The horror of pocong films, the Indonesian movie industry’s obsession with ghosts.

The Indonesian film industry has tried many different genres, from comedy to religious to drama to teen romances, but currently have decided that horror films are their best bet to draw in audiences, says one Tasha Hadifitri. This is not entirely a problem by itself, the appalling standard of the films is however.

The main point of the films, says Tasha, is just to show as much gore and violence as possible, without bothering whether the story makes sense, and the producers keep re-using the same figures of horror in each film, like the dreaded hopping/floating pocong ghost, or the kuntilanak vampire.

A Pocong.

Tasha goes on to complain that such films make the people who watch them, well, stupid, too inclined to believe in mysticism, and over-fearful. People even try to act out scenes they’ve watched, get in touch with spirits, or visit dukun, or shaman.

The “other world” does exist, she says, but it is better if that world and this world keep their distance from each other, the beings in either world each have their own purpose and they should not disturb one another. kabarindonesia

Here are some samples of recent pocong fare:

Largely incoherent trailer for “40 Hari Bangkitnya Pocong”.

Lots of kissing in this one, “Tali Pocong Perawan”.