One of the contemporary kings of gritty Indonesian genre cinema. Tjahjanto dabbles in crime, action and horror cinema, never skipping an opportunity to add some extra oomph to his films. An absolute must for fans of dark genre films.
Movies
After a relatively long hiatus, the V/H/S series is back, reincarnated by Shudder. Not much has changed since the last time, several found footage shorts are loosely tied together by a central segment. Each director was given carte blanche, the only unifying factor is the found footage approach. I'm not the biggest fan of the series (with only the second entry being really worth a watch), that probably explains why my expectations were pretty low. The time off seems to have breathed some new life in the concept, since there were some pretty inspired entries this time around. Tjahjanto's short in particular is a real stand-out. Superb effects, great designs and lots of nasty gore. The Empty Wake and Storm Drain are simple but effective, Terror and Holy Hell (the wrap-around segment) are decent but clearly not up to par with the others. All in all, a jolly good time for fans of the found footage niche.Read all
For the past 15 years, Timo Tjahjanto has worked pretty hard to become one of Indonesia's most revered genre directors. Shifting between action and horror, he built up an oeuvre of film that are characterized by a certain relentless darkness. Tjahjanto's sequel to May the Devil Take You fits right in. Alfie is kidnapped by a group of orphans, who were once abused by their caretaker. They need Alfie's powers to keep him at bay, after they'd set him on fire several years ago. Alfie accepts the challenge, but soon finds there's a little more to the story than they are telling her. Of course, all will be revealed. The setup is a bit long and some of the CG is a bit flaky, but once the film gets going it gets quite intense. There's nothing really original here in terms of horror, but the second half of the film features more than enough blood, kills and demons to make up for the slower first half. Had a lot of fun with this one.Read all
A fun mix of sci-fi and horror that blends the boundaries between feature film and anthology. The film plays like a mini-Cloverfield, following a few different angles surrounding the same event. The film is tense, the horror is pretty decent and the mystery is upheld until the very end. Some very find genre film making.
Tjahjanto goes back to his roots and delivers another fine horror flick. While just a little too long, the film manages to be pretty tense and atmospheric. The ghostly apparitions aren't exactly original, neither is the story, but the horror beats are effective and the styling is just right. A very solid genre film.
Brutal and relentless action film. It's obvious that Tjahjanto has his roots in the horror genre, the kills in particular are extraordinarily gruesome, but also very creative. Even so, the editing and soundtrack leave a little to be desired, which means that the film's potential is never fully exploited. Still a pretty cool flick.
V/H/S/2
After the cult success of the first V/H/S film and the positive feedback on The ABC's of Death, the news that a follow-up anthology would be made was hardly a surprise. To be honest though, I didn't like the first V/H/S anthology all that much. Few of the short managed to entertain and the "group of friends making a horror flick" atmosphere that drove the first film was rather unpleasant. I'm glad to say they turned things around in their second attempt. Wingard kicks off and sadly he delivers the least interesting of the four shorts. Wingard is great when he focuses on audiovisual storytelling, but I just don't like him in front of the camera. He's a pretty awful actor, which gives the shorts he stars in a rather amateurish finish. It's a real shame because this hi-tech variation on Gin Gwai could've been fun, now it's just a nice idea that never becomes scary or horrific. Luckily Eduardo Sánchez (Blair Witch Project) and Gregg Hale follow up with a remarkably fun first-person zombie short. Far from serious and pleasantly gory, a lone cyclist (sporting a headcam) is overtaken by zombies and joins the herd to barge in on a birthday party in the middle of the woods. Sánchze and Hale keep the fun factor high, never taking their short too serious but providing a good balance between blood and laughs. Highlight of the anthology is Gareth Evans' (The Raid) and Timo Tjahjanto's (Macabre) entry. An eerie trip into the world of a perverted cult goes horribly wrong. What starts as an unsettling documentary following an Indonesian cult leader ends up in bloody and fucked up mayhem. The short is eerie, nasty, gory and in your face. A very nice surprise indeed. Eisener ends the anthology in style. He draws the audience in quickly with a few pranks and laughs, then hits fast and hard with some prime quality chaos. His short is loud and direct, but works exactly because of that. Pretty freaky and intense stuff. The wrap-around story was of pretty poor quality and Wingard's short should've been a lot better, but this sequel is a serious step forward for the V/H/S crew. The internationalization of the directors benefited the project a lot, resulting in one amusing, one freaky and one outlandish short. Not bad at all. Read all
The ABCs of Death
Timo Tjahjanto takes on the action/comedy genre and does so with plenty of glee. I'm not sure if it's the best niche for him, considering Tjahjanto's best films tend to be rawer and darker, but he had enough talent to turn this into an entertaining romp. If a tad long and maybe not all that memorable. When Dina's father is murdered, she uses her professional skills to track down the killers. The clues take her to a remote island, where she learns about her father's secretive life. His enemies quickly become her own, and she'll have to team up with her father's former team to keep them at bay. There's plenty of action, the comedy keeps things light and Tjahjanto's horror background shines through from time to time, but somehow the film never quite reaches the level of cool it so desperately chases. 140 minutes is also way too long for this type of film, even though the pacing was solid. Fun, but I was hoping for more.Read all
