'Monster Pabrik Rambut', Horror Born from Labour Exploitation

For years, Indonesian horror films have been synonymous with ghosts, curses, haunted houses, or supernatural beings terrorising humans. In contrast to this trend, the film ‘Sleep No More’ or ‘Monster Pabrik Rambut’, directed by Edwin, offers a different approach. He shifts the source of fear from the mystical realm to a dimension much closer to everyday life: capitalism and labour exploitation. Edwin traces a lineage back to the filmmaking era of the 1920s. Classic films like ‘Dracula’, ‘Nosferatu’, or ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’, according to him, were not horror about demons, but recorded mass anxiety towards the rise of the industrial revolution. ‘Monster Pabrik Rambut’ adopts this old spirit contextually. The film, whose screenplay was written by Eka Kurniawan, Edwin, and Daishi Matsunaga, presents a horror that invites audiences to contemplate social realities that often go unnoticed. The story centres on two sisters, Putri, played by Rachel Amanda, and Ida, played by Lutesha. Both work at the hair factory PT Raga Abadi after inheriting debt from their deceased mother. The debt, which was previously used to finance Ida’s education, becomes a burden forcing them to remain in an unhealthy work environment. From the beginning, the film builds a bleak atmosphere in the hair factory. It resembles an old building that would have nearly lost its identity if no workers were there. The classic nuance of a cult building or a meeting place for members of a certain association in the past is very strong, even though Edwin informed that the building was actually a former old studio belonging to the State Film Production Company (PFN). There are no bright colours or an atmosphere that ignites hope. Only bathed in dim neon light illuminating piles of hair, nail combs, and workers moving like machines beneath them. Under the control of Maryati, a character played powerfully by the renowned dance artist Didi Nini Thowok, workers are pushed to keep working without sleep to meet production targets and bonuses. Maryati does not appear as a conventional antagonist. She more closely resembles a cult leader who repeatedly stirs up the importance of hard work, and considers overtime and the injuries experienced afterwards as reasonable in the hope of a better future. It is here that ‘Sleep No More’ demonstrates a unique and different level of horror. The film does not rely on the appearance of scary figures in dark corridors or mysterious sounds. The terror instead emerges from the atmosphere presented in its visuals, such as: chronic fatigue, economic pressure, and a work system that slowly petrifies people into helpless positions. The workers, willing to endure continuous overtime, begin to experience hallucinations and behavioural changes. They walk without expression, speak with strange rhythms, and undergo monotonous routines as if losing their awareness as individuals. This depiction makes the film closer to psychological horror and body horror than supernatural horror. The camera frequently uses extreme close-up techniques. This technique is combined with effective facial makeup. Practical effects.