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| Images courtesy of Mondo Macabro |
"Special Silencers are large red pills, obtained from a forest dwelling mystic, which aid in meditation. However, if used by the untrained they cause a huge tree to grow in the stomach, and burst its way through the skin.”
This is the description for Special Silencers (1982) that is floating around in the "ephemeral fog of lost films" (AKA the internet) and on paper, it sounds like the greatest idea ever proposed for a movie. In practice, it's a little less impressive but incredibly entertaining in the way that most Indonesian horror films tend to be.
Special Silencers doesn't mess around; it gives the audience the entire premise in the first five minutes. Gundar (Dicky Zulkarnaen) is tired of being the low man on the totem pole, so he goes to his mystical grandfather to acquire magical red pills that are normally used for spiritual purposes. Apparently, if one takes them correctly, nirvana can be achieved, but if taken incorrectly, it results in crimson red vines exploding out of one's stomach. Bummer. Gundar kills his grandfather, who utters a bitter "fuck you" with his dying breath, and steals the pills, intending to use them to take out all of the important village elders and take power for himself.
One would think that multiple people painfully expelling Red Vines candy-like branches from their abdomen would arouse some suspicion, but Gundar manages to take out several people in this manner before the local authorities begin to take notice. After the Mayor succumbs to the bloody tree stomach, his daughter Julia (Eva Arnaz) and her friend Hendra (played by Barry Prima and his glorious hair) come to the village to investigate, and by investigate, I mean kick the shit out of everyone in sight. There is a ton of action, which breaks up the slow second act, and both Prima and Arnaz perform some interesting stunt work.
The third act catapults itself into pure lunacy, with a stinky shoe torture sequence, rabid rats, numerous back-flips, and an extra goopy twigs expulsion. Special Silencers shares a few tropes with other “black magic” type films that were popular at the time such as the infamous spiritual horror Mystics in Bali (1981). These films usually would feature a foreigner who messes around with local magic they don’t understand with terrifying results, and although Gundar isn’t from out-of-town, he still suffers for his lack of respect for the culture all the same.
Extras:
Andrew Leavold’s commentary is worth the price of admission! He goes extremely in depth about Indonesian and Filipino cult films and his conversational tone, humor, and entertaining anecdotes make it a pleasure to listen to him speak. For even more information about Indonesian films there is a vintage episode of the Mondo Macabro TV show from the early ‘00s included as well with interviews of the directors and stars from the era.
Mondo Macabro Bonus Features:
HD restored feature supplied by Parkit Films.
Extended version of feature.
Mondo Macabro episode on Indonesian cinema.
Audio commentary from Andrew Leavold.
—Michelle Kisner