Warming up to devilish nights

Young Indonesian actresses Chelsea Islan and Pevita Pearce tell Tahir Alhamzah debut horror film roles in Sebelum Iblis Menjemput

IT’S the season for horror film at the local cinemas. With and having premiered to an encouraging reception recently, another movie of the genre, albeit one from a neighbouring country, opened in local cinemas yesterday.

Directed by Timo Tjahjanto,

from Indonesia is a horror film quite unlike the several others we have seen from the country.

“I wanted to move away from the usual Indonesian horror movies,” said the director, when met at the Press screening held recently at MM Cineplexes Damansara in Mutiara Damansara, Selangor.Timo is also the screenwriter.

“I didn’t want to focus so much on the black magic or devil-worshipping element but on the temptations to take a shortcut to a ‘better’ life,and thus, getting trapped in deals made with evil forces.”

Timo, whose previous works such as

(2010), (2013) and

(2016) did not get the greenlight to be screened here, is excited about the Malaysian response to

“Surprisingly, there were no cuts from the censorship board here,” the 38-year-old added.

TRAGIC FAMILY

tells the story of a woman named Alfie — played by young actress Chelsea Islan — who has a tragic family history. Abandoned by her father Lesmana after her mother’s mysterious death, Alfie grows up to be a guarded young woman. Despite her bottled-up anger for Lesmana, she pays a visit to her ailing father at the hospital when his new family informs her of his condition.

Her visit to the hospital results in a mysterious experience and Alfie decides to return to her family’s old villa to look for answers. At the villa, she soon discovers that she isn’t alone. Her father’s new family — her stepmother and step siblings — also pay the abandoned house a visit that evening. It is on that fateful evening that most of the story takes place.