MACABRE
Everybody bleeds…
Directed by The Mo Brothers
Reviewed by Deep Red
The Mo Brothers are Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto. Timo Tjahjanto c0-directed the V/H/S/2 (2013) segment Safe Haven with Gareth Evans. Macabre is a Singaporean/Indonesian slasher film based on the short Indonesian slasher film Dara (2007), also directed by The Mo Brothers.
Stars Shareefa Daanish as Dara, Ario Bayu as Adjie, Sigi Wimala as Astrid, Mike Muliadro as Alam, Dendy Subangil as Eko, Daniel Mananta as Jimmy, Julie Estelle as Ladya, Imelda Therinne as Maya, Arifin Putra as Adam and Ruly Lubis as Arman.
I’ve been watching quite a bit of Asian horror recently and enjoying it immensely. When I came across this one I thought I’ve got to check that out, sounds good. Macabre doesn’t even have a score on the old Tomatometer yet, the reviews on IMDb are mostly favourable….
Six friends, a couple, Adjie and Astrid, who’s pregnant, Alam, Eko, Jimmy and Ladya, Adjie’s sister, are driving to Jakarta, to the airport, in their van. They pick up a girl called Maya on the road in the rain and give her a ride home. She introduces them to her mother, Dara, who invites them to stay for dinner. Maya also has two brothers, Adam and Arman. Adjie and Astrid go to the guestroom while the rest are drugged. Alam wakes up at the dinner table and Maya comes onto him. He rejects her, bad move! I don’t really think I need to say anymore about the plot as it all kicks off at this point.
This really is a cracking film and all horror fans need to see it as soon as possible. I watched it twice in a row! The performances are great, Shareefa Daanish as Dara is superb. It’s beautifully atmospheric throughout and spectacularly gory, fans of extreme French horror, count me in, will love it! Of course there’ll always be people who say it isn’t gory enough and that’s fine but on a personal level I was satiated. This film has a lot more going for it than gore though, it’s really engrossing, very nicely made and delivers again and again in numerous ways.
Is it as good as Inside (2007), Frontier(s) (2007) or Martyrs (2008)? It’s definitely in that ballpark, yes, and that’s one hell of a ballpark to be in but does that really matter? This is a tremendously good horror film and that’s what matters. Check it out and enjoy!
