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A trio of
“corpse hunters” whose jobs are to fetch
unnamed bodies mostly due to unnatural death had to
deal with a mysteriously lost corpse of a lady
they have just picked up after she was ran over by
a train. Along the way they found out that they
have to face a restless soul hungry for revenge.
The announcement of Setan Budeg has been conducted
intensely weeks upon its release, but noticing that
it’s Dewi Perssik’s movie, honestly I was not
impressed. I also noticed the big tagline on the
poster, “From the producer of Tiren and Tali Pocong
Perawan”, surely turns everything off. Based on
these facts certainly I keep my expectations way
low. But then I decide to give this movie a shot,
with initial prediction on how many goofs, stupidity,
silliness, and other terrible stuffs I will find as
usually identified in most “box office but trashy”
Indo horror movies.
The movie starts with Dewi Perssik (performing as
a deaf and mute girl), being chased by a man.
Running frantically, she tried getting some help
from people around but being jeered and even
assumed as beggar instead. Due to her panicking
and deaf condition she failed to notice that she’s
already on a rail track, and as predicted, she was
run over by a train.
Then the story moves to the heroes in this movie
(at least according to my opinion), the trio of
“corpse hunters”, Sukun the smart ass leader (Eddy
Brokoli), Obeng the right hand man (Hardi Fadhillah),
and the coward rookie, Oji (Rizky Mocil). Maybe the
more suitable word should be body snatchers, but
actually that’s not what they’re doing. These are
morgue personnel who were regularly assigned to
pick up unidentified bodies based on report, then
transfer to morgue for further treatment. I believe
such people exist in real world, although definitely
not in a special institution as said in the signboard
of their morgue (Corpse Hunter Agency!), and
definitely not as goofy and stupid as depicted in
this movie. There’s also the chief on this agency,
Joko (Kiwil) and her super duper curvaceous sex
bomb Mona (Cynthiara Alona).
So the movie actually tries to expose the mystery of
Setan Budeg accompanied by the goofy performance
of this unique trio. However, I feel that the
brilliance of this trio apparently has drowned the
plot of Setan Budeg itself, and it makes the main
character, Dewi Perssik unimportant. These comedic
characters churned so many fresh jokes on being
haunted by many kinds of ghost, from regular long
haired white robe ladies up to “tuyul” (ghosts of
naked hairless boys running around and laughing),
and of course the Setan Budeg itself. This deaf
ghost concept for me could actually be the first
one, it’s the restless soul of the deaf-mute girl
mentioned above taking revenge on the people who
wronged her. The ghost simply puts her invisible
hands to the ears of her victim so they can’t hear
anything, and thus leading them to their death such
as being ran over by car or train. Honestly though,
being ran over by a train is mostly the cause of
careless behavior of most Indonesian people by
neglecting rules.
The shape of the ghost is quite standard actually,
a dark nondescript and rotten figure with rotten
hands and long nails, but the director cleverly
shows the ghost not quite often, so the appearance
shocks the audience most of the time. Other ghost
even recycles the effect used in Tiren, making the
characters eyes become all black as if the eyes
were missing, and the face darker.
I was quite shocked to see that the special effect
was quite good for a movie that was not intended
to be serious. The amount of blood shown is quite
shocking as well, especially in the first sequence
where Dewi Perssik was ran over by a train. The
body remains intact but certainly shows an eerie
depiction of a crushed body. Quite
impressive I must admit.
We also experience some shocking moments in this
movie, particularly maybe because they never give
any clue, for instance on the first appearance of
Tuyul. The shock just comes to you, unfortunately
with this loud bang. But honest, it’s the setup hat
makes you surprised, not the bang.
The plot is actually very standard, it even has the
same pattern as in Tiren, where the restless soul
is raised back from the dead by someone, in order
to take revenge. And it’s the assignment of our
corpse hunters to solve the mystery. Different to
Tiren, where most of the jokes and comedic scenes
are placed roughly and unrelated to the story, the
comedic scenes in this movie are very relevant.
As an obligatory factor, yes, the female stars are
given plenty of moments to show their skin and sexy
body. I personally don’t like Dewi Perssik, but
apparently she has some hardcore fans out there,
so she definitely doesn’t want to disappoint them.
Usual sexy dress and outfit, including bathing and
undressing scenes. We also have Uli Auliani from
Pulau Hantu 2 and Legenda Sundel Bolong – also
shows her sexy body. But the main attraction in
this skin department is actually the super bimbo
Cynthiara Alona (she also performs as sexy seductress
ghost in Hantu Ambulance) who shows plenty of her
boobs and sensuality (no naked scenes of course,
censorship board would’ve slashed her scenes if
she dares to be bolder than this), but mostly for
laughs. And the audience loves it. Dewi Perssik’s
ex husband, Saipul Jamil, also performs here as her
lover, and they also have one hot but short scene.
Besides the hunter trio, some famous comedians also
make a worthy cameo, such as Laila Sari, as a
mysterious hag, Yadi Sembako as the biker, Tessy as
the street transvestites, and Bolot, the deaf
neighbor. Some of them have also appeared in Tiren.
I must commend the director, Findo Purwono in his
debut. Considering the large amount of audience,
there’s a possibility that the trio of corpse
hunters will continue their adventure in the future.
Consicous or not, the trio has established their
strong character here. Imagine” Corpse Hunters vs
Genderuwo, Corpse Hunters in Kuntilanak’s Lair,
Corpse Hunters and the Kingdom of Pocong, well,
I’m just joking, but for you greedy producers,
you’d better listen to this idea as it may become
your new money tree! Move away Scooby Doo and the
Mystery Machines, here comes the new breed of ghost
busters in Indonesia, the Corpse Hunters!
Plenty of blood, cut off hands, ears, and
intestines. Quite bloody for a comedy actually!
Unfortunately, loud bangs everywhere! But the good
thing is, it’s not the main sound element, and
there’s no “whirring cues” before the shock moments.
A mellow pop song ends the movie.
As a comedy, Setan Budeg is quite enjoyable, but
certainly not as a horror movie. Setan Budeg
remains a very cheesy and silly movie; fortunately
it’s much better than other trashy horrors. More
like Scooby Doo Serials or movies that pit comedic
charactes like Abbott/Costello, Three Stooges,
against famous ghosts and creatures.
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