Mystics in Bali (1981)

Simply Perfect

Powerful

How sad is this?

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Cathy (Ilona Agathe Bastian), an American student of witchcraft, travels to Bali in order to learn about Leák, the most powerful of all black magic. With the help of local man Mahendra (Yos Santo), Cathy becomes an apprentice of the Leák queen (Sofia W.D.), an ugly old hag who talks like Yoda and laughs like Salacious Crumb. But although the queen seems happy to reveal the secrets of her dark arts, she is actually using the young woman to increase her own powers, detaching Cathy's head from her body and sending it on night-time missions to collect the regenerating blood of new-born infants.Despite featuring such bonkers sights as a flying head with vampire teeth and dangling entrails feeding on a woman about to give birth, talking fireballs engaged in mortal combat, Cathy and the queen transforming into animals (including a pig creature with breasts!!), Cathy vomiting up live mice in green goop after a night spent in the form of a snake, and a supernatural showdown with lightning bolts and electric fingers, Mystics in Bali isn't quite as enjoyable as one might imagine: the action is rather repetitive, the queen's incessant manic laughter gets really, really annoying, Mahendra's romance with Cathy is as dull as ditch-water (no gratuitous nudity here, folks!), and the visual effects are absolutely dire.For a slightly more satisfying example of Indonesian craziness, check out The Queen of Black Magic.

Let me warn you that in terms of nearly every element this is just too cheesy to bear.I came to this knowing something of its history. It is based on magical principles as described in what was thought to be an authoritative book, and had to be produced on another island for fear of "offending" Balinese. This was underwritten by the corrupt government as an attempt to get foreign currency.The reason I was excited was because I know a bit about Balinese religion. Its a sort of Haiti/New Orleans of the Pacific where old pantheism and ancestor worship mixes with the colonial religion. In this case, that wrapper a strange brew of old Hinduism with Buddhist rituals. And the whole is surrounded geographically by strident Islam which tends to make the minority religion stronger.I know, for instance, that ritual and theatrical displays are at the heart of this magic. And I know that it is highly cinematic in its potential. Julie Taymor's work, even with her recent Beatles project is based on this inner ritual. There's a powerful old film, "Legong" that captures a bit of the genuine stuff, and is pretty darn haunting.So imagine my surprise to encounter not something Balinese or even magical but Starwars in Indonesian garb. Yes, folks, Star Wars, most particularly the second film (now numbered what, 5?). You have the two young skywalkers, Yoda, the senior Jedi, the evil dark emperor (here a witch). Yes, you even have the levitation and light saber effects. The telekinetic objects lifted and thrown in battle. What's taken from the old magical tradition are the notion of a disembodied head with attached ka who stalks villagers as a vampire. And the special power of vaginal blood, especially when accompanied and caused by a miscarried or aborted fetus. Its powerful stuff but made comic here by the Ed Woodish nature of the thing.Its a miss folks. Maybe next time.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

This film has an atmosphere of creeping evil and a sense of the presence of the unknown that's highly unnerving. It's something to do with the almost documentary like way it's shot. The most bizarre scenes and exotic transformations are shown straightforwardly, with no hint of flashiness. And this makes them even more strange and unsettling. In many ways it's reminiscent of Cocteau's theory of the fantastic, approaching it from the perspective of realism rather than announcing how strange it is through camera angles and clever tricks.There's no denying that the film was shot on a shoestring. However, the obvious commitment of all involved and the unusual use of the scope frame lift it to a level above that of many low budget Asian horrors of the period. It actually makes a virtue of its limited means, forcing us to use our own imagination to fill in the blanks.Anyone searching for something out of the ordinary, something truly unique, will find lots to treasure in Mystics in Bali. It's a film that can be watched again and again. It has an almost hypnotic quality that draws the sympathetic viewer into a strange, hallucinatory dream.

Finally tracked down a copy of this gruesome horror story about a young woman who wants to learn the black arts of Bali. She does and becomes a vampire in the process.To be honest this isn't a very good film. Its okay, and were it not for the vampire, this film would be long forgotten. The first 40 or so minutes are mostly endless talk as the woman finds a teacher and then learns the magic. When the master sends her out in her vampire form to get the blood of newborns for her, all hell breaks loose. These sequences are the reason the movie exists, the very non-western vision of a vampire on the prowl. They are creepy. There is something disturbing about the sequences even when you can see how they were done (which is very obvious).After this the film plods along for another 50 minutes as teacher uses her pupil for vile ends while her boyfriend and his family try to free her from the evil. That sounds more interesting then it is. Its rather dull with only the magic/vampire scenes being of any real interest. Frankly while they are low or no budget, they are effective and make this film worth renting for those who love horror films. Just don't expect to be feeling scared or singing the praises of anything other than the beasties.6.5 out of 10