Being Film #28 for Hooptober 2021

A real quick summary/review of the classic (I guess?) Indonesian horror film Queen of Black Magic goes something like this: Evil Dead and Hausu vibes mark this horror revenge flick as a young woman seeks revenge after being left for dead at the hands of her ex-lover and the village he incites to action after suffering black magic during his wedding to another woman. It looks to want to have its Feminist anti-patriarchy theme and eat its pro-Islam message too, which feels a bit convoluted but was still enjoyable to see the shoestring-budget sincerity shine through.

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Being Film #27 for Hooptober 2021

Featuring Christopher Lee in a rare (if slightly excitable) heroic role, The Devil Rides Out is a great slice of near-cosmic horror. It may get more than a little heavy-handed with its pro-Christian themes trouncing the evil satanic cult (a touchstone of many of director terence Fisher’s films) but the pluses outweighs the few minuses for my money: this is a lovely shot film with some great visuals including a truly cool depiction of the Horned One himself, and an intense sequence involving our heroes in a circle of protection when the Angel of Death approaches. Things get weird in the best possible way.

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