Macabre (2009)

Two newly weds Adjie and Astrid, along with 3 of their best friends decided to have an interstate road trip as a last attempt to reconcile Adjie with his estranged little sister Ladya. ... See full summary »

Directors:

Kimo Stamboel (as The Mo Brothers), Timo Tjahjanto (as The Mo Brothers)

Writers:

Kimo Stamboel (as The Mo Brothers), Timo Tjahjanto (as The Mo Brothers)

Stars:

Shareefa Daanish, Julie Estelle, Ario Bayu

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shareefa Daanish	...	Dara
Julie Estelle	...	Ladya
Ario Bayu	...	Adjie
Sigi Wimala	...	Astrid
Arifin Putra	...	Adam
Daniel Mananta	...	Jimmy
Dendy Subangil	...	Eko
Imelda Therinne	...	Maya
Mike Lucock	...	Alam
Ruly Lubis	...	Arman
Felicia A. Sumarauw	...	Baby
Risdo Alaro Martondang	...	Sersan Syarief
Ikhsan Samiaji	...	Taufiq (as Ikhsan Samiadji)
Cansirano	...	Sony Samba
Roni Kribs	...	Petrus

Storyline

Two newly weds Adjie and Astrid, along with 3 of their best friends decided to have an interstate road trip as a last attempt to reconcile Adjie with his estranged little sister Ladya. Their trip is however abruptly interrupted when they run into Maya, a strange girl out of nowhere, who wanders aimlessly into their path. "I've been robbed" is all she has to say. The friends unanimously decided to give her a ride to her isolated house by the end of the woods. Maya introduces Adjie and friends to her blue-blooded mother Dara, a woman of ageless enigma and few spoken words. Dara insists that their kindness should be repaid with a dinner feast. This is where the night turns into a crimson-hell for the 6 friends, who find themselves trapped and hunted down by Dara and her cult-like family of her three deadly protégés, born and raised to systematically eliminate unsuspecting passers-by for one nefarious reason. Slaughtered one by one, everybody will bleed, the darkest of nights never looked...

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | slasher | baby | waitress | cameo | 

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Taglines:

Everybody bleeds...

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This marks the second time actress Shareefa Daanish playing the role of Dara. She previously portrayed her in the short movie Dara (2007).

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Connections

Follows Dara (2007)

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Soundtracks

Charlie Kaufman
Written by Zeke Khaseli
Performed by Zeke and the Popo

User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: Darah

The first film to be released under the Singapore label Gorylah Pictures set up by Eric Khoo and Mike Wiluan, Darah (or Macabre as it is known internationally) is a one of a kind slasher film from this part of the region, written and directed by the Indonesian duo Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto, collectively known as The Mo Brothers, who actually had a short film version of this made back in 2007 which was simply called Dara, also starring actress Shareefa Daanish as the Mother of all Evil.

As a horror film, it did take its time to set up the premise, rather than to jump headlong into flat out boo-tactics. For about 20 minutes, we're introduced to a group of 4 guys and 2 girls, and their relationship with one another, some by blood, some estranged. They meet in a pub in Bandung and are supposed to go on a road trip to Jakarta, until they are stopped by the beautiful yet mysterious Maya (Imelda Therinne), and in playing the Good Samaritan, decided to drop her off along the way.

So there you have it, a nice handful r of people, some of whom you'll grow to dislike, a road trip, a mysterious lady, and a house in the middle of nowhere. Soon we're introduced to the cool and emotionless Dara (Daanish), and the entourage will soon find themselves in a horrific situation where survival is of the highest order. As I mentioned, it does take a while to build up the premise, and you can feel the calm before the storm with the incessant ticking clock in the audio background, as if counting down the moments where first blood gets drawn.

The eager beaver in me though found it a tad excruciating in the wait, especially when you don't really get to learn much of Dara and her family's background apart from some rapid shots. The directors went straight for the action, and Kimo in an interactive session after the film, had revealed that more of the background of Dara, could be explained in the next film, which they hadn't decided whether to set it forward, or backward in time.

Alas the rating of the film at M18, meant that the editing was a tad choppy, where enough scenes were jarring just because they had lingered on far too longer than the comfort zone afforded. This has a slight impact on the narrative flow, as one minute you see the death blow being applied, and the next you're faced with a jump cut that shows the few seconds after. Thick, crimson blood was also the order of the day from set design to makeup, where everyone gets drenched thoroughly in coagulating plasma no thanks to the insanely violent bloodbath. Genre fans should take delight in watching how

Character-wise, the creators went for the rather contemporary female-superiority style, where guys are made to look really bumbling, and sheer tenacity comes from the females instead, such as Ladya (Julie Estelle) who demonstrates extreme spunk and quick thinking to ensure she comes out of each ordeal as best as she can. You're likely to cheer her on as she takes on the villains, and her solo battle with Dara is a highlight in the film. Dara herself too gives you the creeps especially since Shareefa Daanish put in a measured performance balancing composure, and that mad frenzy baying for blood. It's no wonder she was handed the Best Actress award at the genre Puchon International Film Festival not too long ago.

It's not all blood and gore however, as there were ample time devoted to some slight comedy, especially when the cops come knocking. Serving two purposes in providing light entertainment before the going gets heavy, and also to add to the body count, this episode was perhaps the most fun of the lot, and became a catalyst for the bloodbath to follow in a relatively quickened pace, with dismemberment, slashes, stabs, and strangulation being the norm, with The Mo Brothers keeping things tight.

Darah should appeal to the patient horror fan who can sit through a build up and celebrate when the madness start to descend on the poor victims. It's a little unfortunate though that the real horror was the way this rated version was edited.

Details

Official Sites:

Bloody Disgusting Selects [United States] Official Facebook

Country:

Indonesia Singapore

Language:

Indonesian

Release Date:

1 November 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Darah

Filming Locations:

Bandung, West Java, Indonesia

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$190,363

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gorylah Pictures, Merah Production, Guerilla Visuals

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1