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Released by: Mondo Macabro
Released on: 10/2/2007
Director: H. Tjut Djalil
Cast: Ilona Agathe Bastian, Yos Santo, WD Mochtar, Debbie Cinthia Dewi
Year: 1981
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The Movie:
After having read about Mystics in Bali on more than one occasion, I was pretty anxious to check it out for myself as I'd never been lucky enough to see a 'flying head' picture before. Well, Mondo Macabro has once again stepped up to the plate and hit another home run with their DVD release of this genuine oddity.
The story starts off with a young woman from America named Catharine who is on vacation in Bali. While she's there, she wants to get some research done for a book that she's writing on black magic and so she has her friend Mahendra introduce her to a local witch, skilled in the arts of the Leyak. The Leyak is a strange and evil cult that has the ability to change shape and can also sometimes shoot bolts of electricity out of their fingers as well. This witch in particular tends to laugh like a coked up hyena every few minutes as well, probably just for dramatic effect.
Anyway, the witch agrees to take Catharine under her wing and teach her the black arts, but of course everything has its price. It seems that when Catharine is sleeping that the witch is able to use her head, that conveniently detaches from her body complete with hanging spinal chord and entrails, to fly around town and suck babies out of their mothers' wombs by flying around between their legs.
By this time, Mahendra has fallen for Catharine so he recruits his uncle, who happens to be a Warlock of sorts, though for the side of good, and some of his buddies to take down the witch and to try and free Catharine from her control.
If that above synopsis sounds a little crazy, you don't know the half of it. Words cannot do this film justice. Every few minutes there is something different going on and it moves and an incredibly fast pace even by horror movie standards.
Worth mentioning though is how this film reflects a lot of the fears and superstitions of the audience for which it was primarily made. While flying heads and women turning into pigs might seem hokey to us (especially when it's presented with some extremely dated looking effects work), a large majority of this is based on local folk tales and religious stories that have gone back for generations in Indonesia.
That being said, I'm not altogether sure how seriously we're to take this movie and without knowing much more about Indonesian horror cinema than what I learned from the included documentary, it's hard to tell if we're supposed to see the film as scary or funny or both. Either way, it makes for an extremely entertaining viewing experience and comes highly recommended for those with an open mind looking for something more than a little different.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Mystics In Bali is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35.1 and is enhanced for anamorphic television sets. To be blunt, this newly re-mastered NTSC disc mops the floor with the old PAL disc. Taken from the original negative, the color reproduction is vastly improved with much more vibrant reds and yellows and noticeably deeper and more stable black levels. Print damage has been almost completely eliminated and while there is a bit of grain here and there it's never overpowering or distracting in the least. The scenes where heavy optical effects are used look grainier than others but that's likely got more to do with the original negative than the transfer itself. In short, the film looks damn good on this new disc.
The Dolby Digital Stereo track is presented in English without any alternate language or subtitle options. Overall the track is quite clean with only a slight hint of hiss cropping up once in a while and honestly if you're not listening for it, you're probably not going to notice it. You shouldn't have any problems understanding the dialogue and the sound effects and background music levels seem consistent and well balanced.
There are a few interesting text pieces included on the disc, the first one is a 'How To Be A Leak' essay that gives some interesting background information on the practices shown in the film and which makes for a nice companion piece. There is also a filmography provided for the director, H. Tjut Djalli on the disc as well and an essay from Pete Tombs that covers the history of the Indonesian exploitation film industry and how this film fits into that.
Sadly, the twenty-five minute documentary on the horror and exploitation films of Indonesia that was included on the previous PAL release has not been carried over, meaning that those who own it will want to hang on to it. That said, NTSC player owners or those without the PAL disc can find the same documentary on the Lady Terminator DVD.
Chapter stops and animated menus are included alongside a rare trailer for the film (taken from a tape) which highlights the grislier aspects of the film, as is the requisite Mondo Macabro promo reel.
The Final Word:
Mystics In Bali remains a totally over the top film that needs to be seen by any self respecting world horror enthusiast. While it's a shame that not all of the extras from the PAL release have been included on this new disc, the vast improvement in picture quality definitely makes it worth the upgrade.