#21 - Mystics in Bali (1981)
This might be the first Indonesian film I've ever seen - Southeast Asian cinema doesn't often make its way outside of the region, and its films are often filled with Bollywood-style musical numbers. Luckily, this one doesn't feature any singing or dancing, and attempts to imitate a "Western" horror film, even down to casting a white woman in the lead role. Hilariously, the star (Ilona Agathe Bastian) wasn't even an actress, just a German tourist who the director spotted and offered the role to. The rest of the cast can't really act either, so she fits in just fine.
The plot is pretty simple - Cathy, a young woman who researches black magic, travels to Bali to learn about the mysterious Leák cult, mystics who claim to be able to shapeshift into any form. With the help of a local guide (who I guess is also her boyfriend) she makes contact with a creepy old witch who offers to teach her the magic of the Leák. Of course such knowledge comes with a price, and Cathy finds her head being used to drink the blood of helpless victims. Just her head. Well, and a glob of random organs that dangle from her floating head. It doesn't make any sense, but it looks cool.
Most aspects of this film are pretty terrible - the dialogue is awful (both because of the lousy dubbing and the poor writing), the plot makes very little sense, and there are times where the cuts between scenes are so awkward that it seems like they must have been mistakes that no one bothered to fix. However, this film does shine in one area - the special effects are awesome. There are some great practical effects here, with some really wild and creepy creature designs. Scenes of the mystics transforming into animals feature some crazy transformation effects - they don't look "good" exactly, but the design is just so out there that it works anyway. There are also some fun animated effects, like when two mystics get into a wizard fight and start casting cartoon spells at each other. It's cheesy, but I still think it looks great.
Crazy makeup and effects, awful everything else - if you don't mind style over substance, I thought this was a pretty cool movie. Some of the visual effects reminded me a lot of Obayashi's House, but this is not nearly as well made as that film. Definitely not "good" in any traditional sense, but recommended as an interesting piece of world cinema.
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