BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

sol- 'Mystics in Bali' - sometimes known as 'Leák' - this Indonesian horror film focuses on an American woman whose research into black magic leads her Bali where she gets more than she bargained for upon befriending a local witch. With her constant cackling, unusually long fingernails and snake-like tongue, the local witch makes for a genuinely creepy character and all her scenes are divine. The low budget special effects also work more often than not, with gooey transformation effects, lots to like in the sheer bizarreness of a floating human head with entrails attached and a highly unsettling bit in which the said head confronts a pregnant woman. Whether the film has much to offer beyond its sheer weirdness is debatable. The protagonist's romance with a local Bali man lacks sparks and comes off as under-developed (does she really love him or is she just using him since he can help her with her research?). The acting is hardly top notch here either. There is, however, enough zany and offbeat imagery on hand that the film engages the whole way through. Quite a few aspects of the plot resonate too, especially how quickly she becomes a victim of the very black magic that she is trying to disprove and how her sheer skepticism makes her all the more vulnerable. The film almost in fact works as a cautionary tale regarding the risks of dabbling in things that one does not properly understand.

Scott LeBrun Adventuresome film lovers looking for the most warped stuff from around the globe would do well to check out this terminally weird Indonesian horror film. "Leak", a.k.a. "Mystics in Bali", is a real trip, one where you won't believe what you're seeing. It's equal parts cheesy, creepy, silly, and mysterious, and establishes an interesting lore. It's this lore that intrigues an American named Cathy (Ilona Agathe Bastian), who seeks to know more about the powerful magic known as Leak, supposedly more powerful than any other form of magic. Well, she really gets in over her head, as the female Leak cult member whom she meets (Sofia W.D.) is willing to mentor her in all things Leak, but the horrific old crone mainly wants to use Cathy for her own ends. It's up to Cathy's good friend Mahendra (Yos Santo) to help save the day. The special effects in this thing may not always be terribly slick, but it's this very crudeness that makes them so endearing and, sometimes, hysterical. The audience may howl with appreciative laughter seeing the way that the crone manipulates Cathy's body, separating her head from her body on occasion and sending it out on killing missions. There are also a couple of transformations, as Cathy is shown how to become lower animals, such as a pig and a snake. The music, by Gatot Sudarto, is very atmospheric, as is the jungle setting; director H. Tjut Djalil handles everything with a certain degree of panache, ensuring that the stupefied viewer will keep watching. As can be expected, the actors performing the dubbed in voices are hilariously bad, while the people on screen gamely perform this material with the straightest faces imaginable. It's worth sticking with this just to see how this wild story will resolve itself. While it was a big hit in Asia back in its day, it never got a proper release stateside as it was thought North American audiences wouldn't be able to appreciate its weirdness. Of course, now we can watch it on the DVD from Mondo Macabro and soak up its ambiance and flair. Anybody who's a fan of strange cinema is advised not to pass it up. Eight out of 10.

killer-robot! This movie is full of all manner of bizarre and offensive imagery and yet I was bored to tears by it. This is because while it is certainly insane, it lacks the commitment to go completely insane in the manner of films such as Lady Terminator.It has been said that there is a version of this movie that is 30 minutes longer. Egads! I do not use that word often, but I felt I had to use it now. I could not imagine this movie being any longer than it already is. It may run under 90 minutes on the US DVD but it feels like it is several hours long.I have given it a 5 mainly for the pig people as they made me laugh. As for the rest of the movie, once you've seen the head fly around once you've seen it enough. I'm sure there is a way to make a version of this movie that is a blast but this is not it.Watch it if you must humans. You may be slightly amused.

shark-43 MYSTICS OF BALI has to be seen to be believed. Up until this time (1980) Indonesian cinema had been following along India cinema - where the movies pretty much had EVERYTHING in them - musical numbers, slapstick comedy, violence, horror, etc. MYSTICS was one of the first times they tried to make just a flat-out horror film and specifically for Western horror audiences. The film is a strange blend - with some genuine creepy moments and others that will have you unintentionally laugh out loud. Obviously they had no budget to pull off the special effects so when the woman's head leaves her body and she becomes this flying head with her entrails still connected - well, she looks like a badly made prop from George Romero directing Let's Go Fly A Kite in Mary Poppins. A western women comes to Bali to study their "black magic" and gets in too deep and before she knows it, Indonesian forest witches control her and make her become this nocturnal flying head that flies around....and there is one scene where she attacks a pregnant woman and bad effects or not - it is downright creepy. The other truly bizarre thing in this film is the evil witches - they are gnarled old women with bad teeth and long fingernails and they laugh/cackle for five solid minutes at times (or so it seems) - it becomes comical because they are giving it 110% percent in their evil laughing but it ends up sounding like Witchiepoo from H.R. Pufnstuf. What a weird film - check it out.