Macabre (2009 film)

Macabre, international title for Rumah Dara (Indonesian title translated: Dara's House), is a 2009 Indonesian horror-slasher film. The film tells about a group of people travelling by car to the airport, when along the road, they meet a beautiful woman named Maya who says she has been robbed and needs a ride home. The film is based on the short film Dara.

Macabre
Promotional Poster
Directed byMo Brothers
Produced byDelon Tio
Written byMo Brothers
Starring
Music by
  • Zeke Khaseli
  • Yudhi Arfani
CinematographyRoni Arnold
Edited byHerman Kumala Panca
Production
company
  • Gorylah Pictures
  • Merah Prod
  • Guerillas Visuals
Distributed byNation Pictures
Mediacorp Raintree Pictures
Release date
  • July 2009 (2009-07) (PiFan International Film Festival)
  • January 22, 2010 (2010-01-22) (Indonesia)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryIndonesia
LanguageIndonesian, Dutch

Before the film was screened in Indonesia, it was screened at several festivals in 2009. Rumah Dara then received a wide release in Indonesia on January 22, 2010. The movie has been planned for distribution in North America and Europe by Overlook Entertainment.[1] The film was released on VOD platforms in 2013 as part of the Bloody Disgusting Selects line.[2]

According to the official Twitter page for Rumah Dara, the film is banned in Malaysia because of excessive violence. The movie is the first Indonesian film to be banned there.[3]

The story unfolds as the group of travelers attempts to escape from a house which is owned by a mysterious lady named Dara and her family. The group is attacked with several types of weapons.

Plot

Adjie and Astrid, a married couple, are getting ready to travel to Sydney for a new job. They are accompanied by their friends, Alam, Eko, and Jimmy to the airport. On the road, they meet up with Adjie's sister, Ladya, and convince her to go with them. Ladya, who still blames Adjie for their parent's death, declines but later changes her mind. After they drive from Ladya's workplace, they see a confused beautiful woman named Maya on the road. She tells them she has been robbed and is unable to get home. Pitying her, they give Maya a ride home.

The group drives to what seems to be the middle of nowhere, where Maya's house is located. There, they meet Maya's family. Her mother, Dara, has a very young and lovely face with an eerie expression and mysterious body language. Adam, Maya's brother is very gentlemanly. Arman, Dara's eldest son, is grumpy and never speaks. Dara secretly drugs Astrid's drink. After much insistence, the group agrees to stay for dinner. Adjie and Astrid, who is pregnant, go upstairs so Astrid could rest. Unfortunately, the remainder of their friends at the dinner get drugged and knocked out. Arman takes them to a cellar, with Alam still at the dinner table. Alam is seduced by Maya, but rejects her. Out of anger, she slashes him and Adam breaks his arm.

Adjie and Astrid see this and try to escape upstairs, but Adam breaks Adjie's leg. Astrid locks herself in the guest room. Dara tells her that the drug she was given will cause her to go into labor. Astrid finds a small window and sees a car arriving at the house. She calls for help, but the woman from the car is Dara's friend. She is given several coolers of "meat", revealing the motive for the slaughter to come. They are a family of cannibals, who belong to a secret society attempting to gain immortality from it. They regularly search for victims, providing human flesh for the society. Astrid's water breaks, and she gives birth on her own.

Astrid gets out of the room with her newborn son and embraces her husband. Dara sneaks in and takes the baby. She tells the couple they can escape by themselves but if they try to take the infant back, they will all die. Astrid follows Dara as Adjie looks for help.

Down in the cellar, Arman has slaughtered Alam with a chainsaw. Ladya knocks him out and breaks out of the cellar. She sets Eko and Jimmy free. After their escape, the trio re-enter the house in an attempt to save the married couple. Maya, armed with a crossbow, shoots at Eko, hitting his left ear. They run to the forest, with Adam now chasing them. Ladya gets away and goes back to the house. Adam catches Jimmy and snaps his neck, killing him. Eko finds a road, where he is spotted by the light of a car.

Back in the house, Adjie enters a room filled with baby cadavers and sees one baby being preserved. He then finds his wife, dead; she was stabbed in the neck with a huge hair pin. Adjie attempts to strangle Dara in revenge but Dara stabs him and strangles him into unconsciousness. Arman captures Ladya and prepares to rape her.

The car Eko saw is revealed to be a police patrol car. They find Eko and arrive at the house. The four police officers search the house; one of them finds a video containing the clip that was seen at the start of the film. Shocked, he accidentally drops a collection of photographs, depicting Adam, Arman, and Maya, strangely dated 1912. A photo of Dara is dated 1889. Upstairs, Arman is stabbed in the eye while raping Ladya. She escapes while Arman screams, tipping off the police. Adam turns off the lights, and the family of cannibals attack the police in the dark. However, the leader gets away and fires his assault rifle at Maya, fatally wounding her. Dara, who has killed the other officers, fights the leader for the gun and shoots him to death. Dara finds the dying Maya and breaks her neck to end her daughter's suffering.

Arman comes out with a wooden stick jammed in his eye. He slashes the throat of one of the officers and they die together. Ladya runs to where Adjie is, and they are attacked by Adam. Eko enters and jabs Adam with a sword. Adjie pours a liquid over his head and uses Ladya's lighter to set Adam on fire. Eko is slashed by Dara with a chainsaw while Ladya and Adjie attack a severely burnt Adam. Together, they decapitate Adam.

Ladya and Adjie take the baby to another part of the house. Ladya takes revenge on Dara, the last cannibal remaining. She finds Eko's body and is attacked by Dara and her chainsaw. Ladya fights her with a sword. Dara slashes Adjie's shoulder. Ladya, using one of the officers' guns, shoots Dara, then strangles her with her necklace. She reunites with Adjie and apologizes to him. Adjie forgives her and dies after he asks Ladya to care of her nephew (his newborn son).

Morning has come as Ladya leaves the house with her nephew. She starts the car, but Dara reappears, still alive, and attacks Ladya. Ladya drives and smashes Dara against a large tree. She then looks at Dara's fallen body and drives away. Dara's bloody hand is seen twitching slightly.

Cast
  • Julie Estelle – Ladya. Estelle at first refused to act in this film, but once she saw the script she became interested. She increased her weight by 4 kilograms (8.8 lb) and did fitness to prepare for the role.[4]
  • Ario Bayu – Adjie
  • Sigi Wimala – Astrid
  • Shareefa Daanish – Dara
  • Imelda Therinne – Maya
  • Arifin Putra – Adam
  • Daniel Mananta – Jimmy
  • Mike Lucock – Alam
  • Dendy Subangil – Eko
  • Ruli Lubis – Arman
  • Aming - Mecia

Awards

Lead actress Shareefa Daanish won the 2009 Best Actress award at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan 2009) for her role.[5]

Critical reception

Maggie Lee of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing that ""Macabre" is a splatter film that spills buckets of blood as it doles out ladles of tongue-in-cheek, genre-savvy fun."[6] Derek Elley of Variety wrote that the film "starts leisurely but delivers in the final reels, thanks to some real shocks amid the ankle-deep blood and an eerie perf by Indonesian actress Shareefa Daanish."[7] Ken W. Hanley, a reviewer for Diabolique, called it "a bizarre, bloody masterpiece of madness."[8]

Releases

The film was released on DVD in Canada by Mongrel Media under the "Macabre" title in 2011. It has no official US release.

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References
  1. Noh, Jeah (2009). "Overlook turns Macabre for Europe and US". ScreenDaily.
  2. "The Mo Brothers' MACABRE Is Now Available On Hulu, Hulu Plus & Bloody-Disgusting!". Alien Bee Entertainment News. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  3. "Film "Rumah Dara" Dicekal di Malaysia" (in Indonesian). ESQmagazine. 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-02-09.
  4. Yanuar, Elang Riki (January 12, 2010). "Julie Estelle Gigit Kuping Shareefa Daanish". Okezone (in Indonesian). Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  5. Rumah Dara
  6. "Macabre -- Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  7. Elley, Derek (2009-08-25). "Review: 'Macabre'". Variety. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  8. "Macabre (Film Review) - Diabolique Magazine". diaboliquemagazine.com. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
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