Toll booth workers Maya (Tara Basro) and Dini (Marissa Anita) spend their shifts shootin’ the shit with each other via their cellphones, but that normalcy is shattered when a mystery man keeps givin’ Maya static before being shot dead by security after delivering a a bit of “doom-saying” that hints at our heroine having a dark family secret.
After some investigation, Maya, with Dini in tow, believes she was born to a rich family, and to that end treks to a remote village in the hopes of inheriting the family’s home. Instead she finds out she’s inherited the hatred of the local villagers that believe her family has brought a curse to the village that condemns children to be born without skin… and the locals want Maya dead!
Indonesian writer/director Joko Anwar (most known for his update of Putra’s 1980 cult classic Satan’s Slaves) once again delivers a disturbing yet slickly-produced fright flick with Impetigore; a deft blend of rural superstition and dangerous reality.
It’s that rural setting that gives the film one of it’s greatest strengths. Here is a land of angry, desperate people with a serious bloodlust and a desire to blame women for their ills (itself a pointed bit of commentary by Anwar on the dangers of long-held religious beliefs)… and a land where it is easy to believe ghosts roam and supernatural evil is just as believable as the evil that men will do.
That world building is really driven home via an extended flashback, that admittedly is a bit of a double-edged sword as while it delivers a great bit of mythology and world building it does thwart the flick’s forward momentum a bit.
That being said, Impetigore is a fantastic fright flick helmed by someone that really puts his heart and soul into his forays into our beloved horror biz, and shouldn’t be missed by those that dig on creepy tales set in secluded locales!
Catch Impetigore when it begins streaming on Shudder July 23rd!
