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Samantha is
slowly crossing over to the dark side as
the power to call for Kuntilanak grows stronger by
each day. While having to battle her own enemy within,
Samantha also has to fight off the remaining members
of the Mangkoedjiwo sect who are trying to force Sam
to join their circle. It seems as if her only hope
now is her ex-boyfriend, Agung, who's still struggling
to get over the trauma caused by his encounter with
the Kuntilanak. Will he be able to save Samantha before
she completely crosses over?
Kuntilanak was a somewhat pleasant surprise. It had an
interesting twist on the ghost concept and a genuinely
entertaining story. It was a huge success in its
native country, and horror blockbusters always get a
sequel - even in Indonesia. Kuntilanak 2 barely got to
be released on DVD before Kuntilanak 3 had received a
theatrical release date (about six months after this
was released in cinemas). This should tell you something
about how little time and effort goes into Indonesian
horror movies these days. Anyway, what I'm trying to
say is that while Kuntilanak was a stellar ghost story
with a surprisingly decent script, this sequel is less
impressive. Due to the success of the first movie, this
clearly had a higher budget and that actually worked
against it - believe it or not.
Kuntilanak 2 picks up where the first movie left off
and once again follows Samantha as she has to struggle
between good and evil. She's become increasingly evil
and the urge to call the Kuntilanak has now grown so
strong that there's barely anything left of the sweet
Sam that was once there. Meanwhile, the Mangkoedjiwo
sect (which can be remembered from the first movie)
is now after Samantha and wants to make her their new
leader so that they can use the Kuntilanak for their
own benefit. Her only hope now is Agung, her ex-boyfriend,
but he's got his own issues to deal with.
While the first movie focused a lot on atmosphere and
story, Kuntilanak 2 makes the same mistake that so many
other Indonesian horror flicks make - it tries to cram
as many flashy ghost effects into the movie as possible,
and it's just not scary. The atmosphere has been
completely removed and replaced with gore (yes, I was
as surprised as you, this is actually pretty gory)
and silly-looking ghosts roaming about. I mean, isn't
there just supposed to be one Kuntilanak? Maybe I didn't
pay close enough attention, but it seemed to me like
there were more than just one ghost involved here.
What I will give Kuntilanak 2 credit for however is
how technically up-to-date the movie looks. This is
no cheap-looking movie, the colour scheme is great,
the directing is pretty decent and the cinematography
is much better than most Indonesian productions.
Ultimately though, I didn't find Kuntilanak 2 to be
very good. It was extremely predictable, occasionally
quite corny, unoriginal and it simply didn't feel as
if a lot of effort had went into the script. This was
obviously a cash-cow, nothing more. If you're looking
for a creepy ghost flick, you should probably skip
this, but if you're in the mood for something
Indonesian, you can do a WHOLE LOT worse. Believe me.
Wow, I was surprised. We got decapitations, bloody
stabbings, a severed arm, guts and more! I can't
believe this wasn't banned in Indonesia considering
the strong censorship they have.
Pretty much recycled from the first movie, nevertheless
it still does work for its intents and purposes.
Far from as good as the first movie (and I only
thought that the first movie was okay). Certainly
nothing special. Way too predictable and uninspired.
The creepy atmosphere has been replaced with cheap
flashy special effects and campy gore and it just
doesn't feel that exciting anymore. I hope Kuntilanak 3
is better, but I highly doubt it.
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