a.k.a. MIRACULOUS CHILD / INDONESIAN ‘THE OMEN’
P.T. Empat Gajah Film [1982] 94′
country: Indonesia
director: TINDRA RENGAT
cast: RIZWI IBRAHIM, RINA HASSIM,
cast: MUNI CADER, W. D. MOCHTAR
The Indonesian film industry has led an interesting, if troubled, life. Begun in 1926 by Dutch settlers and utilized throughout World War II as a propaganda machine for the occupying Japanese, the industry was turned towards nationalist and anti-Western propaganda by the post-war Sukarno government. Sukarno’s regime was overthrown in 1966, and the incoming New Order opened the medium to wider development while simultaneously restricting it with wide-ranging censorship laws. In spite of any number of political obstacles, the Indonesian film industry had come into its own by the end of the 1960′s and reached a veritable boiling point by the 1980′s.
Under the rule of Suharto’s New Order, film imports were all but unheard of [undoubtedly deemed dangerous to Suharto's authoritarian ambitions and his proposed social order] – but that didn’t stop producers from seeing the potential box office draw of productions based wholly or in part on popular international efforts. As had been the case in many other countries, Indonesia’s exploitation market, in particular, took notice of the trends around it, developing a unique and identifiable brand of horror that combined a whole world of genre traditions – from European gore to supernatural Hong Kong action.
