The Queen of Black Magic

Mondo Macabro

All Region NTSC

Kohar is preparing for his wedding to the daughter of the Village Chief, but all does not seem to be going well, one of the village girls Murni is notably upset and returns home in tears. As the wedding begins the Village is beset with a “demonic” disaster, his soon to be wife sees him as a skeleton and looses it big time and the wedding party is attacked by wild storms. Worse, the local witch doctor called in to sort out what has occurred is thrown repeatedly in the air and smashed to the ground, but not before divining that the evil “came from the west”.

Kohar remembers one of his many conquests (he is a real man about town), Murni lives in the west and jumps to the conclusion that it is all her fault. Now certainly she has a beef with him - he convinced her to give over her virginity and then dumped her, a dastardly deed, but beyond that he has little evidence (except perhaps a little guilt). Kohar whips up the villagers into a frenzy and they burn down her home, assault her mother and throw Murni off a cliff.

She crashes through some trees but is saved by an old man before she is dashed to the ground. He takes her back to his secret cabin the woods. The old man is sympathetic to her plight and nurses her back to health. As she recounts what has occurred, she makes it clear she has not cursed anyone and indeed does not know any black magic. Slowly the old man manipulates her anger and fury informing her that he has just attending her mother’s funeral. Finally he offers to initiate her into the forbidden secrets of black magic so she can take revenge. Before long she is having blood poured over her head, flying into the air nude by the light of the moon and smoking out of the top of her skull ! She is now not only ready for revenge but has become “The Queen of Black Magic”. Gone is the innocent young woman replaced by a satanic spelling throwing Minx !

Murni begins her campaign of revenge using all manner of occult powers from sending bee swarms to hanging, body explosions and quicksand. She kidnaps a baby but even the old sorcerer thinks that’s too much and makes her take it back. Kill a village of people, sure, but don’t kidnap a baby !

When Murni kills Kohar she believes her revenge is completed, but it seems the old sorcerer has an agenda of his own. However, there is a hitch, a holy man devoted to Allah has come from the city, he has rebuilt the mosque and has the locals praying once again. The more devotion the villagers develop the less power the old sorcerer and Murni seem to have, it is time for a showdown and a final revelation about the real motives of the old sorcerer and who the stranger really is.

This is a superb piece of outrageous Indonesian horror/supernatural cinema, fast paced, filled with low grade special effects including exploding body parts and floating heads. It has the traditional good Vs Evil motif of much horror fare, however, this time it is filtered through the lens of Islam. The dialogue is suitably ridiculous with some truly memorable one liners such as when Kohar takes Murni’s virginity and she cries that she was keeping it until marriage he tells her ““It was bound to happen sooner or later, so what difference does it make where it happens? One place is as good as another when you’re in the right mood.” He is a truly sensitive guy !

The Queen of Black Magic is great entertainment and also includes a documentary on the Indonesian version of Light and Magic run by FX guru El Badrun.

This review will appear in Volume 2:1 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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