Indonesian horror movies keep populating our screens with their wicked stories, that country is very much into evil spirits and wicked family situations. In The Queen of Black Magic (2019), families were terrorized at the orphanage. Someone wants them dead, apparently with black magic that is very deadly. She has a grudge and she was also born because of the sins of the orphans who formed her into the Queen of Black Magic.
Hanif took his wife Nadya and their three children to the orphanage where Hanif had been raised. The caretaker of the orphanage, Mr. Bandi, was very old and seriously ill, Hanif came to visit after years of not meeting. Two of Hanif’s best friends while living at the orphanage, Anton and Jefri, also came with their wives. That night they all arrived at the orphanage located outside the city and far from the settlement. They intend to spend the night there to pay their respects to those who have cared for them since childhood. They thought that night would be a peaceful night. They immediately understood that they were wrong. One by one they experienced a terrible peculiarity. Some are terrorized by the things they fear the most. Meanwhile, the children began to see the appearance of a crippled woman. Victims began to fall, one by one from them. Lost, or died. Someone wants them dead, apparently with black magic that is very deadly. She has a grudge. She was also born because of the sins of the orphans who formed her into the Queen of Black Magic.
This movie is a remake of the 1981 movie Ratu Ilmu Hitam (The Queen of Black Magic translated to the English language), starring Indonesia’s most notorious scream queen, Suzzanna.
Kimo Stamboel, who formerly was part of The Mo Brothers together with another of the A-class Indonesian horror and action filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto, creators of hit films like Macabre (2009), Killers (2014), and Headshot (2016), has been responsible for the remake The Queen of Black Magic (2019). This is his second solo work as director after horror and fantasy DreadOut (2019). Joko Anwar, responsible for the screenplays for several horror titles including The Forbidden Door (2009), Satan’s Slaves (2017), Gundala (2019), and Impetigore (2019), has been in charge of writing the adaptation.
Action stars Ario Bayu, who starred in writer Joko Anwar‘s Impetigore (2019), and Hannah Al Rashid, who was in Timo Tjahjanto‘s The Night Comes for Us (2018) and Kimo Stamboel‘s DreadOut (2019), star in The Queen of Black Magic (2019). Together with them, Adhisty Zara, Muzakki Ramdhan, Ari Irham, Ade Firman Hakim, Sheila Dara Aisha, Tanta Ginting, Miller Khan, Imelda Therinne, and Salvita Decorte complete the main cast.
The Queen of Black Magic (2019) had a successful film festivals run along 2020, including BiFan – Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea, Festival Film Indonesia where it won the Best Supporting Actor (Ade Firman Hakim) and Best Visual Effects awards, and Sitges International Film Festival where it won the Best Film award at the Midnight X-Treme section. Shudder has the distribution rights for the movie and it has scheduled it for a release on January 28th, 2021. Here you can watch its official trailer.
