One of the greatest exploits in thehHorror genre over the last few years has been the explosion of talent and quality emerging from Indonesian directors getting their films out to a wider audience. The likes of Timo Tjahjanto, Kimo Stamboel, Rizal Mantovani, and Awi Suryadi, among others, have provided local and international success on an unparalleled level. None of that would be possible, though, if not for director Joko Anwar's celebrated launch of the movement in his spectacular remake of “Satan's Slaves.”
After their mother comes down with a mysterious illness, a family including the Father (Bront Palarae), and his kids Rini (Tara Basro), Tony, (Endy Arfian) Bondi (Nasar Annuz), and Ian (M. Adhiyat) try to get by in life despite the strain it puts on the family. Once she finally passes away, the family pays their respects and tries to move on but finds themselves continually haunted by strange visions of ghosts in the house. Eventually, the family comes to realize that their mother's ghost has returned from the grave to help fulfill a demonic pact made years ago and must find a way to put an end to it before they succumb to the curse.
Overall, “Satan's Slaves” is a fantastic effort that has a lot to like. Its technical qualities are its best asset, where the film gets great scares out of showing mundane tasks the family has to perform around the house, alongside efforts like the constant bell-ringing she does or the objects fluttering past the window. These work incredibly well with the old-school hauntings in the film. From the continuous ghostly voices that cry out around the house to the heart-stopping sequence of the ghost who comes up behind the boy while looking through the toy, these sequences set the stage for its terrifying second half that ramps up the supernatural action introducing the black magic, satanic cults, and devil-worshipping yet still keeping in the ghost hauntings. As well, the exploitation of the Muslim religion against the Satanic rituals needed to perform the occult rites mentioned here creates a strong contrast within these scenes as the source of the horror. Those scenes let the horror come forth from the subversion of these themes into familiar grounds which lets this sink in for a foreign audience. This may be far more complicated than it needs to be with some unanswered questions about who the evil spirit resembling the mother was or what the zombies want from the family, none of these are detrimental enough to really make much of an impact here.
