By Chris Hyde

June 24, 2003

Here's a little unsolicited travel advice for you globe trotters out there: when in Indonesia, don't mess with the Leyak.  That is, unless you want to end up a possessed, disembodied head.

While in Bali, a young American woman begins to do research into black magic for a future project, and she's most intrigued by the Leyak, the area's malevolent spirits.  A local named Mahendra, who appears to be somewhat romantically interested in her -- though his approach proceeds at a pretty tepid pace -- helps her with her research.  Together they go into the forest and seek out a hideous, cackling witch-spirit who agrees to take on Catherine and teach her some of the secrets of the dark.  What the new apprentice doesn't seem to realize about the dangerous game that she's playing is that there's a major price to be paid for learning these nefarious skills.  Becoming a Leyak seems much akin to joining the Mafia or the Crips, as getting in is far, far easier than getting out.

Yet another big problem when you deal with evil spirits is that they are rarely going to play completely straight with you.  Such is the case here, as the shrieking harpy pulls some double-dealing and isn't exactly sanguine about what she intends to do with her new charge.  Once she has gained a sufficient hold over her student, the witch visits her in the night and takes possession of her head.  Yes, that's right, not her whole body but just her head and spine.  These detach from the unsuspecting Catherine's body in the night and go out flying around the neighborhood searching for pregnant women with tasty young fetuses. There's more to Mystics In Bali than this brief synopsis indicates, of course, but I won't spoil the proceedings by revealing any more than I have already.  Suffice it to say that if you're intrigued by the bizarre plot details given thus far that the rest of the film won't disappoint with further weirdness upon viewing.

Within its low-budget otherworldly milieu, Mystics in Bali manages to approach areas that will inspire awe in horror fans that truly think they've already seen it all.  It's not that the film in any way shocks with excessive gore or stunning scare tactics, it's more that the exotic atmosphere and surprising events along the way provide much spectacular fodder for entertainment.  One aspect in particular that helps to give the movie an offbeat feel is the strangeness of the sound, as the English dialog throughout is recorded so poorly that it sounds like they used someone's dank, reverb filled basement to do the dubbing.  But in addition to the perplexing qualities of the sonic design, there's a lot more here to hold your attention through the film's brief 80-minute running time.  The plot is hilariously ridiculous, the effects are both pretty good and pretty awful, the Leyak is perversely intriguing and the events that unfold are unpredictable enough to maintain interest in the absurd story.

Though the DVD is for now only available in an R2 edition from the UK branch of the fine firm Mondo Macabro, head honcho Pete Tombs has intimated that this one will eventually see a release in R1 through the company's domestic branch.  As usual, the high standards that this crew has when it comes to releasing things to digital format are fully in evidence with regards to this Indonesian genre piece.  The transfer looks about as good as you can imagine for an Asian cheapie from the early 1980s, for while there are some portions that are a little shaky, in the main the movie looks pretty darn nice.  The colors are resonant, the contrasts are sharp and the picture looks mostly clear of scratches or print damage.   The mono soundtrack is also fairly clean sounding and hiss free, making it easy to discern the odd reverb of the awkward dub job.

As for extras, once again Mondo Macabro delivers with excellent additional features that enhance the value of this package.  Included is a really nice documentary on Indonesian exploitation films, a 25-minute piece that interviews many of the principals who were involved in the making of genre films during the heyday of local production.  This short movie contains a wealth of information on these movies, as well as providing brief clips from many that we can only hope will also find their way to DVD in the future.  Also included is a print essay on the Indonesian horror film, a guide on how you yourself can become a Leyak, and a solid filmography for the director, H Tjut Djalil.