Film Review: Impetigore (2019)

Indonesia
Director & Writer: Joko Anwar
Available on Shudder, Amazon

Maya and Dini peer out at the village that wants them dead.

The latest by Joko Anwar brings on classic scares while remaining fresh. Impetigore, or Perempuan Tanah Jahanam feels like a return to a golden age of horror that we’ve maybe been waiting for. This makes sense for a film director Anwar describes as “a love letter to horror movies I grew up with.” The director previously brought Indonesian Horror into international conversations after directing the country’s highest grossing film in the genre, Satan’s Slaves in 2017 and partnering with streaming service Shudder to bring the remake of a 1980 classic to an international audience. Luckily Shudder has stepped up again to make Impetigore available to Horror fans abroad as well.

This more recent offering could have easily been a movie of shock horror and jump scares. While never as unsettling as one would like, the balance of blood, suspense, and negative inter human sentiment creates an effective Horror movie that is entirely enjoyable. In many ways, it is one of the best balanced Horror movies I’ve seen in several years.

Our protagonists are friends who are struggling to make their way in the world. After a failed fashion venture and what seems like a life of continuous disappointment, the two have decided to try and take…