Director: Kimo Stamboel
Year: 2026
Country: Indonesia
Alternate Titles: Janur Ireng: Semu Dino the Prequel
Genre; Supernatural
Plot:
After their father’s death, a pair of siblings are brought to live with their uncle and his wife, where they’re quickly acclimated to life working for him, but when a series of gruesome incidents point to a demonic pact being enabled to protect the family, they must overcome it together.
Review:
Overall, this one has quite a lot going for it. Among the best aspects here is a fantastic main setup that carries a solid series of intonations from both traditional Gothic horror and a more modern form of Asian folk horror. The initial idea of the kids arriving at the house due to a family tragedy, and trying to acclimate to living with the uncle and his wife, which provides a slew of fantastic haunting scenes within the house after their arrival, offers up some enjoyable atmospheric bits. To go along with this great setup, what we get to know about his plantation and the way he strongarms those who work with him into agreeing with his method of running things, dipping into black magic and other occult means, which brings about those kinds of modern sensibilities into the story. Seeing the two main figures operate with the kind of theatrical air and menace, for how over-the-top they are in a film that operates with tons of light and shadow in its setpieces involving spectral beings that spring discussions of curses and long-forgotten rites, gives everything that old-school touch. It’s only the subject matter and brutality that allow for those more familiar touches and end up meshing well together.
That touch of brutality is where this one gets even more to like. The initial implication here is that the house is haunted, mainly in the different encounters and visions the son has while living there, from the first night of the invisible force throwing him around the room, the later sequence following the aborted ritual where his failure to sacrifice the goat forces a series of flash-cut images of a demonic spirit racing through the house after him as payback, or the terrifying setpiece involving the sister being attacked and possessed by a different spirit and chasing those around her. This final setup brings about plenty of fun with the need for sanctifying and protecting the house, bringing about the various exorcism attempts, a series of animal sacrifice rituals said to honor the protection of the family, but clearly have a far darker motive, and a terrifying dream sequence where one victim is trapped in a cornfield and attacked by the floated, severed upper torso of a demonic being. With the wild finale featuring all manner of impressive features, including the truth about the demonic bargain in place, the appearance of the demon in its final form multiple times over, and a spectacular conclusion that involves entrails being ripped out, eyes gouged out, and a chase by a headless body, this is immensely gruesome and bloody in the best way possible, providing the film with a lot to like.
There isn’t much wrong with it, but the film does have some slight issues. The main drawback found here is the straightforward story, which provides all the opportunities for Gothic ambiance necessary, but very little in terms of general understanding behind the story. There’s very little information about the actual black magic rites and rituals that the uncle is partaking in, what it’s all for, and why he’s participating in these specific rituals to begin with. That all feels immensely important in terms of understanding why he agreed to take them on in his care when he doesn’t need to be involved in caring for them the way he does, as there’s never a clear-cut reason for bringing the family tragedy up that gets the whole project going. This undoubtedly ties into the follow-up feature that this serves as the prequel to, making these events make sense and tying together the storyline bits that make no sense in this film that do come together once both films are watched. That internal logic displayed here is inconsistent when looked at as a singular viewing, and serves as a big detrimental factor. Other negative features, such as some glaringly obvious CGI sequences or some questionable insert shots of a fully-formed goat-headed demon that’s jarringly out of place, do crop up as well, but they’re not as damaging overall.
Overview: ****.5/5
With plenty of quality factors on display and most of the flaws only for those who haven’t seen the preceding film, this one is a stand genre effort that offers plenty to like and proves Kimo is one of the undisputed masters of modern genre cinema. Fans of this style of genre fare, those who enjoy other similar Asian fare, or the creative crew’s past works will have a lot to like, while those turned off by these factors should heed caution.
This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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