THE HUNGRY SNAKE WOMAN (1986)
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 82 Minutes 28 Seconds
Audio: English-dub or Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.O with English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Sisworo Gautama Putra
Cast: Suzzanna, Advent Bangun, George Rudy, Nina Anwar
Sometimes I will watch a ton of movies in a short amount of time and I will get burned-out just a bit, and when that happens I like to reach for something weird to break things up a bit, something out of left field, something so different, so weird, and so wild that it cleanses the palate, and reinvigorates my thirst for cinema. Today that wild hair flick was the Indonesian exploitation flick The Hungry Snake Woman (1986), directed by the prolific Sisworo Gautama Putra (Satan's Slave, Primitives, The Warrior, Santet, Santet 2). It's a wonderfully batshit weird mash-up of action, sleaze, fantasy, and folk horror as you could ever only hope to find coming out of Indonesia in the mid-'80s.
In it a terrible man (Advent Bangun, The Warrior and the Blind Swordsman) desperate to obtain wealth and power unsuccessfully attempts to rape his ex-girlfriend Carlita (Nina Anwar, Virgins from Hell) and ends up fleeing into the jungle. There he seeks the mythological goddess known as the Snake Woman, played by the Queen of Indonesian Horror Suzzanna (Sampson and Delilah), a mysterious and powerful deity who can bequeath riches on those who obey her commands. Before he finds her he first encounters the Snake Woman's sworn enemy Nyi Lajang, a half human/half snake creature and he seemingly Cro-Magnon husband who point him in the right direction.
He does eventually find the Snake Queen and her sexy and scantily clad cannibal-girl escorts, and she tells him that to obtain the riches he desires he must first kill three women, drink their blood and feast on their breasts. In the next scene he is transformed into a goody-looking vampire, complete with a cloak and fangs, he sets about his task, but only succeeds in claiming one sacrifice to the Snake Queen. He again encounters Nyi Lajang, the half human/half snake woman, who proposes a way of still obtaining riches from the Snake Woman without killing two more women, a plan which involves having sex with the Snake Woman and sticking her with a silver pin which will turn her back into a snake, causing her to lose her magical powers. He does just that, and now reverted to snake form the goddess is helpless, but finds herself nursed back to her old self thanks to the help of a kindly young man who finds her in her snake form in his backyard, allowing her to regain her strength and exact her revenge.
This is truly a wild and zany Indonesian horror flick, chock full of black magic and fantastical elements, a bit of kung-fu, two snake-women, a sheister paranormnalist, and some tasty low-budget gore effects that are just a hoot. The fantasy elements are also quite pleasing, the Snake Woman's cave lair with trees made of gold, and a sweet dragon-snake themed golden flying chariot that carries her across the sky it's good stuff. The whole blood-sucking Dracula detour was weird and quite cartoonish, but not so odd that it felt out of place in an Indonesian exploitation flick - it would take something so far out of left field to surprise me at this point when it comes to Indonesian exploitation cinema. When Monda Macabro advertises that they are 'the wild side of world cinema' it's these sort of bug-nuts insane Indonesian flicks I imagine they're talking about.
Audio/Video: The Hungry Snake Woman (1986) makes it's US video premiere and a world premiere on Blu-ray from Mondo macabre, digitally restored in 2K from the original negative, presented in 1080p HD widescreen (2.35:1). The source is in terrific shape, it's a tad soft looking but I would attribute that to how it was originally shot. Even still, colors look wonderful, skin tones are warm, and black levels are solid. Audio comes by way of both English-dub and Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.0 with optional English subtitles, and it sounds fine, no issues.
No extras on this one, which is a bit of an oddity for a release from mondo Macabro, but we do get exclusive new artwork from Justin Coffee that does good work capturing the essence of this flick.
Special Features:
- None
Screenshots from the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray:
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