Blu-ray Review: Satan’s Slave (1982)

June 20, 2020

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

So the basics of Satan’s Slave are as follows: Mawarti (Diana Suarkom) kicks the bucket leaving behind her son Tomi (Fachrul Rozy), her daughter Rita (Siska Widowati), and her asthmatic servant Mr. Karto (I.M. Damsyik)… as well as her business obsessed hubby Munarto (W.D. Mochtar).

That’s all fine and dandy, if a touch sad, but what really kicks things off is that Tomi keeps seeing mommy dearest walkin’ around in ghost form, which leads to a visit to the local fortune teller who explains he needs to get some black magic in his life fuckin’ pronto if he wants to survive the supernatural shenanigans to come.

As if on cue the new housekeeper, Darminah (Ruth Pelupessy), arrives on the scene and man-o-man is she ever one shady character. Before long folks start dyin’, the dead rise and walk the earth, and our heroes are going to need every arcane art and holy text offered to them to survive the outre ordeal!

Satan’s Slave is one hell of a fright flick with a flavor all of it’s own thanks to it’s utilization of Indonesian folklore and it’s presentation of much beloved horror tropes by filmmakers not versed in the handling of such ghoulish goings-on.

The result is a devilishly delicious witch’s brew of low-tech (yet undeniably awesome) practical effects, plenty of Halloween aesthetics (right down to the dime store masks utilized in some sequences to great eerie effect), and surreal narrative elements that just work incredibly well to create a memorable journey into the ol’ horror biz.

As for special features on this Blu-ray release from Severin, we get: interviews with producer Gope T. Samtani, screenwriter Imam Tantowi, filmmaker Joko Anwar (who helmed the 2017 Satan’s Slave remake), and two short films; Jenny and Don’t Blink (also created by Anwar).

Loaded with undead creatures, ghosts, and killer chandeliers (yup), Satan’s Slave is a heapin’ helpin’ of Indonesian terror sure to appeal to the horror hound lookin’ for a fresh take on the familiar… and to anyone who gets off on murderous lighting fixtures (doubtless a huge demographic for my revoltin’ reviews).

 

 

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