Severin to release the original PENGABDI SETAN (1980) on blu-ray!!!!!

On may 26 Severin are going to release Sisworo Gautama Putra's PENGABDI SETAN aka SATAN'S SLAVE on blu-ray in the USA. This is indeed fantastic news!!!

In English the film is known as SATAN'S SLAVE - not to be confused with a UK film by the same title. And not to be confused with the Indonesian remake of the same title from 2017 either! The original film is from 1980.

The ONLY English friendly release of the original 1980 film so far – worldwide – is the old long gone Brentwood bootleg DVD which was sourced from the old - also very rare – Japanese VHS tape. The tape is letterboxed and the bootleg DVD has English subtitles in the black bar.

But now... we get a blu-ray!!!!! (yes, an unheard-of number of exclamation marks – and it's indeed called for!) This is indeed great news (yes, I said that already and I'll say it sagain so you'll understand this is indeed a great piece of news!). You can preorder here.

Indonesian poster for SATAN'S SLAVE

I haven't watched the film for a long time but I remember it as being a cool watch. It's not a masterpiece by any means. However, it it's a cool worldweird horror film from a country that we don't see too many horror films from in the West.

It's a film that Jared Auner certainly would have written about on his old Worldweird Cinema blog a long time ago. Jared's last post on his blog was 9 years ago, it was partly about the (very cool) video label Mondo Macabro, and incidentally he is now with that very same label! A label that has given us quite a few cool films from worldweird territories. Hopefully, we'll see more films like that from MM and Severin.

I highly recommend you preorder/buy PENGABDI SETAN and convince the label to put more money into releases of this sort.

I'm not too fond of the cover for the upcoming release, the old Malaysian VCD cover (also used for the Japanese VHS) looks heaps better but, hey, it's just a cover. The most important thing is we get the film! xD

SPECS FOR THE UPCOMING BLU-RAY:

Disc Specs:
*Brand new scan from the original negative in Jarkarta
*Indonesian mono audio (with English subtitles)

• Satan’s Box Office: Interview with Producer Gope T. Samtani
• Indonesian Atmosphere: Interview with Screenwriter Imam Tantowi
• Satan’s Slave Obsession: Audio Interview with Remake Director Joko Anwar

 

Video-cd from Malaysia (front)

VCD from Malaysia (back of cover)

VHS release from Japan (Indonesian language with Japanese subtitles in the black bar).
This version was used for Brentwood's bootleg DVD (they call
it public domain in the USA but we all know that's bullshit – it's a bootleg)

THE SNAKE QUEEN - composite print on ultra limited DVD

I've just finished watching my new THE SNAKE QUEEN dvd. It's limited to 20 copies!!! (pressed, not dvd-r). I own the Greek vhs version but this one is pretty cool; it's a fan composite that mixes the Greek vhs and the Indonesian versions (off an Indonesian Betamax tape and an Indonesian VCD). Both Indo versions contain alternative edits of the film. We all thought the Greek tape was uncut but, nope, it's missing quite a few scenes. No violence or gore, but still. The Indo bits are subbed in English.
The film is awesome. Made in Indonesia in 1982 and stars Suzzanna, Barry Prima, George Rudy and some more familiar faces. Needless to say, like 99% of all old Indo flicks it's never been released on dvd. You can read about it in Pete Tombs' "Mondo Macabro" book.

THE WARRIOR AND THE NINJA (Indonesia 1983) H. Tjut Djalil

aka The Warrior and the Ninja Girls

Greece / VHS / half lbx / Eng. dub / Greek subs
hi-res scan

The first English dubbed THE WARRIOR sequel is THE WARRIOR AND THE NINJA (original title: Bajing Ireng Dan Jaka Sembung). Directed by H. Tjut Djalil (1983) who also directed LADY TERMINATOR, MYSTICS IN BALI, and many more. It was followed by THE WARRIOR AGAINST THE BLIND SWORDSMAN. There are two more sequels but they've never been dubbed or subbed into English.

Arizal - RIP

Unfortunately, I've learnt today that Indonesian film director extraordinaire ARIZAL passed away this morning. He was 71.

Arizal was an important film director to anybody who loves wild no-holds-barred world-weird action films.

He made tons of films that never made it to international shores but some of his well known films ("well known" to fans like us anyway) that were released on VHS in English dubbed form are: SPECIAL SILENCERS, FINAL SCORE, THE INTRUDER (aka Rambu), STABILIZER, and LETHAL HUNTER.

Here's an article by EVIETA FADJAR about his passing from the Indonesian online newspaper Tempo.co. I translated it with Google so don't expect a proper translation nor proper grammar. My Indonesian readers (yes, I have some) can check the original version at the bottom of the page, or you can check the original newspaper post here.

TEMPO.CO , Jakarta - Directed by Arizal , 71 years , died on May 18, 2014 at 11:00 pm . Men born Indragiri Hulu Indonesia is known as a director who is able to make films and soap operas from a variety of genres .

He has been the director of high school and Gita Love Puspa Indah Taman Hati starring Rano Karno and Yessy Gusman . Arizal also made films starring Warkop humor and became the best-selling films in the 1980s and 1990s .

After graduating from high school in New Week , Arizal continuing higher education at the University of Indonesia and then West Coast Institute of Management & Technology , Perth , Australia .

Arizal also known as a journalist . He began his career as a caricaturist in magazines Selecta . He later he joined the editorial staff at the magazine Mayapada and Panorama .

Film career began when he became assistant artistic Walt Disney cartoon at Universal Studios , Los Angeles , United States . After that in 1971 he became an assistant director on the film Hell to the chase .

In 1974 he was appointed as director of children's film Smiles and Tears . This film won the Citra award as best children's film . In the late 1970s , he made many dramatic movies .

The film Arizal , Gita Love from high school and Puspa Indah Taman Hati be one much-loved film community . In the 1980s , Arizal also working on comedies . Together Warkop group , Arizal successfully made films humor when it has not been appearing .

Some films such as smart - smart comedy Dumb and Forward Backward Kena Kena become the best-selling movie in Indonesia . Thanks to his success in comedy , director Arizal be one of the most expensive in Indonesia . His ability to make films in various genres , such as drama , comedy , and action , the lifting popularity.

In soap operas or glass screen , working Arizal Because of PT Multivision Plus in 1992-1993 with Lydia Kandouw player , Jimmy Gideon , Gideon Zion , Pitrajaya Burnama and Nani Wijaya . Then , the soap opera nonsense of PT Multivision Plus in 1993-1995 with players Nurul Arifin , Rudy Regards , Kiki Fatmala and Fuad Alkhar .

He also directed soap operas and Jun Jin from PT Multivision in 1996-2001 with players Syahrul Gunawan , Mira Asmara , Misye Arsita , Baraja and M. Fuad Amin . There are also soap operas and Miss Yul Toyol in 1997-2002 with 270 episodes Onny players all, being Slamet Joyo and Dominiq Sanda .

He also made a television commercial for Unilever soap Lux 1978 Citra Jakarta Traffic with Widyawati models . In addition, the Arizal also known as the author of the song . His work is Unread You Goda - Ernie Djohan , 1967, Why - Alfian in 1967 , the song Smiles and Tears , starring Rano Karno , 1974, the song in the movie as sincere Heart , starring Elly Tanty Yosepha & S in 1975 and the song Main Movie , starring Benjamin S in 1975.


ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE ARTICLE IN INDONESIAN:

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Sutradara Arizal, 71 tahun, meninggal pada 18 Mei 2014 pukul 11.00 Wib. Pria kelahiran Indragiri Hulu ini dikenal sebagai sutradara Indonesia yang mampu membuat film dan sinetron dari berbagai genre.

Ia pernah menjadi sutradara Gita Cinta dari SMA dan Puspa Indah Taman Hati yang dibintangi Rano Karno dan Yessy Gusman. Arizal juga membuat film-film humor yang dibintangi oleh Warkop dan menjadi film-film laris di tahun 1980-an dan 1990-an.

Setelah menamatkan SMA di Pekan Baru, Arizal melanjutkan pendidikan tingginya di Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Indonesia dan kemudian West Coast Institute of Management & Technology, Perth, Australia.

Arizal juga dikenal sebagai wartawan. Ia memulai kariernya sebagai karikaturis di majalah Selecta. Ia kemudian ia bergabung menjadi staf redaksi di majalah Mayapada dan Panorama.

Kariernya di dunia film dimulai ketika ia menjadi asisten artistik kartun Walt Disney di Universal Studio, Los Angeles, Amerika Serikat. Setelah itu pada 1971 ia menjadi asisten sutradara pada film Pengejaran ke Neraka.

Pada 1974 ia dipercaya menjadi sutradara film anak-anak Senyum dan Tangis. Film ini meraih penghargaan Piala Citra sebagai film anak-anak terbaik. Di akhir dekade 1970, ia banyak membuat film-film drama.

Film garapan Arizal, Gita Cinta dari SMA dan Puspa Indah Taman Hati menjadi salah satu film yang banyak digemari masyarakat. Pada tahun 1980-an, Arizal juga menggarap film-film komedi. Bersama kelompok Warkop, Arizal sukses membuat film-film humor yang ketika itu belum banyak muncul.

Beberapa film komedinya seperti Pintar-pintar Bodoh dan Maju Kena Mundur Kena menjadi film terlaris di Indonesia. Berkat kesuksesannya dalam film komedi, Arizal menjadi salah satu sutradara termahal di Indonesia. Kemampuannya membuat film dalam berbagai genre, seperti drama, komedi, dan laga, semakin mengangkat popularitasnya.

Di sinetron atau layar Kaca, Arizal menggarap Gara-gara dari PT Multivision Plus pada 1992-1993 dengan pemain Lydia Kandouw, Jimmy Gideon, Sion Gideon, Pitrajaya Burnama dan Nani Wijaya. Lalu, sinetron Ada-ada Saja dari PT Multivision Plus pada 1993-1995 dengan pemain Nurul Arifin, Rudy Salam, Kiki Fatmala dan Fuad Alkhar.

Dia juga menyutradarai sinetron Jin dan Jun dari PT Multivision pada 1996-2001 dengan pemain Syahrul Gunawan, Mira Asmara, Misye Arsita, Fuad Baraja dan M. Amin. Ada juga sinetron Tuyul dan Mbak Yul pada 1997-2002 sebanyak 270 episode dengan pemain Onny Syahrial, Slamet Joyo dan Dominiq Sanda.

Ia juga membuat iklan televisi sabun Lux untuk PT Unilever 1978 Jakarta Citra Lintas dengan model Widyawati. Selain itu, Arizal juga dikenal sebagai pengarang lagu. Karyanya adalah Usah Kau Goda-Emie Djohan 1967, Mengapa-Alfian 1967, lagu Senyum dan Tangis, dibintangi Rano Karno 1974, lagu di film Setulus Hatimu yang dibintangi Tanty Yosepha & Elly S pada 1975 dan lagu Main Film, dibintangi Benyamin S pada 1975

Almarhum disemayamkan di Perum Kranggan Permai, Jalan Borobudur, Jati Sampurna, Bekasi.

DEADLY ANGELS STRIKE BACK (Indonesia, 1981)

aka Cewek Jagoan beraski Kembali (original Indonesian title)

Director: Danu Umbara

This is the sequel for 5 DEADLY ANGELS. In contradiction to the first film it's never been released dubbed into English.

TAKE NOTICE: The German data base OFDB has listed that the film was released on German VHS under the title of "Tödliche Engel Schlagen Zurück". This is INCORRECT information! The title for the German tape has the same meaning as the English title but it's an entirely different Indonesian film called FIRE OF VENGEANCE!!!

VCD / Malaysia / fullscreen / Indonesian / no subs

WAR VICTIMS (Indonesia, 1983)

Original title: KAMP TAWANAN WANITA



Here's the rare trailer for Jopi Burnama's Indonesian war/WIP movie WAR VICTIMS. There's no official DVD release but it's released on VHS in the US, Holland, and Japan. I believe both the US and Dutch versions are fullscreen. The Japanese tape is letterboxed.

UPDATE (27.10.2023) Unfortunately, the original, English dubbed trailer is gone from YouTube and I forgot to download a copy. It seems nobody else has uploaded a it. I found this alternative (Indonesian?) trailer for the film on YouTube. 


Director: JOPI BURNAMA

Cast:
MARISSA HAQUE
BOY TIRAYOH
AVENT CHRISTIE
MANGARA SIAHAAN
JEFFRY SANI
DJOKO WAROK
ANEN WIJAYA
USMAN EFFENDY
SIMON PS
FARIDA YASMINE
WATY SIREGAR
NINA ANWAR

Credit info from CITWF.

Thanks to Member-X for the YouTube upload! 

SILUMAN CLURIT PERAK (Indonesia, 1988)

review by PETER "KOTHAR"




Director: Dasri Yacob

Cast: Yurike Prastica, Yan Bastian, Herby Latuperisa, Essy Lousiana, Jamal Jentak, Ruslan Basrie, Djoni Abdullah

Genre: Horror, Action

An evil witch kidnapped people and turns them into zombies. Two young warriors, a pretty girl and an old master fight against the witch and her helpers and monsters.

This is another ultra weird, crazy trash-megabomb from Indonesia. We have an evil witch who likes to bite off penis, one eye is gouged with a branch, flying skulls, zombies, vampire bats, funny transformations, intestines, bloody kung fu fights, flying coffins attack villagers !!!, the old master strangled his opponents with a giant tongue !!, exploding bodies, bizarre black magic rituals, worms eating and many more.
It is actually not to put into words, therefore, the pictures speak for themselves.


Click the scans to see their full size:






-------------
I've tried to make the scans a bit bigger on the page so if the framing looks weird that's the reason!
/Jack

Crazy Indonesia!!!

It must be around 10 since years since I discovered the crazy films of Indonesia. I'm not even sure where I learnt about them but it was way before the Mondo Macabro book came out. Maybe I first found out about these wonders thru Günter Müller's WEIRD ASIA site, I definitely discovered that one long ago. Anyhoo, I'll try and do an incisive piece on Indonesian cinema at some stage (or maybe I'll just rip off Güter's old German article, LOL) but until then here's something else along the same lines: Another student from the "school of Günter Müller" (besides me and kitty kat Nekoneko) is Kothar (aka Peter) from Cinehound forum. He's based in Germany and used to follow WEIRD ASIA too and is a big collector of Hong Kong, Filipino, and not least Indonesian films. Lately he's posted some short reviews on Cinehound and altho they're not all that long I'm going to post at least one of them here simply because the images from this Indo flick are just... for the lack of a better word... awesome!!!

Thanks for letting me post this, Peter (I'm sure you would have said yes if I'd asked you, haha).

HUNGRY SNAKE WOMAN (Indonesia)

VHS / Japan / letterbox / English dub / Japanese subs
[click scan for full size]

GHOSTLY FACE (Taiwan/Indonesia, 1972)

VHS / Denmark / half letterboxed / English dub / Danish subs / uncut


Very entertaining. Read a review for it over on the cool Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill! blog.

Here are screen grabs from the two prints I have; #1 is a letterboxed, English subbed, Chinese language print. #2 is the English dubbed, Danish subtitled, half letterboxed, squeezed picture print. The first print is off a DVD-R bootleg from eBay, the second is off the official Danish rental VHS.

Is it just me or does the fully letterboxed version look too thin? Like it's a fan made letterboxing that went wrong. o_O













VHS / Germany / format? / German dub / no subs / cut?

[click the scans for full size]


[click the poster twice for full size]

LETHAL HUNTER (Indonesia, 1986)

Original Indonesian title: PERAWAN DI SARANG SINDIKAT
Original Indonesian English title: LETHAL HUNTER
American re-title: AMERICAN HUNTER
German dvd: AMERICAN HUNTER
Greek vhs: LETHAL HUNTER

NB: Not to be confused with the Filipino film THE LETHAL HUNT

VHS / Greece / fullscreen / English audio / Greek subs

Bollywood poster

FINAL SCORE (Indonesia)

VHS / Japan / fullscreen / English audio / Japanese subs

DEVIL'S SWORD (Indonesia)

DANGEROUS SEDUCTRESS (Indonesia)

Suzzanna obituary (The Jakarta Post, October 2008)

Re-post from 2008:

Unfortunately, less than a day after I won the SNAKE QUEEN vhs, I learn that Suzzanna, the queen of Indonesian horror movies, has died. :(

RIP Suzzanna.



Here's two news bits from "The Jakarta Post":


Horror film queen dies aged 66
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 10/16/2008 4:12 PM | National

Legendary actress Suzanna, famous for her roles in horror and mystery films, died of complications from diabetes in a hospital in Magelang, Central Java, on Wednesday. She was 66.

The actress, best known for her role as the Queen of the South Sea, had been receiving treatment at the Harapan Hospital for five days. She died two days after her birthday on Oct. 14.

She is to be buried at Girimulyo Cemetary in Magelang.

Suzanna, whose real name was Suzanna Martha Frederika van Osch, became a household name thanks to her roles in 1970s and 1980s supernatural movies such as Beranak Dalam Kubur (Giving Birth in the Grave) in 1971, Pulau Cinta (Love Island) in 1978 and Ratu Ilmu Hitam (Queen of Black Magic) in 1981.

Her characters Nyi Blorong and Nyi Roro Kidul, both strong women with supernatural superpowers, led her to be known as the era's queen of the horror film. All the films in which she starred as such women were box-office hits. (dre)


Horror artist Suzanna dies
Fri, 10/17/2008 10:21 AM | People

Horror actress Suzana, who was crowned the Queen of Indonesian Horror, passed away at her home in Magelang, Central Java, on Wednesday. She was 66.

Suzana had suffered from diabetes over the last five years and was being treated at Harapan Hospital. She was buried on Thursday at Giriloyo cemetery.

"According to her will, she did not want a big funeral in which many people could watch," her lawyer, Bambang Tjatur Iswanto, was quoted as saying by Antara.

Born Suzanna Martha Frederika van Osch in Bogor, West Java, on Oct. 14, 1942, Suzana began her career in acting when she was a teenager in the film Asmara Dara (1958). She won the Best Child Actress award at the 1960 Asian Film Festival for her performance.

She enjoyed a stellar career in the 1970s and 80s through her roles in horror films, most of which are now considered classics, including Bernapas dalam Lumpur (Breathing in the Mud), Beranak dalam Kubur (Delivering a Baby in Grave) and Sundel Bolong.

At the 1972 Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Seoul, South Korea, she was crowned Asia's Most Popular Actress.

After a long hiatus from 1991, she returned to the acting world when she starred in a sinetron (TV soap) called Selma and Ular Siluman (Selma and the Snake Ghost) in 2003.

Earlier this year, she returned to the big screen in Hantu Ambulans (The Ambulance Ghost). She starred in 42 movies from 1950 to 2008. -- JP/Ary Hermawan

SNAKE QUEEN (Indonesia, 1982)

Original title: NYI BLORONG



Re-post from 2008:
Tonight I won this Greek video release of SNAKE QUEEN (or as it's known in Indonesian: Nyi Blorong) on ebay!! Woo-hoo!!! For a couple of years I've had a bootleg from Shocking Videos (taken from the Greek tape) and I never thought I'd get hold of the original tape! Well, sometimes you're just plain lucky. And even more so as almost no one (I guess) discovered the auction. Woo-hoo (again)!! SNAKE QUEEN is from 1982 and is directed by Sisworo Gautama Putra who also did two more films in the series; PERKAWINAN NYI BLORONG (1983) and PETUALANGAN CINTA NYI BLORONG (1986). They all star Suzzanna (sometimes spelt Suzanna). There were also later Snake Queen films but with different actresses. The tape is letterboxed and has English dub. Actually it's the only English dubbed version in the world! A truly great find (and win).

DOUBLE CROSSER (Indonesia)

aka CROCODILE CAGE (Germany)

VHS / Germany / German dub
[click scan for full size]



I watched Arizal's DOUBLE CROSSER starring Peter O'Brian tonight and... oh man, the more you watch these movies the more you shake your head in disbelief that no one puts them out on dvd! This film is just soo over the top it's unreal! There's a car chase scene where O'Brian is after some bad guys in a car (they're trying to rape some poor woman and they don't even stop even though they're being followed at break neck speed!). A big truck pulls out from nowhere blocking the street and in most films the chaser would give up. Well, not so in an Arizal movie; O'Brian's character just smashes his car through the lorry!! The entire movie has no-holds-barred scenes like that!

SATAN'S SLAVE (Indonesia, 1980)

Original title: PENGABDI SETAN

(not to be confused with the English film of the same English title)

The rare trailer for this was on YouTube but the uploader closed his account. Unfortunately I forgot to copy it but if any of you out there has it it would be mighty nice if you could re-upload it. Cheers.
PS: there are two fan trailers on YT but I'm looking for the original trailer.

REVENGE OF NINJA (Indonesia, 1988)

Original title: Gadis Berwajah Seribu

I watched the wild no-holds-barred Indonesian movie REVENGE OF NINJA tonight. It stars the Capo di tutti capi (the boss of bosses) of insane Indonesian cinema of the 1980s; Barry Prima!!! Other top names in the movie are Dana Christina and Advent Bangun. If you know your way around Indo flicks these names won't be alien to you that's for damn sure. LOL. And the whole non logical and fantastic mess is directed by Ratno Timoer who also among tons of other amazing Indo films made JUNGLE HEAT (which also stars Barry Prima and Mr Rambu hisself Peter O'Brian), DEVIL'S SWORD, and THE BLIND WARRIOR. This is not a review (I'll probably publish an incisive "Encyclopaedia of Over-the-top Indonesian Films" coffee table book at some stage, haha. Suffice to say if you liked THE DEVIL'S SWORD (out on a VERY nice DVD from Mondo Macabro) you're gonna like this one too. It's just as wild and the difference between the two is basically that REVENGE OF NINJA is set in the present. Or is it? I have a feeling the script writer kept forgetting that MINOR detail while he jotted the script down on the back of a beermat, haha. I own the rare Greek video release but the copy I watched tonight was a DVD-r from Trash-online.com (also located in Greece) which carries the Japanese version which is fully letterboxed. The Greek tape is unfortunately fullscreen. Needless to say there is no official DVD release of this and it's most unlikely there'll ever be any. Boo-hoo.

Despite the ninja on the cover of the Greek VHS this Indonesian movie is not to be confused with a film of an almost similar title: Revenge of the Ninja (directed by Sam Firstenberg and starring Shô Kosugi).

Now watch the trailer:

Description from Trash-online:

The stars of THE DEVIL SWORD return in another outrageous Indonesian adventure! An army of scumbags armed with machine guns and rocket launchers attack a magician who possesses a magic necklace. They mange to take it from him but later it proves that its not the real necklace. That's when all hell breaks loose... REVENGE OF NINJA hardly has any ninjas but is packed with non-stop trashy violence and delivers everything you can expect from an Indonesian action film: huge explosions, tortures, beatings, unbelievable fights and the usual atrocious dubbing that you can't help but love! Our print is an ultra-rare Japanese import and is fully scoped unlike the Greek fullscreen print. Not to be missed!

5 DEADLY ANGELS (Indonesia)

This awesome scene is from the rare Indo film FIVE DEADLY ANGELS. The film is originally entitled 5 Cewek Jagoan and there was even a sequel, DEADLY ANGELS STRIKE BACK/Cewek Jagoan beraski Kembali (which I've watched on Malay VCD, it never came out in English). The film stars Debby Cynthia Dewi, Yati Octavia, Dana Christina and Lydia Kandou who are no strangers to fans of Indo cinema! Btw, (reportedly) this scene is missing from the German VHS.

Read Fred Adelman's cool review here.

VCD/Malaysia/fullscreen/Indonesian audio/no subs