Among the most popular myths in Indonesian folklore, the rampaging spirit of a sundelbolong has persisted in the country's history and culture for many years. Essentially taking the term as ‘Ghost with Hole' for the being's physical appearance as a young, dark-haired woman who was a prostitute in life who died while pregnant, the hole refers to the spot in the person's back where the fetus emerged from her body as the rest of the woman looks as she was when she was alive. The arrival of this film in the early 1980s in the middle of the country's exploitation and horror explosion served it's star Suzzanna as a genre icon in her home country as “Sundelbolong” was an unmitigated smash, terrifying generations and serving as a forerunner for numerous Asian horror films to come following its release.
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Following her wedding night, Alisa Hendarto (Suzzanna) is upset that her husband Hendarto (Barry Prima) has to work instead of being with her afterward. Left alone with her maid Bi Ijah (Marlia Hardi), she soon comes into contact with her old prostitute Madam Mami (Ruth Pelupessi) who provides women for her business partner Rudi (Rudy Salam) and insinuates bringing Alissa back into the fold. Not wanting to disrupt her new life, she refuses leaving Rudi and his henchmen to abduct and rape her, leaving Alissa with a child as a result. When no one seems willing to help, Alissa commits suicide which soon brings about some grave misfortune for those that raped her when they start dying in strange accidents which leads them to the belief that she's become a sundelbolong ghost seeking revenge for what happened to her.
Overall, “Sundelbolong” has quite a lot to enjoy about it. One of its main selling points is a rather strong setup by that weaves together a pretty impressive revenge storyline. The opening half focusing on Alissa's past and the revelations that emerge which threaten her marriage does quite well at setting everything in motion. Not only does this become quite a driving sympathetic force towards her but the sleazy nature is being directed towards her. In addition, the feisty nature that allows her to fight back against Mami and Rudy who are forcing it upon her helps even more to generate the kind of sympathy required for the story to work. As we get into the second half and realize that she's become the titular being through what's happened to her previously, the justification for everything and how it all comes into focus adds quite a lot to like to the film. As well, once the truth about Mami and Rudi's involvement in Alissa's death, the whole thing comes together for a fully realized and justified rampage.
That provides “Sundelbolong” with all the justification necessary for the second half to be filled with enjoyable supernatural-fueled revenge scenes. Operating more with a comedic tone to the ghosts' appearances knocking off the henchmen that initially assaulted her, there's a sense of fun to be had with these scenes. The mugging and interactions on display do veer towards the goofy side but the impact of the scenes still works quite nicely as the ghost being able to move amongst them undetected and employ those enhanced powers of hers still comes off quite well. This is especially true in the finale when the wild scenes at play allow this the opportunity to let loose with some creative and over-the-top scenes without being out of place. The cheap effects only help to make it feel more cheesy than it should but there's still enough cruelty on display to be enjoyable, as the catharsis is far more important with how everything is handled and treated. These factors all come together to provide a lot to like.
There are some minor drawbacks on display. The main detriment featured is a staggered and somewhat sluggish pace that comes about making “Sundelbolong” feel a bit longer than it needs to be. The opening to this is a big culprit because it features way too much on the interpersonal family dynamics after the wedding where Alissa's left alone and gets caught up in Rudi's scam that sells her into the prostitution business. When it comes about that was her former profession and the torment it causes as a result of the trial for the incident, the whole thing slows to a crawl as it dwells on the psychological ramifications more than anything. It gets even worse when the twin shows up as the need to explain what happened might be justified but is again more time being utilized on areas that don't need it. This can cause the feeling that it's a bit longer than it needs to be with these other factors coming in and eating up the running time as it does. There's also the other factor with this one, where the cheesy effects and goofy scenarios are tonally at odds with what's going on, as the seriousness of the scene conflicts with the slapstick being used to accomplish it. It's distracting and is somewhat enough to hold this down slightly.
With quite a lot to like and only a few minor drawbacks, “Sundelbolong” rightfully earns its place as one of the finer entries from the golden age of the early 80s Indonesian genre craze. Fans of the creative crew, this general era of genre filmmaking or are curious about it will have plenty to enjoy here.
