barker, and Quirine van Heeren, filmmaker Katrina Irawati Graham (Bali), film historian Hikmat Darmawan, film historian, the doc's producer Ekky Imanjaya of the Film Dept, at University, Jakarta, and even childhood friend and neighbors, Yulia S Hery Y, ME Setyowati and Koriyato, and a woman named Mey, who is the cemetery maintenance worker who cleans Suzzanna's grave - literally no tombstone has been left unturned for this doc! I love that while filming material for this doc they encountered this woman, and when she shared a supernatural tinged tale of her own involving the ghost of Suzzanna, they put her in the doc! The documentary even visits a travelling outdoor cinema, which were once quite popular in Indonesia, and acre credited with helping make Suzzana a household name throughout the country.
The doc tracks her early life, her love of movies, her big break in her first film Asrama Dara (1958), a role which won her a won best child actress award, and her enduring career, including her turn to horror, where she became an icon. There's also discussion of her first marriage to Dicky Suprato, meeting her much younger second husband on a film they were shooting, and some controversial elements of her personal life, while also noting that she was quite a private person and not fond of speaking publicly about her private life. The doc is chock full of archival clips and images, interviews galore, all of which paints a fascinating portrait of her an a horror icon and human being. It's quite a fascinating and fast-moving doc, and just 88 minutes it flew by, but doesn't feel rushed either, just direct and to the point. It left me with a much greater appreciation of Suzanna as a person, and also as a horror icon, it's wonderful stuff, and a beautiful homage to the iconic Indonesian empress of darkness.
Special Features:
- Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic - A Conversation With Director/Co-Producer David Gregory And Co-Producer Ekky Imanjaya (18:55)
- David Gregory Introduction At Jakarta Film Week Screening, October 2024 (3:10)
- Trailer (2:35)
GHOST AMBULANCE (2008)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 88 Minutes 16 Seconds
Audio: Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080i HD Widescreen (1:781)
Director: Koya Pagayo
Cast: Suzzanna, Dimaz Andrean, Fitri Ayu, Clift Sangra, Ratna Galih, Gianina Emanuela, William Alvin, Elvita Sambuaga, Cynthiara Alona
A nice bonus on this set is Suzzanna's final film, Ghost Ambulance (2004), a slicer of Indonesian folk horror about a struggling mother who makes pact with a demon to obtain wealth and prosperity, with the caveat that human sacrifices must be made. When the bill comes due tragedy befalls her family, and years later when her son Rano (Dimaz Andrean) attends university he and his friends end up falling prey to the family curse, putting his friends Dicky (William Alvin) and Ocha (Ratna Galih), love interest Popi (Fitri Ayu), and former girlfriend Fiona (Gianina Emanuela) in mortal danger. Suzzanna shows up as Rano's grandmother Widya who reveals his mother's secret, explaining the haunted happenings and deaths that have been following him and his friends. It's a fun bonus feature, presented in SD video with uncompressed audio and optional subtitles, but this was certainly my least favorite of the film's on this set, but still cool to have her last film included as a bonus.
Special Features:
- The Making Of Ghost Ambulance (28:34)
- ShowBiz On Location Interviews With Cast And Crew (20:36)
- Ghost Ambulance: Silet Interview With Actors Suzzanna And Clift Sangra (14:51)
- Promo Clips (24:05)
- Trailer (1:58)
Audio/Video: Pact with the Forces of Darkness (1991), White Crocodile Queen (1988), Milam Satu Suro (1988), and Kliwon Friday Night (1986) are all sourced from new 2K scan of the OCN, presented in 1080p HD and framed in 2.39:1 widescreen. These four films look terrific, strong garish colors, warm skin tones, nice looking black levels throughout, and looking clean and intact without any distracting flaws. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.;0 with optional English subtitles, the tracks are clean and well balanced, a hint of hiss in spots, but generally quite clean and free of hiss or distortion. This release the first time that these four films have been available in English-friendly HD versions, which is super-cool.
Suzanna: The Queen of Black Magic (2024) is a digital shot doc and is presented in 1080p HD, framed in 1.78:1 widescreen. The image looks stellar, the new interviews are spotless and crisp, while some of the clips, pics and archival video clips are less impressive, but nicely integrated into the documentary format. Audio comes by way of Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles, the track sounds great, like the video some of the archival video clips are of lesser quality than the newer interview footage but has been well-assembled, and I never found the transitions to be disorienting.
The bonus film Ghost Ambulance (2008) is presented in 1080i HD widescreen 1.78:1, sourced from a SD vide master, so it has some video anomalies an can be soft, but is quite watchable. Audio comes by way of Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2l0 with optional English subtitles.
We get a handful of new and archival extras for this release, starting off with the 28-min Hantu Retribution: Female Ghosts Of The Malay Archipelago – Interview With Filmmaker Katrina Irawati Graham And Dr. Rosalind Galt, Author Of Alluring Monsters: The Pontianak And Cinemas Of Decolonization on disc two. On disc three we get an 18-min Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic - A Conversation With Director/Co-Producer David Gregory And Co-Producer Ekky Imanjaya (18:55) in which Gregory discusses how he came to choose Suzzanna as the subject of his doc, originally planning to co-direct it with Joko Anwar, but when he was to busy to get heavily involved he recommended
Ekky Imanjaya as producer. He discusses how surprised how famous she was in Indonesia, but largely unknown outside, and giving credit to Pete Tombs and Mondo Macabro for opening the door into Indonesian cinema to the Western world, which is how I first came across her films. He also discusses the popularity of traveling outdoor cinemas which helped spread Suzzanna's films across the nation. There is also a 3-min David Gregory Introduction At Jakarta Film Week Screening, October 2024, and the 3-min
Trailer for the doc. Extras for Ghost Ambulance are archival in natures, we get a 29-min The Making Of Ghost Ambulance, 20-min ShowBiz On Location Interviews With Cast And Crew, 15-min Ghost Ambulance: Silet Interview With Actors Suzzanna And Clift Sangra, 24-min of Promo Clips, and the 2-min Trailer.
The 3-disc Blu-ray set arrives in a side-loading Rigid Slipcase with spot-gloss highlights that houses the three black keepcases inside. The artwork for the box set and wraps for the individual keepcases looks terrific, though I was unable to ascertain who the artists was, apologies. The wraps are single-sided, and the same artwork is featured on the Blu-ray discs.
This is a killer 6-film set and a terrific tribute to Indonesia's iconic horror queen Suzzanna, Severin have once again delivered a tasty treat, especially for fans of Indonesian cult-horror! Suzzanna has slowly been garnering a foothold in the hearts of North American cult-film fans, thanks in no small part to cult labels like Mondo Macabro and Vinegar Syndrome releasing a handful of her films, particularly Mondo Macabro who were early heroes bringing her films to home video here in the U.S., but as far as the best bang for your buck, this 3-disc, 6-film box set from Severin is an instant Suzzanna collection-starter, and it comes highly recommended for adventurous cult-horror film fans!
Screenshots from the Severin Films Blu-rays:
THE PACT WITH FORCES OF DARKNESS
WHITE CROCODILE QUEEN
MALUM SATO SURO
Extras:
KLIWON FRIDAY NIGHT
SUZZANNA: THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC
Buy it!
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