In the wild days of Indonesian exploitation cinema, filmmakers went wild with reckless abandon and offered up countless gems in a variety of genres from a multitude of directors. Despite a handicap on violence and nudity, it forced a slew of off-the-wall creations which instead placed plenty of emphasis on wild creativity and showmanship in its place. None, though, offer the kind of visual thrills, demented lunacy and wild imagination as H. Tjut Djalil's classic bout of sleaze known as “Leak”, or more commonly “Mystics in Bali”.
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Arriving in Indonesia to study black magic, American Catherine Keene (Ilona Agathe Bastian), an aspiring writer, is shown various local ceremonies and customs by Mahendra (Yos Santo, from “The Devil's Sword”) to get introduced to the subject. Hearing about a powerful witch known as the Leak, she begins her training in order to understand it's power and significantly improves her skills over time being together, only for him to get suspicious of what's being taught. When her trainer suspects her of simply using the lessons as a lie and that she was being used, the old witch unleashes the full extent of her powers in order to teach her a lesson and relies on both their skill-set to survive the ordeal.
This is one of the finest Asian exploitation offerings. Most of its enjoyment comes from the utterly delirious and bizarre sequences presented. From seemingly omniscient tongues that have a mind of their own, bizarre black magic rituals, body transformations and full of trashy low-budget charm, there's a feverish intensity to the scenes here. This oftentimes feels like it was simply throwing ideas out, simply because they could. The initial meetings of the two out in the woods, where the witch uses the tongue to slurp up blood or writing markings on the body, to the later scene of the witch engaging in ritualistic dances or the two transforming into animals, create a lasting visual impression here.
The final half is where the movie really takes a turn and becomes even more delirious and bizarre. The celebrated part of the witch turning Cathy into a penaggalan, a fanged being with only her head and interior organs dangling beneath her, to go around and attack a random house with a pregnant woman about to give birth, is a fantastic sequence. Seeing the transformation is a shock indeed, while the visual of the head between her legs and sucking out the baby suggestively by deflating the stomach creates an incredibly memorable impression. The later moment showing the two transformations in detail into snakes and slithering off into the jungle together has some stellar moments here. The mid-air battle of the fireballs adds some nice action to it all while the idea that the witch can control her with various spells and transformations allows for some demented fun.
Aside from being so bonkers, the film does have another positive quality. This one takes great care towards the supernatural and superstitions of locals, not being content to whip it out in just any scenario but only just to utilize it for effect and impact. Numerous times there's mention of it being warped or dangerous, yet the whole film continually reverts back to its power being about those that wield it. While the two may indeed have the best of intentions about studying black magic, there's always the warped way in which the lessons taken provide the horror, which is always brought back to how the witch uses it. Especially prominent is the use of good magic to combat the witch, as that creates a fine distinction between the two forms as seeing how the local priest uses his skillset against the witch offers plenty of supernatural thrills in the finale.
Frankly, the cast here isn't all that bad. As the inquisitive Catherine, Ilona Agathe Bastian doesn't do all that bad in the lead. The character may not make too many smart decisions like getting involved with a conniving witch, but the sympathy of her being used against her will, creates a nice contrast and brings us back to her side as a pawn in the witch's scheme. Yos Santo plays the local Mahendra, and he has a lot to like. The calm, assured nature of his character creates a grounded counterpoint to the craziness featured within, leaving a nice piece to its wackiness. They have nice chemistry together and their scenes are rather innocent and charming. These here allow this one a ton to like, as the only real issue to be had is the low-budget quality to the special effects, which always manage to look low-budget and it can ruin some scenes. Otherwise, there's not much to dislike here.
Overall, “Mystics in Bali” still manages to offer up a ton of enjoyable elements. The wackiness and bizarre elements featured within are incredibly engaging and pack in plenty of solid exploitation offerings for those that enjoy it, and the only real issue is the obvious low-budget quality of the film. That's the only real problem with this one so if that's appealing, dive in; if not then heed caution.
This review was originally published on Don's World of Horror and Exploitation and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
