Barry Prima

Posted on by
Reply

Barry Prima (b. 1955) is perhaps the most recognisable male face of Indonesia’s action and trash cinema of the 1980s and 1990s. If it is any indication of his status, he is absent from the official records of film industry personnel. Like many actors, Prima is Eurasian, or ‘Indo’ as eurasians are known locally, being the son of a Dutch father and Indonesian mother. He was born in 1955 as Humbertus “Bertus” Knoch in Bandung, East Java.

His break came in 1978 when he played one of the lost anthropology students in the film Primitives (Primitif), the Indonesian version of the ‘cannibal’ films that were controversial in the mid to late 1970s, most of which were shot in South America.

Prima’s good looks, muscular physique and martial arts skills gave him roles in the action films made during the 1980s and into the 1990s. Some of his better known roles include Herman, husband to Suzanna in Sundel Bolong (1981), and as the lead in Jaka Sembung (1981, The Warrior) as the local folk hero who takes on the Dutch colonizers.

Following the end of the New Order in 1998 and the subsequent revitalization of the Indonesian film industry, Prima returned to the big screen in a number of cameo roles including the films Enam (‘Six’), Janji Joni (2005, Joni’s Promise) and Realita, Cinta dan Rock’n Roll (2006, Reality, Love, and Rock’N Roll).

Biography on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0697514/bio

Satan’s Bed (1986)

Posted on by
Reply

Year: 1986

English Title: Satan’s Bed

Indonesian Title: Ranjang Setan

Production Company: Soraya Intercine, Nafila Film

Director: H. Tjut Djalil

Scriptwriter:  Djoko S Koesdiman

Starring:  Chintami Atmanegara, Mariane Wolf, Richie Ricardo, Linda Husein, Gusti Randa, A Hadi, Sofia, Doddy Sukma.

Review from ‘Weird Asia’

Here’s another cool effort from H. Tjut Djalil who should be best known to you readers for his weird fantasy masterpiece MYSTICS IN BALI (1981) and the hugely entertaining exploitation spectacles LADY TERMINATOR (1988) and DANGEROUS SEDUCTRESS (1992). These three films are available as great DVD releases from Pete Tombs’s Mondo Macabro by the way! RANJANG SETAN (internationally known as SATAN’sS BED) rips off Wes Craven’s classic fantasy-slasher A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1985) for all its worth, pretty much in the same way as SRIGALA (1981) rips off FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)! But while SRIGALA succeeded in improving on its role model (which isn’t that difficult, as Sean S. Cunningham’s slasher has got to be one of the most overrated movies in the history of cinema), this one unfortunately didn’t.

So what’s the movie about, you wanna know? It opens, promisingly enough, with a prologue taking place on 25th December 1941. We see a family with three kids celebrating Christmas in a huge, beautiful house. But disaster is already developing as a covered shape is pushing the barrel of a gun into the picture. The housekeeper is the first to notice that something is terribly wrong and after she gives a loud scream a bullet almost makes her right breast explode in slow motion! Then the whole family is systematically slaughtered, with the wife as the last to die after the killer has shot her in the belly. The dying woman’s hand touches the piano, on which they happily sung Christmas songs a few minutes ago, and a muffled sound drowns out the deathly silence.

After the opening credits that are accompanied by a dramatic, creepy music score, SATAN’S BED introduces us to a new family that lives in the house where those horrible murders took place forty-plus years ago. The villa now seems to belong to Mrs. Siska who lives in it together with her daughter Maria and her niece Nina. And before you can say “this might be a big mistake” strange things start to happen. For example, during a thunderstorm a lightning flash comes out of the TV screen and strikes the wall in front of which Maria is sleeping. The earth starts shaking and the next morning she and her friends nearly run a white-clothed cyclist (a priest who looks like American B-movie star Clint Howard) over. Later Nina takes a bubble bath and snoozes off, and is attacked by a mysterious hand with sharp blades instead of fingers that emerges out of the depths. She is dragged into the deep (there obviously is no bottom) but finally is able to free herself and escape into safety.

Later that night, when the mother has left the house, Maria and Nina invite two friends over to join them for some fun. But fun it ain’t, at least not for long. Because in the middle of the night Nina has a horrible nightmare that has bloody results in reality. A Freddy-Krueger-kind-of-guy with a blade-glove viciously attacks her in the dream and at the same time Nina’s chest is slashed open in her bedroom. Her shocked friend Rudy – who has to witness her brutal death helplessly – takes to his heels but is soon arrested as the prime suspect by the police in a park. Maria, who believes that Rudy is innocent, also meets the ugly guy with the disfigured face (after she sees the dead Nina walking around, wrapped into a plastic sheet) but the ringing bell from the alarm clock saves her right in time. Rudy isn’t that lucky though as the dream killer hangs him up on a tree. By now the occupants of the cursed house have realized that something is terribly wrong and they ask witch doctors to exorcise the house. They fail miserably. Then the incidents are happening in rapid successions: the housekeeper is killed, the mother is attacked and Maria is abducted into the dream world. A priest who passes by rather coincidentally intervenes. Is he able to stop the horror and save Maria?

As already mentioned in the first paragraph and as you’ve certainly found out yourself by reading the synopsis, SATAN’S BED is  –  I’m gonna formulate it kindly –  heavily influenced by Wes Craven’s A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. While the story behind the deadly nightmares is different the nightmare set-pieces themselves are often re-shot scene by scene by director H. Tjut Djalil. This begins with Nina’s killing in the bedroom and her appearance as a corpse wrapped in plastic, and it ends with Rudy’s hanging and little girls skipping in slow motion (complete with creepy music on the soundtrack). Of course you’ll also find the attack in the bathtub and Freddy – uhm, I mean the nightmare killer – cutting his own finger off which causes yellow blood to gush out of it. Would you be surprised if I tell you that Maria’s father is a policeman and her mother is addicted to alcohol? I don’t think so. Sadly both the tongue-coming-out-of-telephone-for-a-french-kiss scene and the Johnny-Depp-sucked-into-the-bed-and-gushing-out-in-a-fountain-of-blood sequence are missing in this Indonesian Nightmare version.

Although a lot of sequences are borrowed from the American pendant SATAN’S BED still has something “new” to offer. For example, in the first dream sequence Nina (who wears a white T-shirt with the inscription “This is my SEXY T-shirt” (frankly speaking it isn’t that sexy) rips off the dream killer’s head. This doesn’t prevent him from killing her (he slashes her belly open with his blade fingers; we don’t see him pulling her across the walls and the ceiling though) but at least it’s a nice special effect. Then the family decides to hire a witch doctor who should exorcise the house. This sequence is pretty cool and funny, with zombies tearing off their own heads who start attacking the man by biting him. After he fails miserably the family wouldn’t dream of giving up and hires another exorcist instead. This unfortunate guy has the dream killer growing inside of him who slashes his belly open from inside to free himself. If I’m not mistaken a similar scene was in Jack Sholder’s A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET II: THE REVENGE (1986), wasn’t it? Relating to the gore level SATAN’S BED is pretty much in the same league as the first two NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET movies. There certainly is no over-the-top bloodshed, but the effects are okay (of course not as state-of-the-art as in its role models) and they are imaginative and quite bizarre.

Add to this a dark and creepy tone, beautiful and sexy girls (and women respectively), a few atmospheric sequences and a fine music score (that reminded me a bit on the music from Dario Argent’s PHENOMENA (1985), only it’s not that great) and you can’t deny that SATAN’S BED is a well-produced (by PT Soraya Intercine Film) if cheaply made fantasy flick that entertains very well for most of its eighty-three minutes running time. The girl who plays Maria (the Heather Langenkamp role) is okay, as are most of the other cast members. Only H. Bokir is quite an annoyance once again. I’m rather sure that the movie was shot in widescreen so the full screen image of the VCD destroys some of the moody and good camerawork. Although SATAN’S BED drags a bit from time to time (so much that it is nearly becoming boring), it still delivers plenty of the goods plus a spectacular showdown that even includes a flying skeleton! As a whole SATAN’S BED is an enjoyable trash flick with many cheap (and mostly not very convincing) special effects, some creepy scenes, a very good music score and a handful of good shock moments. It’s neither outstanding nor is it original, but it’s entertaining enough to provide eighty-three pleasant and trashy minutes. I enjoyed it… much. Not very much, just much. In 1991 Sisworo Gautama Putra directed a sort-of sequel called PERJANJIAN DI MALAM KERAMAT (more or less based on Renny Harlin’s A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER) that manages to be more fun than the “original”.

RANJANG SETAN hasn’t had the luck of getting a DVD release yet. I’ve tracked down two VCD – the first one is from Malaysia and seems to be uncut, running 82 min. 59 sec., while the other one (released by the infamous Sky Vision label in Indonesia that also has put out the same director’s MISTERI JANDA KEMBANG (1991) with almost eighteen (!) minutes of cuts) is cut to pieces and only runs 76 min. 06 sec. From what I know the film was also released in France under the title CAUCHEMAR on tape, probably in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Strangely there are three different releases, all of them featuring different cover artwork. Plus SATAN’S BED also was released on tape in Germany. Both VCDs are presented in the full screen format without subtitles, original language of course. The picture quality is rather okay although the censored Sky Vision VCD is the better looking of the two, with sharper colours and more details.

original posted here:

http://www.avmaniacs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32329

E.G. Bakker

Posted on by
Reply

Eddy Gerrit Bakker (b. 10/10/1944, Medan) was a seaman before he entered the film industry in 1972 as assistant to the unit for the film Deru Campur Debu (dir. Mardali Syarief). During the 1970s he worked as a recorder before working as an assistant director on Ita si Anak Pungut (1975), Semalam di Malaysia (1975), Kenangan Desember (1976) and Perempuan Tanpa Dosa (1978). His first directing job came in 1984 on Kinanti (PT Inem Film).

Photo: Apa Siapa Orang Film Indonesia 1926-1978.

Filmography (as director)

1983 Si Buta Lawan Jaka Sembung (English title The Warrior and the Blind Swordsman) (assistant-director)
1984 Kinanti
1984 Tergoda Rayuan
1985 Komando Samber Nyawa (Daredevil Commandos)
1986 Balada Cewek Jagoan
1987 Peluru dan Wanita (released internationally in 1989 as Jakarta) (co-directed by Charles Kaufman)
1989 Menerjang Sarang Naga
1989 Menentang Maut (No Time To Die) (co-director with Helmut Ashley and Hasmanan)

Danu Umbara

Posted on by
Reply

Mohamad Danu Umbara was born in Cirebon on 23 March 1943. He gained his film education at the Kino Workshop, and worked on the 1962 film Maut Mendjelang Magrib as assistant to the unit head. His first film was Fadjar Ditengah Kabut (1966) which he both wrote and directed. The film also starred Ratno Timoer and Jopi Burnama who would both go on to become established directors in their own right. He established his own production company PT Umbara Film with his brother and produced many of his early films, but by the late 1970s had turned to established companies for directing work. His 1980 film Lima Cewek Jagoan (Five Deadly Angels) made with the Punjabi Brothers (PT Tiga Cakra Film) is best known to audiences outside Indonesia.

Filmography:

1966 Fadjar Ditengah Kabut (director and scriptwriter)
1966 Kini Kau Kembali (director)
1967 2X24 Djam (director and scriptwriter)
1970 Djalang (producer, director, scriptwriter, editor, actor)
1971 Pengejaran Ke Neraka (producer, director, scriptwriter, actor)
1979 Kerinduan (director)
1980 Lima Cewek Jagoan (director, scriptwriter)
1980 Sengol Sengolan (director)
1981 Bunga Cinta Kasih (director)
1981 Cewek Jagoan Beraksi Kembali (director, story)
1982 Perawan Rimba (director)
1982 Perhitungan Terakhir (director, story)
1983 Dilihat Boleh Tidak Boleh Dipegang (director)
1984 Lelaki Sejati (director)

Sisworo Gautama Putra

Posted on by
3

Sisworo Gautama Putra (b. 1938) is a famous director from the golden age of 1970s and 1980s horror film. He was born in Kisaran, Asahan, North Sumatera on May 26, 1938. He was trained as a director in 1961. His filmmaking career began in 1962 by working in Gema Masa Film studio. He worked as script continuity, unit manager, production manager and then assistant director. His directorial debut started in 1972 with the film Dendam si Anak Haram (Revenge of the Forbidden Child), for which he also wrote the script. He directed many box-office horror films, for example: Nyi Blorong (1982) and Sundel Bolong (1981). He passed away on January 5, 1993.

Filmography

Tudjuh Prajurit (1962, scriptwriter)
Djakarta by Pass (1963, scriptwriter)
Expedisi Terachir (1964, assistant director)
Buruh Pelabuhan (1965, assistant director)
Honey, Money and Djakarta Fair (1970, assistant director)
Angkara Murka (1972, assistant director)
Lima Jahanam (1972, director)
Dendam si Anak Haram (1972, director)
Manusia Terakhir (1973)
Rajawali Sakti (1976)
Papa (1977)
Primitif (1978)
Aladin dan Lampu Wasiat (1980)
Jaka Sembung Sang Penakluk (1981)
Srigala (1981)
Sundel Bolong (1981)
Nyi Blorong (1982)
Nyi Ageng Ratu Pemikat (1983)
Perkawinan Nyi Blorong (1983)
Usia Dalam Gejolak (1984)
Telaga Angker (1984)
Bangunnya Nyi Roro Kidul (1985)
Ratu Sakti Calon Arang (1985)
Malam Jum’at Kliwon (1986)
Petualangan Cinta Nyi Blorong (1986)
Samson dan Delilah 1987)
Malam Satu Suro (1988)
Santet (1988)
Wanita Harimau/Santet II (1989)
Pusaka Penyebar Maut (1990)
Titisan Dewi Ular (1990)
Perjanjian di Malam Keramat (1991)
Ajian Ratu Laut Kidul (1991)
Kembalinya si Janda Kembang (1992)
Misteri di Malam Pengantin (1993)


Special Silencers (1979)

Posted on by
Reply

Year: 1979

English Title: Special Silencers

Indonesian Title:

Production Company: Parkit Films

Director: Arizal

Scriptwriter: Djair, Deddy Armand

Actors: Barry Prima, Eva Arnaz, W.D. Mochtar, Dicky Zulkarnaen

No trailer on youtube, but you can read a review here:

http://www.critcononline.com/action.htm#SpecialSilencers

Suzanna

Posted on by
Reply

Kematiannya, Rabu malam lalu (15 Oktober 2008), mengejutkan banyak orang. Tidak hanya karena aktris yang telah membintangi setidaknya 42 film ini tampak sehat, tapi juga banyak mitos yang membuat Suzanna seperti mampu melawan kematian. Perempuan yang selalu berdandan ala Jawa ini memulai kariernya pada usia 15 tahun di bawah arahan sutradara Usmar Ismail.

Pada 1970, Suzanna mengambil keputusan radikal dengan berakting di film kontroversial: Bernafas dalam Lumpur. Perannya yang berani membuatnya segera menduduki status stardom. Pada 1971, Suzanna bermain di film Beranak dalam Kubur. Ini sebuah film horor penting dan perintis dalam membentuk tren film horor pada dekade-dekade berikutnya. Suzanna dengan cepat menjadi ikon genre ini dari 1970-an hingga 1990-an. Berbeda dengan kebanyakan film horor di Barat, film horor Indonesia dan negara-negara Asia lainnya mendudukkan perempuan seperti Suzanna dalam posisi yang sangat khas. Suzanna memenuhi ekspektasi orang dalam sistem bintang, sebuah kategori unik dan individual sekaligus mensyaratkan pengulangan terus-menerus. Ia menjadi penggerak naratif. Semua peristiwa yang terjadi di dalam cerita berlangsung karenanya. Ia menjadi korban sekaligus pelaku.

Laura Mulvey (1975) dalam artikelnya yang sangat terkenal, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, mengatakan bahwa film selalu bersifat ideologis karena ia merupakan cerminan dari struktur tidak sadar dan ideologi dominan pembuat dan penontonnya. Film horor sebagai salah satu film yang paling banyak ditonton di Indonesia mencerminkan struktur masyarakatnya yang menempatkan perempuan sebagai obyek visual. Wacana film horor Indonesia adalah wacana tentang ketertiban (order). Suzanna dalam narasi film horor menjadi wakil dari keluarga normal/heteroseksual kelas borjuis atau sebuah komunitas desa yang makmur, tertata (in order), agamis, dan Pancasilais (penuh dengan nilai kegotongroyongan dan berjiwa “pembangunan”). Misalnya dalam film Santet. Namun, muncullah karakter antagonis yang merasa iri dan dengki dengan kesejahteraan dan ketenteraman warga, termasuk protagonis. Antagonis melancarkan segala trik dan cara untuk merusak ketenteraman warga desa dan menghancurkan kehidupan publik serta privat sang protagonis. Itu dilakukan mulai dengan menggunakan ilmu-ilmu hitam atau mistik ataupun cara-cara sadis, seperti pemerkosaan dan pembunuhan. Kekacauan (disorder) pun tak dapat dielakkan. Segala hal yang mulanya dimiliki oleh sang protagonis hilang lenyap dirampas/dihancurkan oleh antagonis. Bahkan sang protagonis terbunuh dan berubah menjadi hantu atau setan tertentu, seperti dalam Sundel Bolong (1981), Beranak dalam Kubur (1971), dan Malam Jumat Kliwon (1986).

Dalam film-film seperti ini, antagonis digambarkan sebagai laki-laki yang sama sekali tidak bermoral, jahat, bengis, sadis, pemerkosa aka hidung belang, koruptor, gila jabatan, kikir, kafir, memiliki ilmu hitam, dan watak-watak tak terpuji lainnya. Protagonis kemudian berubah menjadi makhluk halus, seperti kuntilanak, genderuwo, atau sundel bolong, untuk membalas dendam. Ini merupakan motif klasik dalam film seperti ini yang berujung pada pembunuhan sang antagonis sendiri. Di akhir film, hantu dan perempuan-perempuan jahat selalu bisa diredakan atau dikalahkan oleh ustad/kiai/tokoh agama yang hampir semuanya laki-laki. Mereka adalah alat untuk mengembalikan perempuan pada tatanan sosial yang sudah dibangun oleh dunia patriarkal. Dengan proses ini, perempuan diintegrasikan kembali sebagai bagian dari dunia ciptaan laki-laki. Ketertiban ditegakkan kembali. Namun, dalam film horor kontemporer, kecenderungan ini berubah. Tidak ada lagi tokoh agama/ustad/kiai yang bertugas mengalahkan kekuatan jahat para perempuan. Sistem bintang yang berlaku dalam film horor masa lalu tidak pernah dilakukan lagi, atau dilakukan tapi tidak berhasil. Hal ini membuktikan bahwa Suzanna dalam sistem bintang film horor pada masa Orde Baru tidak hanya menduduki posisi sebagai kesenangan visual, tapi juga menjadi ajang kontestasi berbagai ideologi yang bergerak dalam wacana sinema kala itu. Film horor yang saat itu menjadi film yang paling banyak diproduksi sekaligus paling banyak ditonton memberikan apa yang disebut Robin Wood (1978) sebagai gambaran langsung dan paling jujur tentang yang ditindas/liyan, yakni dalam bentuk monster. Dan ketika monster yang ditampilkan adalah perempuan, kita tak bisa tidak, melihatnya sebagai sebuah alegori atas dua hal.

Pertama, figur perempuan adalah figur yang ditakuti/menakutkan atau dalam bahasa Barbara Creed (1993), film horor dibangun atas ketakutan laki-laki pada sosok maternal perempuan. Kedua, munculnya figur monster perempuan memberikan gambaran tentang ketertindasannya secara nyata dalam sistem sosial/politik saat itu. Kehadiran sosok Suzanna yang Indo, cantik, kelas menengah memberikan syarat yang cukup untuk mendapatkan simpati dari penonton. Dan di sinilah operasi kuasa bekerja. Ia menjadikan dirinya ikon dari wacana pinggiran yang mencoba bernegosiasi dengan negara dan sistem yang lebih besar, yakni agama. Ia menjadi currency penonton untuk beridentifikasi. Namun, dengan jelas kita bisa melihat bahwa di film dan di luar film, Suzanna mengalami sejumlah kemalangan. Di dalam film, para kiai dan ustad menundukkan jiwanya yang tidak tenang. Di luar film, maut tak bisa menunggunya lebih lama. Selamat jalan, Suzanna.

(published in Koran Tempo, October 20, 2008)