The Queen of Black Magic (2019)

An Indonesian revenge chiller is not to be confused with the Indonesian revenge chiller from 1981 also called Queen of Black Magic.

I'm sure this nice lady doesn't mean anyone any harm.

The premise is familiar - the one time children who grew up in an orphanage reunite as adults, drawn back by the impending death of the kindly old man who cared for them as children. All Hell breaks loose as some mysterious force menaces them secrets revealed and revenge exacted on the guilty and the innocent.

This had a lot of potential.  It is an interesting take on a familiar premise premise and the director takes time to establish characters, setting and location, and build up a sense of entrapment.  But a good set up is spoiled by bloody and gross special effects which break the illusion by not being convincing (or necessary).

Don't worry.  The corpses will vomit bugs and we can all laugh about it.

Then in the final act it swerves away from suspense altogether into torture porn - which fails to truly shock or disturb.

The director, Kimo Stamboel, does some good work with lighting, sound and framing.  The cast are good and commit to the grisly fates awaiting their characters.  The earlier scenes are effective at creating suspense and fear as the director lets the unease build.  But when the icky effects are deployed it immediately dissipates the imminent terror with an impulse to giggle as characters vomit up unconvincing bugs and nibble on each other's phony extremities.

It seems to be common failing in modern horror - because we CAN show all manner of grotesque things, doesn't mean we should.  An I don't say that because I am squeamish.  It just doesn't work as well as film makers seem to think it will.

First of all, because effects age very quickly - and nothing snaps an audience out of terrified enchantment faster than thinking, "That doesn't look real."  Second, once you've shown something climactically gross, there is an emotional release, a sort of catharsis, for once we have seen the thing that was supposed to horrify us we are immediately not horrified any more - "Is that all you got?  Is that what this is all about?" -  and the director needs to start all over again.

Val Lewton and Jacques Tournier knew this, and built their films around the simple idea of not showing the viewer the big scary, because they knew that once the audience have encountered it, they stop being scared.  Ditto directors who knew the horror comes from inside, from our inability to confront the darkness we carry in our minds or our pasts.

The Queen of Dark Magic seemed to be setting up something along these lines, as the complicity of the characters in a past atrocity is uncovered, and the motivations start to be questioned.  How will the guilty parties react when their guilt is exposed;  How will the innocents who have been drawn into their lives?

But it shies away from this interesting, unnerving possible denouement, preferring bugs and slicing ups.

See?  We all having fun now!

Dark secrets, revenge and the supernatural are key horror tropes which underpin any number of successful horror films; shame the film makers opted for gore and schlock rather than suspense and psychological horror.

Star Rating: *