Satan’s SlavesandSatan’s Slaves: Communionare part of anunderrated Asian horror franchise that iswaiting to be watched on Shudder.They were big hits in Indonesia, both directed byJoko Anwar, a new horror master who deserves the recognition that other modern filmmakers, likeJordan PeeleandJuliaDucournau, have received. He can deliver intense, hellish thrills in the 2019 folk horrorImpetigoreorthe 2024 shockingGrave Torture, butSatan’s Slavesis where he entered the horror scene fora fun and frightening remakeof a classic Indonesian horror film that updates the scares for a new audience.
What Is ‘Satan’s Slaves’ About?
Set in the early 1980s, a family living in the Indonesian countryside goes through a tragedy, but there is little time for grieving inSatan’s Slaves. The death of their mother puts older sister Rini (Tara Basro) in charge of her younger brothers when their father leaves to find work to help pay for a house they are at risk of losing. In the days and nights that follow,the family realizes the spirit of their mother is not at peaceand their torment is just beginning. Described as a loose remake-prequel ofSatan’s Slave(1980), director Joko Anwar remembered it asbeing the essential horror filmthat influenced him tremendously growing up.In an interview with NME, he described watching the movie any way he could.
The New Wave of Indonesian Horror: 9 Terrifying Films to Watch Right Now
These films use the horror genre to explore cultural identity, societal shortcomings, and human fear.
“There was this rundown cinema in my hometown, just across from where I lived in Medan, Sumatra. If I had money I would always watch movies there,” he said, “But even if I didn’t have money, I would still go there and watch from the outside! The theater had this ventilation hole by the side – a kind of window.” Although he loved the genre,Anwar was hesitant to make a horror filmuntil he felt confident. What he did with his remake proved he found that confidence. The original film centered on a wealthy family who are haunted by their dead mother without the protection of their Muslim faith that they have stopped practicing. Anwar’s remake-prequel takes place in the same world, and the inciting incident is similar, but it becomes a bigger scarefest.
‘Satan’s Slaves’ Puts a Spin on Haunted Houses With Indonesian Culture
Rini’s isolated home in the woods is as effective as the many haunted homes inthe scariest horror movies.Much of the movie takes place in this one location, where the supernatural horror can be anywhere. There is a dark basement with a well that someone is bound to fall into or something is bound to crawl out of. A portrait of Rini’s mother hangs at the end of a hall, glaring at whoever walks by it.Satan’s Slavesis an atmospheric chiller that happily uses classic tropes, with Anwar knowing audiences will anticipate the jolts to come. A bell echoes throughout the house, the same one that Rini’s bedridden mother used to ring to get help. When the camera pans from one of the family members to what seems to be empty space, there is the expectation that something frightening will pop out, and the movie waits just long enough to deliver on that.Then the familiar horror formula is changed with the Indonesian culture put into it.
In movies about nefarious spirits, Western audiences typically see Catholicism or Christianity brought into fight satanic forces.This time, Rini and her brothers need to reclaim their Muslim faith as they realize they areunder attack by a cultwith ties to their mother and with the power to raise the dead. The house being next to a cemetery doesn’t mean anything good, and then a swarm of pocongs attack,Indonesian ghoststhat are corpses in their burial shroud. Unfortunately for Rini and her family, but fortunately for horror fans, the story continues inCommunionwhen the past isn’t done with them.
Director Joko Anwar Has Made a New Horror Franchise
One year beforeEvil Dead Rise, the sequel toSatan’s Slavestried its hand at apartment horror. The drab cement building offers cheap housing, set in the middle of a field that is below sea level. The supernatural isn’t the only source of tension, not when a horrifying sequence in the first half ofthe movie builds dreadout of a faulty elevator. When a fatal accident does happen, and bad weather stops the bodies from being taken elsewhere, it’s a ghoulishly smart explanation to keep the dead bodies inside that will soon awake. Sure enough, they do andAnwar gets to go grander with the scares in the multi-storey apartment building.Flooding from the storm closes the residents off from help, then a blackout traps Rini, her brothers, and several neighbors in the darkness with only candles and flashlights to find their way around.
When the cult lore grows into a nightmarish conspiracy, it should have viewers begging Anwar to get on with it and make the third film already. His love for the world he first saw inSatan’s Slaveis obvious as you watch his two installments, as is his passion for the horror genre. He never hides that he is a fan when he puts in what can be seen as references toThe Ring(the well in the firstSatan’s Slaves) orThe Texas Chain Saw Massacrewith the unsettling sound effect of a camera’s bulb flashing inCommunion. Among the more well-known religious horror franchises, likeThe Conjuring, director Joko Anwar has given horror fans a new one to be terrorized by.
Satan’s Slaves
