Fantastic Fest 2009

God bless the creators of Macabre. Really. Because divine intervention is the only way this blood drenched slasher will ever clear Indonesian censors to be seen by audiences in their home country. Enormously bloody, Macabre is a love letter from its creators – the ultra-talented Mo Brothers – to every western slasher film they ever saw growing up and it hits a sweet spot between east and west seldom, if ever, explored.

A feature length expansion of the hugely acclaimed short film Dara, Macabre boasts a classic premise that quickly devolves into deranged violence. A group of friends traveling from a remote part of the country back to the big city stops to help a young woman who claims to have been assaulted and robbed, eventually agreeing to drive her back home because the horn-dog among their group sees the opportunity to get a little action. And, oh, there's definitely action waiting for them but not the sort anticipated …

You see, the whole thing is a set up. The girl was not robbed or harmed in any way. She's bait. A lure meant to bring unsuspecting travelers back to the rest of her family, a bizarre lot that has seemingly been alive for hundreds of years fueled by a bizarre mixture of the occult and cannibalism. The friends? They'll either be dinner or butchered and shipped to like-minded souls around the country. It makes no difference which.

Though the premise feels as though it could veer into torture-porn territory, the Mo's play it much more like the 80's had never left us, each kill and jump and dismemberment designed much more to elicit squeals than squirms. And with a body count like this film boasts there are squeals o'plenty. (Todd Brown)