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Indonesia
/ 1992
Directed by "John Miller" (H. Tjut Djalil)
Starring
Tonya Offer
Amy Weber
Kristin Anin
Color
/ 94 Minutes / Not Rated
Format: DVD / R0 - NTSC
Mondo
Macabro
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Review
by
Brian Lindsey
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5
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8 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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SNEAK
PREVIEW
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DVD Release Date: Nov.
16, 2004 |
Mondo
Macabro follows up its September release of Lady
Terminator with another gonzo exploitation
film from Indonesia, 1992's Dangerous
Seductress. This one's somewhat restrained
compared to its predecessor, at times coming off
more like a special Halloween episode of Silk
Stalkings rather than an out-an-out horror/sex
flick. Levels of gore and (especially) nudity
have been ratcheted down a notch or two... Some
outrageously cheesy scenes won't fail to raise
eyebrows and provide laughs, however. If you enjoyed
the oddball insanity of Lady
Terminator then you'll likely find this
flick quite entertaining as well.
The movie starts with an unintentionally comic
bang as a trio of jewel thieves makes a high-speed
getaway after a robbery, the Jakarta cops hot
on their tail. They exchange fusillades of literally
thousands of bullets with their pursuers
(miraculously without vehicles or passengers taking
mortal damage) while the gang's leader curses
and punches out the driver the whole time. Eventually
the crook riding in the back seat is fatally hit;
the harried wheel man loses control of the car
which crashes spectacularly in an ancient graveyard,
killing him and the boss. The severed finger of
one of the dead criminals, still wearing a ring
stolen in the robbery, then comes to life...
To be honest, I'm still scratching my head
over the bit with the reanimated, disembodied
finger. Obviously the ring is supposed to have
magical properties, as does the ornate mirror
compact to which the finger 'strolls' over to
and jumps inside. (I am not kidding.) Activated
by the dead men's blood, these objects summon
the spirit of the Queen of Darkness from the nether
regions of Hell —
her rotted, skeletal corpse claws its way up from
the moldy earth of the cemetery. In the film's
best effects sequence the undead revenant begins
to reconstitute itself, growing new flesh over
old bones a la Hellraiser.
Needing blood to complete the transformation,
the Queen (Son of the Beach's Amy Weber)
decapitates and exsanguinates a dog that trots
up and starts gnawing on her leg! But it's still
not enough. She'll need a servant to procure more.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, buxom blonde Susan
(Tanya Offer) is brutally raped and beaten by
her slimeball husband on their wedding anniversary.
Bruised and battered, she contacts her sister
Linda (Kristin Anin) —
a fashion model/actress working in Indonesia —
for help. Flying to Jakarta, Susan moves in with
Linda to recuperate and get her head together.
While Linda is off in Bali for a bikini photo
shoot, Susan peruses an old book of Sumatran occult
practices that Sis left lying around the house.
Compelled by the Dark Queen to recite a particular
spell from the book (yep, the cemetery is right
across the street), Susan is possessed by the
witch's evil spirit, turning her into a man-hungry
vixen with a glowing, magic tattoo on her breast.
The haughty Queen appears to her in a mirror,
promising Susan eternal beauty and power over
men as long as she serves her. Raiding Linda's
closet for a succession of slinky outfits and
sexy lingerie, our dangerous seductress starts
cruising the bars and nightclubs of the city in
search of fresh blood for her mistress... Not
surprisingly, this femme fatale with the
big bouncy boobs doesn't have any trouble picking
up an assortment of guys all too eager to think
with the wrong head. (One idiot is raked across
the chest with a fish hook —
Susan hungrily lapping up the blood —
and still can't resist her sexual charms!
I, for one, would be having second thoughts at
that point...) After the kill she returns to the
mirror and cuts her own throat, the Dark Queen
absorbing the blood through the glass and instantly
healing the wound. Eventually a Jakarta cop gets
on Susan's trail; then her horrible hubby shows
up in town, thinking he can pick up where he left
off. (He has a rude surprise in store for him.)
Can Linda and her Indonesian boyfriend break the
evil spell and save Susan from the Queen of Darkness?
Unlike Lady Terminator,
the filmmakers did not attempt to pass off Jakarta
as 'Any City, U.S.A.' Most of the cast is either
American or Australian and everyone speaks their
dialog in English. Fortunately the acting is just
as inept, making the silly dialog that much more
humorous. ("We're here to pick up chicks,
not to scare ourselves into a monastery!"
cracks one of a trio of Australian teens who are
lured to a meatpacking plant and slaughtered.)
Ditto for the over-the-top, continuity error-plagued
action scenes that bookend the movie. They're
in the same frenetically funny tradition, which
isn't surprising since both Lady
Terminator and Dangerous
Seductress were directed by H. Tjut Djalil,
albiet under different aliases. Other than the
regeneration scene (see below), the special effects
are delightfully cheap and cheesy, too. (For no
logical reason, the Queen is occasionally shown
as a flying severed head —
shades of Mystics of Bali
—
even though she's already reconstituted her form.)
Regrettably, the middle portion of the flick
is padded at every other turn with pointless disco
dancing and MTV-style bikini photo shoots —
even a game of billiards. (Apparently demonic
possession makes you good at pool!) I wouldn't
have grown as bored with all this if the ladies
had gotten naked now and then... My chief disappointment
with Dangerous Seductress
is that it fails to deliver the female flesh.
Kristin Anin is gorgeous; Tonya Offer (aka Lawson)
is cute and stacked, with great gams. Why not
show us what you've really got, girls?
As the possessed Susan, Offer struts around in
high heels and a thong but that's about the extent
of it. Shapely Amy Weber, as the evil Queen, spends
a sizable amount of screen time naked but her
naughty bits are obscured by superimposed 'ectoplasm'.
(Power Pasties?) Yet despite the letdown, this
Indonesian stab at an export-friendly, American-style
horror/erotic thriller still offers enough cheesy
goodness (or badness, take your pick) to
make it worth a spin.
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Mondo
Macabro again comes through in terms of A/V quality
and worthwhile supplements.
The anamorphic 1.78:1 transfer looks remarkably
good; a basic but solid stereo mix gives the exaggerated
sound effects and chintzy dance club music extra
oomph. Extras consist of a step-through
text essay on the Indonesian exploitation scene,
a filmography of director Djalil, two interview
featurettes and a special effects reel with mini-audio
commentary. The first featurette, running 14 minutes,
is of a sit-down with Djalil, who discusses his
career in general and the making of Mystics
of Bali, Lady Terminator
and Dangerous Seductress
in particular. The other (12 min.) is a chat with
American special effects artist Steve Prouty (Bram
Stoker's Dracula, Blade),
who was hired by the Indonesian producers and
brought to Jakarta especially for the film's most
elaborate makeup/prosthetic effects. He covers
his entry into the craft as a teenager and the
peculiar creative/budgetary challenges Dangerous
Seductress presented. Finally, the SFX
reel has Prouty providing a running commentary
during the 4-minute regeneration scene.
11/12/04
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