Satan's Slaves

This is my first Indonesian horror film n what an awesome horror film it turned out to b. After reading that it is a slow burner my excitement dropped but once I played the dvd, from the settings I cud smell that it's gonna b creepy. A big ol house situated next to the cemetary in the rural Jakarta is sufficiently eerie. The performances, from the star cast, especially the small kid n the elder sis are grounded and very convincing. The director's approach to the suspense and horror is slow-building but very very creepy. He shud b given a chance to direct a part of the franchise from the Insidious, Conjuring, Annabelle series. The story is very intriguing. The stark imagery and demonic cutaways were implemented to marvelous effect. Indeed a very scary, spine-tingling n dreadful film. The interior lighting and shading at the house to some of the daytime n nighttime cemetary exteriors provided some beautiful photography. The old house with the many rooms, a water well inside its premise n an olden era bathroom all added an eerie feel. The demons with their umbrella's in the cemetary was top notch scary stuff. Some solid jump scares as well as some other stylish cuts help create a sense of terror. The film is full of non cliches jump scares which r creepy n terrifying. There is one very violent n detailed gruesome scene which i don't wanna spoil.

The family of Rini (Tara Basro) is financially broken and she lives with her father (Bront Palarae), her mother (Ayu Laksmi) that is ill, her grandmother (Elly D. Luthan) that is crippled, and her brothers Tony (Endy Arfian), Bondi (Nasar Annuz) and the mute six year-old Ian (M. Adhiyat) in an old house in the countryside nearby a cemetery. Her mother, who was a successful singer, is dying from a mysterious disease and her father does not have money to support the family. When her mother dies, her father needs to travel to the city to sell the house and weird things happen in the house. The skeptical Rini befriends Hendra (Dimas Aditya), son of the religious Ustadz (Arswendi Nasution), and they learn that her mother was infertile and joined a cult that worships Satan to have children. And now, when Ian will be seven, they will take the boy with them. What can they do to protect Ian?

"Pengabdi Setan", a.k.a. "Satan´s Slaves", is a scary and creepy Indonesian-South Korean horror film. The storyline of a cult of infertile women that worships Satan slightly recalls "Rosemary´s Baby" and has flaws, but the movie makes the viewer startle in many scenes. The acting is also reasonable and does not disappoint. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

After their mother suddenly dies from an illness that plagued her for three years, a group of siblings start to experience supernatural occurrences and eventually realise that their mother may not be as gone as they first thought. 'Satan's Slaves (2017)' is actually a remake of 'Satan's Slave (1982)', which director Joko Anwar claims to have been terrified by as a child. It's a slow-burning horror that focuses on the family dynamics that occur during a period of grief, as well as the concept that children often pay for the sins of their parents. It's an atmospheric affair throughout. It has plenty of genuinely suspenseful set-pieces and isn't shy when it comes to its scares. For the most part, its horror is really well done. The flick is rather gripping, too, with an interesting story that unfolds naturally and deliberately. It's a really solid effort, even if it isn't particularly scary overall, and it's really well made in almost every regard. 7/10.

Usually if characters "act" in a certain way (meaning not really smart or favourable), I tend to dislike the movie and won't have really a good time watching it. This movie walks that fine line and also walks another very difficult line masterfully: combining horror and comedy (or light moments to be more specific).

There are certain moments, that really made my skin crawl. The ideas they had at some parts were really good. It may have the trappings of most horror movies, but you can either hold this against the movie or just roll with it. I can really recommend to do the latter, even if you are a bit of a cynic. The mood the cinematography captures is riveting ...

THIS was a breakthrough for Indonesian horror? In that case they have a looooong way to go in terms of storytelling.

You've seen everything on display here. Without giving up any spoilers, suffice it to say, most of these scenes can be seen in "The Exorcist," "The Omen," "Zombie," and countless other horror films. In fact, "Satan's Slaves" is so derivative that it simply seems like an Indonesian version of countless other South Korean horror films.

The film had a slow build with a few jump scares, but the ending was a let down. Anyway, it is what it is. I suppose that coming from Indonesia, a religious country rife with censorship laws, "Satan's Slaves" would probably have been a breakthrough in that sense. Otherwise, meh. Nothing to see here, folks.