QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC (1981)
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 89 Minutes 58 Seconds
Audio: Indonesian or Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Lilik Sudjio
Cast: Suzzana, W. D. Mochtar, Alan Nuary, Sofia W.D.
In Queen of Black Magic (1981) a wedding ceremony goes horribly wrong when the bride-to-be start experiencing hallucinations of snakes and skeletons. The groom, Kohar (Alan Nuary, Kliwon Friday Night) calls on a witchdoctor to ward of the evil influences, but he dies while trying, thwarted by evil and spitting up blood. Kohar then accuses his ex girlfriend Murni (Suzzanna, Sundelbolong) for the evil, accusing her of being a witch. The villager form a lynch mob and storm her home, burning it down, and throwing her off a cliff! A witch doctor (W.D. Mochtar, Special Silencers) who is seemingly just passing by at the bottom of the cliff literally catches her as she is thrown, nursing her back to health, and promising to teach her black magic to get her revenge on the superstitious villagers, and particularly Kohar, the son of the village chief, who it is revealed stole her virginity and them dumped her for his new bride. We gets some black magic training montages which mostly involves her dancing naked in front of a full moon, getting doused in blood, and having a bit of a haircut, and then she sets out for her revenge. Her vengeance includes causing a man to be stung to death by bees, making another's man face erupt in boiling sores, and causing a guy to be dragged into the mud where his face is eaten by worms! Other vengeful black magic acts include making a scarf come alive to hang a guy by his neck from a tree, and saving the most gruesome fate for her former lover, possessing him and making him rip off his own head! His disembodied head then comes alive, eyes glowing, and starts to fly around attacking the village chief!
During her vengeful spree she befriends a stranger who arrives in the village, a holy man with connection to the village years earlier, but the witchdoctor does not care for his influence over Murni, or that fact that he is encouraging villagers to find their faith and pray the evil away, which weakens his powers. He therefore arranges for Murni to turn on his through deception, strengthening her resolve for revenge. Eventually we come to discover that the witchdoctor was behind all of the evil juju that she was blamed for, part of an insidious plan to get his own revenge on the village for not choosing him as the village chief!
It's another wild slice of Indonesian horror, the folk horror entry is a blast, the story is not quite as out there as some of the Indonesian horror, but it is compelling as the scorned lover accused of witchcraft seeks her revenge, only to discover that the whole things has been orchestrated by an evil wizard for how own nefarious reasons. Suzzanna is terrific in the role, her magnetic stare in full effects, sexy as ever, and unleashing her full black magic fury on the villagers who would see her dead. We also get some wonderful practical special effects work from legendary Indonesian SFX magician El Badrun that are frightfully fun, patricianly that scene of the Kohar ripping off his won head, that was wild.
Audio/Video: Queen of Black Magic (1981) gets a region-free Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro, updating their OOP DVD from 2008. The film is restored from the original camera negative, presented in 1080p HD widescreen framed n 2.35:1. The source looks quite good, there are some small blemished and artifacts that pop-up, but generally it's quite clean, while still maintaining filmic grain levels, with good colors throughout, the blue tinted night scenes and reds and purples of Murni's outfits particularly look good, as do the scenes of gore with bloodshed. Black level are also pleasing, a few shots are tad murky, and I also detected some minor color fluctuation and softness, but generally I found this to be quite pleasing presentation. Audio comes by way of English or Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. Both tracks are post-dubbed as the film was shot without sync sound, I'd give the edge tot he Indonesian track as far as fidelity, but the English dub is no slouch either, coming in a close second. The music cues which are mostly synth and electronic come through well on both tracks.
Extras include a 7-min Introduction by Joko Anwar, the director of the Satan's Slaves remake from 2017. He talks about how the film is relatable around the world, how Suzzanna had appeared in horror films before, but that this was her first iconic role. He also offers an appreciation of the director Lilik Sudjio, how outrageous and artistic he was, and discussing his favorite scenes, and the challenges he faced in writing the 2019 remake of the film. There's also a10-min Indonesian Light & Magic - A Tour Around the Studio of SFX Maestro El Badrun. It offers a look at his studio littered with dilapidated creatures, molds and works in progress. He talks about working as an assistant for artist early on who was basically his make-up effects teacher, becoming an art director, learning SFX from reading books, before getting into the decapitation scene and how it was done, as well as the blistering skin effects seen in the film.
The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring a new illustration by Jolyon Yates.
Special Features:
- Introduction by Joko Anwar (7:00)
- Indonesian Light & Magic - A Tour Around the Studio of SFX Maestro El Badrun. (10:08)
Screenshots from the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray:
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