If there is one takeaway from all the Indonesian horror and fantasy films I have watched over the years it is basically black magic is bad news. This month’s Severin Film’s release Satans’s Slave (Pengabdi Setan) really hammers that point home. The film follows Tomi, who has just experienced the death of his Mother. After her funeral, he finds he is unable to deal with the fallout from her death, and also that a strange (and extremely creepy) woman watches him inside his bedroom.
Tomi tells his friend about the instance, who tells of a similar circumstance. He gets referred to a fortune-teller, who tells Tomi to protect himself with BLACK MAGIC! And he does Tomi buys a bunch of books on black magic (and Hammer Horror!) Of course messing with dark magic comes at a cost, and weird things begin to happen around the family. Weirder stuff comes to them still after their Father hires a new housekeeper Darminah.
Satan’s Slave was freaking amazing. It had a scene in the first 5 minutes that channeled a moment from Salem’s Lot, but gone Indonesian, that had me wonderfully creeped out, and totally sold on the movie before it had even really started. The middle section is a bit slow with some still chilly flavor, but this film will sell viewers with it’s mind blowing and undead filled finish which will have horror fans cheering as the Indonesian special FX team throws everything they have at the wall with delight.
Severin Films presents Satan’s Slave in a 2:35:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer that is quite solid for the most part. Colors are stable, detail is solid, blacks are deep. I did notice moments of waxiness in facial detail indicating at least some minor DNR use here. Audio is handled with a DTS-HD 2.0 in Indonesian it sounds great and comes across clear without issue. Extras include interviews with the producer and screenwriter, an audio interview with the remake director, and short films inspired by the film. Satan’s Slave is a wild slice of black magic inspired Indonesian cinema, and Severin has provided another solid presentation HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!