The Queen of Black Magic

This was a fun movie. In no way is it a good movie but for all of us out there that like gory B horror films, this was a great film. With plenty of gory moments, bad dubbing, bad filming, and did I mention gore, this one was a keeper.

Basically, a few people in a small Indonesian village have been murdered in mysterious ways. The village people believe it to be black magic and point the finger at an innocent woman. After they throw her from a cliff, an older man helps to heal her wounds. He is skilled in the black magic ways and teaches her what he knows so that she can exact revenge upon the village.

I believe that this movie was made working from the fame of the movie Black Magic from the mid 70's which was a Shaw Bros. film. In know way is this movie similar. This movie is straight schlock, but good schlock. The storyline wouldn't survive without the gore scenes. Those scenes are rather well done, I might add. Some of the scenes are very similar to a film made just a couple of years later name Scanners. We see bursting veins, a man ripping his own head off, a body exploding, bee attack, etc etc.

If you are into these crazy types of film, this one is so worth checking out. You won't regret it. 7/10

Tasty Indonesian horror babe Suzzanna plays Murni, a woman seduced and spurned by the man she loves, wrongly accused of witchcraft, and then thrown off a cliff by an angry mob who aren't too bothered with minor details like due process of law. Narrowly surviving her ordeal, she is nursed back to health by an old man who urges her to seek revenge on those who tried to kill her using the powers of black magic. Having killed several villagers, and made her ex-lover tear off his own head, Murni feels avenged, but the old man who taught her all of her evil tricks has his own agenda and wants her to continue with the slaughter.

If weird and wonderful whacked-out world cinema horror is your kind of thing then this supernatural Indonesian/Japanese/Philippino co-production from 1979 should fit the bill nicely: it's not exactly great film-making, but with terrible dubbing, awful acting, some truly bizarre moments (my favourite bit being when Murni takes up smoking—quite literally!), and gruesome deaths aplenty (including an attack by bees, strangulation by scarf, drowning in a paddy field, the wonderfully bloody self-decapitation, lots of erupting veins, and an exploding head), it's almost impossible not to enjoy.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for the flying head and Murni's hilarious fall off the cliff, hitting a tree halfway down and landing straight into the arms of the old man.

This film begins with a young bride by the name "Baedah" (Siska Widowati) preparing to marry her future husband named "Kohar" (Alan Nuary). But as Kohar approaches his new bride, Baedah has a hallucination which so terrifies her that she runs inside the house to escape. While this is happening, a terrible storm suddenly develops which wreaks havoc upon the wedding feast and sends the guests into a panic. Not long afterward, Kohar becomes convinced that a past lover by the name of "Murni" (J. P. Suzzanna) has done this through black magic, so together with several young men from the village, they march out to kill her. Meanwhile, Murni just happens to be at home with her mother and doesn't know anything about what has happened until the mob reaches her house where they drag her out and subsequently throw her off a cliff. As luck would have it, however, she is rescued by an evil wizard (played by W. D. Mochtar) who takes her to his small hut where he nurses her back to health. And it's then that he teaches her the art of black magic and fills her with a terrible rage so that she can exact her revenge. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an interesting film which benefited greatly from the performance of J. P. Suzzanna, who was not only beautiful, but played her part extremely well. Likewise, the exotic scenery aided this film to a certain degree as well. On the flip side, however, the suspense was lacking, and the script could also have used some improvement. Be that as it may, while this wasn't a great movie by any means, it wasn't necessarily that bad either and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

'The Queen Of Black Magic (1981)' is an Indonesian horror film in which a woman is accused of using black magic to ruin the wedding of her ex-lover and, after being thrown off a cliff, is subsequently taught black magic by a mysterious stranger who wants her to get revenge on those that did her harm. It's a bit of an odd film, with a serious tone that's offset somewhat by its often silly surrealistic visuals. Still, it works well enough for what it is. What it lacks in atmosphere and compelling characters it makes up for with pulpy special effects and a straightforward plot. It more or less just sees its protagonist pick off her wrongdoers one by one, until it moves into its final third and it starts to focus more on the fact that she doesn't want to keep hurting people. There's a really weird and unnecessary plot twist near the end that doesn't do anything other than make things really uncomfortable and, in general, the picture is only ever so compelling. However, it's generally enjoyable and features some entertaining special effects. It's a solid effort. 6/10.

I recently watched the Indonesian film 🇮🇩 The Queen of Black Magic (1981) on Shudder. The storyline follows a woman who is cast aside by her lover and thrown off a cliff, presumed dead. A mysterious man finds her, nurses her back to health, and persuades her to learn black magic in order to seek revenge. As she begins her journey into witchcraft, one has to wonder-who is this man, and what are his true intentions?

This picture is directed by Liliek Sudjio (Lover's Tears) and stars Suzzanna (Samson and Delilah), W. D. Mochtar (Hell Raiders), and Alan Nuary (Beggars and Rickshaw Drivers).

This is one of those films that starts off slow but really picks up-and once it does, it far exceeded my expectations. The backdrops, costumes, and setting immerse you in its eerie universe. The lighting, cinematography, and camera angles are surprisingly artistic (even if you know there's a trampoline behind the mountains, that scene was still awesome). While the acting is a bit overdone at times, it's generally solid and suits the tone of the film.

The kills start off fairly tame, but about halfway through, the practical effects go up a notch. There's a blistering skin scene and a decapitation sequence that I absolutely adored. The corpses were also impressively done.

In conclusion, The Queen of Black Magic is a creative, visually engaging horror film that I'm really glad I watched. The originality was dialed up to ten. I'd score it a 7/10 and recommend it to horror fans looking for something different.