New directors enter film industry with horror movies

Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta

Movie audiences have witnessed now-renowned film directors making their entrances on the film scene with horror movies. Though these films were usually produced with shoestring budgets, they often showed signs of ingenuity which were then proven when the directors went on to do bigger works.

American director Sam Raimi, whose latest work was the critically and commercially successful Spider-Man, made his precocious debut with Evil Dead in 1983.

The movie, hailed by many as one of the grossest yet highly imaginative horror movies ever, created a splash among moviegoers when it was released and quickly established Raimi's name in the American film industry.

Francis Ford Coppola, whose great works include the Godfather trilogy, also started his directing career in America with the horror flick The Terror, after he earlier made a nudie titled Tonite for Sure. So did Oliver Stone with Seizure (1974) and James Cameron with Piranha II: The Spawning (1981), to name a few.

As the local film industry starts to reestablish itself after a decade of stagnancy, new filmmakers are following the trend.

Last year, horror movie Jelangkung affirmed the resurrection of the local film industry as we witnessed long lines of movie fans at local multiplexes.

Shot on video, the movie borrowed elements from many American horror movies including Raimi's Evil Dead and independent hit The Blair Witch Project.

The brainless yet highly enjoyable movie made its directors, music video directors Rizal Mantovani and Jose Purnomo, not only get recognition from local movie audiences but also from foreign film producers.

The movie's commercial success landed the two directors a deal with Platinum Dunes, a film production company owned by American director Michael Bay. The company which is committed to producing small budget commercial films is scheduled to produce a horror adventure titled The Well, to be directed by the two directors.

The success of Jelangkung made its producer decide to follow it up with a sequel titled Tusuk Jelangkung, which is now in production. The movie, which is scheduled to open early next year, marks the feature film debut of another music video director, Dimas Djayadiningrat.

Film editor Sentot Sahid, whose notable works include the art- house favorite Pasir Berbisik (The Whispering Sands), has just made his directorial debut with horror movie Titik Hitam (Black Spot). The movie which is said to be based on his real life experience was recently released and is currently being shown at local theaters.

Titik Hitam, which tells the story of a man with a sixth sense that enables him to see ghosts of dead people, was also shot on digital video and then transferred to celluloid.

Despite the movie's unimpressive technicalities and poorly- structured, derivative story, the movie's producers were reportedly happy with the movie's performance at the box office in its first week.

Another new moviemaker trying to enter the movie arena with a horror film is Abi Prasidi, a son of well-known film producer Budiyati Abiyoga.

His debut, Satu Nyawa dalam Denting Lonceng Kecil (A Soul in a Ring of A Small Bell), is set to open early next year.

The movie received a disastrous response from the audience during its gala premiere last month since it was very poorly made. However, it is still too early to predict its performance at the box office as it is still hard to understand the general public's liking for other poorly made local movies released recently.

Another horror movie, Kafir (Unbeliever), adds to the number of horror movies released this year.

While other recently released movies were made by new talents, Kafir was made by old-time film director Mardali Syarief and features a well-known cast, including actor Merriam Bellina and actor/journalist/singer Sujiwo Tejo.

With many other Asian countries making worldwide hits with their horror movies including The Eye and The Ring, expect more local moviemakers to follow the same path.

However, the local movie audiences is still waiting for a quality film to match the other Asian horror movies.