Satan’s Slave: Communion, A Horror Tribute to Horror?
Written by: Himawan Pratista
More than 6 million viewers became the answer to the success of Satan’s Slave: Communion, aka Satan’s Slave 2, which crushed its first film, Satan’s Slave (2017), which had 4.2 million viewers. Although not comparable to the phenomenal success of the KKN Desa Penari, with 9.2 million viewers, the achievement of Satans’s Slave 2 is not something that can be underestimated. This means that the horror genre has proclaimed itself as the number one genre in this country. To date, nine horror films have reached more than 2 million viewers. Does this mean Indonesian horror films have gone up in class? Of course, from the perspective of moviegoers, but in terms of quality, there are still many things to debate.
A local review article about Asih 2 (2020) focuses on how this film reflects Indonesian horror films, which still have many weaknesses, especially in storytelling. Everyone agrees that, technically, our horror films are not inferior to foreign movies, both Asian and Western. Then in 2022, what about the KKN Desa Penari and Ivanna, who achieved great success? The achievements are the same. One hit is due to the sway of public opinion and the issues accompanying it, while the other is successful because of its technical achievements and brutal side. So, what about Satan’s Slave: Communion?
Satan’s Slave 2 is again directed by our filmmaker, Joko Anwar. The story continues the first series, which changes locations from a big old house on the edge of a cemetery to a ten-story flat where a former cemetery is located. The site of an apartment building or a high-rise building like this seems to have never been used as the central location for our horror film stories; at most, it is only a school area but never a building this high. The time setting had shifted five years from the previous story, the 1980s, when the New Order Regime was at its peak, with the issue of “Petrus” (Mysterious Sniper).
This article does not want to review the story and aesthetic side of the ordinary perspective. However, many do not realize that in terms of storytelling and aesthetics, Satan’s Slave 2 adopts many other films, or we may call it a “tribute”. Tribute or homage, in his opinion, is a homage to other films that are considered to have a certain “quality” that is unique, popular, or monumental which is the “image” of the film. Often a tribute is considered a classy and intelligent way of adding, modifying or imitating story elements or aesthetic elements that have similarities. This can be in the form of stories, scenes, dialogues, props, settings, costumes, and more. On the other hand, tribute can sometimes be interpreted as plagiarizing or adopting raw by doing everything in a way that is not creative because of the lack of ideas.
In Satan’s Slave 2, for discerning viewers or true horror movie connoisseurs, there are many findings of this “tribute” element. So, this film has a classy tribute or does it just adopt it outright?
If you are fluent in horror films, you are undoubtedly familiar with the typical horror plots: “cult/cult” or “devil cult”. Since the classical era, this type of plot has been widely used with various concepts. The concept of this plot is sometimes mixed with the idea of a “demon child” or even “possession”. In this typical plot, a baby figure (could still be a fetus), a child, or someone who becomes the future host body of the “devil” supported by his fanatical adherents. The protagonist (read: hero) is generally someone close to the figure, such as family or lover, or can be a priest or even a police officer/detective. The ending is usually closed with a climactic battle of evil versus good. The defeat is also on the evil side, where the protagonist manages to kill the demon. Not infrequently, the ending is still open, and the devil’s fate is unclear. Tens and hundreds of films use this plot, such as Rosemary’s Baby, The Omen, End Of Days, the latest Hereditary, Apostle, The Unholy, Son, and The Long Night.
Two series of Satan’s Slave adopt this plot concept, especially the second film. Although many things are still unclear, the story is straightforward there are heretics there, and even the devil (Raminom) himself is present there. The devil’s son, Ian (Muhammad Adhiyat), is now apparent in his role that he does not side with his family. The story’s development also suggests that some of the residents there (the head of the family) are followers of a cult, including his father, played by Bront Palarae, although he eventually defected. The sign that this sect is part of a global (international) sect can be seen in the presence of a western figure in the initial photos of the apartment building. The climax is the most prominent marker of this typical plot which is no different from the usual western films. There was a large gathering of his followers, although the motive was not to await the demon’s resurrection but a judgment ceremony for the defectors.
Regarding the number of horror scenes or jump scares, Satan’s Slaves 2 is the king. The culprit is the setting of a fourteenth-story flat, which is so tense, where every corner of the space can be explored to the fullest by the filmmaker. Some observers term it a “haunted house ride”. This setting is like heaven for horror film filmmakers. Like, Satan’s Slave 2 is The Raid of a horror film. In the plot, the police are trapped in a building containing hundreds of gangsters and their leaders, and they can appear anytime and anywhere. Now the terror is replaced by the curious spirits, pocong, and the devil, who appears in corridors, rooms, elevators, stairwells, and even to narrow garbage dumps. The horror and terror tricks work optimally with this closed and limited setting.
Dozens of horror tricks are presented in this limited set. Scary things or not, of course, relative. This discussion does not lead to it but is a form of tribute. The filmmaker, consciously or not, adopted a lot of horror scenes and tricks used by other horror films.
One dominant trick is the play of light, as did the quirky horror film Lights Out, which uses the on-off light switch trick. Even though Satan’s Slave 2 doesn’t use the same trick, the dark-light effect remains the same. This is in a scene in a room where two bodies are lying in complete darkness, Toni (Endy Arfian) lights a match, and a moment later, the fire goes out. Two corpses appeared to have turned their heads towards the camera when he lighted it on again. Similar effects with different variants are used in several moments leading up to the climax, through the play of fade-out fade-in transitions. This does feel repetitive even though the motivation of the scene is different.
Another horror trick is adopting the local horror film Makmum. This time the jump scare was not a game of light but a game and movement of camera angles. In Makmum, the protagonist is praying, and a ghost follows his movements behind him. With a similar trick, the scene when Tari (Ratu Felisha) is praying through a corner and camera movement shows a “pocong” figure behind her. Even though the shooting angle differs from Makmum, the effect is the same.
Another unique scene in Satan’s Slave 2 is reminiscent of the opening of the classic supernatural horror film, Poltergeist (1982). With the background of the song “Rayuan Pulau Kelapa” (the closing of the TVRI broadcast in the past), the camera moves dynamically down the hallway and apartment rooms from floor to floor to the Suwono Family room, and the shot ends in a close-up of the television screen which ends the broadcast. When white noise appeared, soon, the figure of the devil appeared. In Poltergeist, this scene is set against the backdrop of the US national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner, and when the song and broadcast ends, a supernatural figure appears on the screen. Unfortunately, this is one of the most memorable tributes, which is not followed by an apparent reason why the devil was there. In Poltergeist, the sense is so strong.
Some common horror tricks are also widely used in Satan’s Slave 2. These tricks are often seen, such as in The Conjuring series. Simple yet effective conventional horror tricks, such as knocking on doors, falling or moving objects, or the sound of a musical instrument/radio/television suddenly turning on. Support for sound effects is often the main supporting factor that can surprise the audience. When three of Wina’s colleagues (Nafiza Fatia Rani) are killed by an elevator, the spirits of the three disturb the little girl by using a coin toss. Vienna was tempted to move in the direction of the coin, and the audience held their breath. We often see this trick which usually uses balls or marbles.
Other common horror tricks, such as “the devil’s whisper”, may have been used in hundreds of horror films, both Western and Asian. This simple trick can boost the audience’s adrenaline because the characters are usually provoked to move towards the sound. This kind of voice-over is not only able to make the audience’s heart beat fast, but it can make the audience jump from their seats, like the one scene when Wisnu (Muzakki Ramdhan) throws trash in a dark alley.
While this isn’t a jump scare, the film’s closing shot is reminiscent of the closing shot of Stanley Kubrick’s iconic horror film, The Shining (1980). I don’t know if this tribute was intentional or not. The shot looks closer to an old photo taken in 1955. The picture shows two young figures, Batara (Fachri Akbar) and Darminah (Asmara Abigail), who look the same as they do now. That is, they never age. The same shot in The Shining shows the figure of Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) in a photo taken in 1921. Again, the motive for this shot is solid, while in Satan’s Slave 2 is not at all clear. Who are these two figures?
With such a variety of “tributes”, both storytelling and aesthetics, does Satan’s Slave 2 become a good horror film?
One thing is for sure, building a set-up for a horror situation like this is not an easy thing. Not just a good set of locations, lighting becomes one of the dominant techniques because the building is in complete darkness for almost half the story’s duration. From this perspective alone, the film deserves high appreciation. Joko Anwar has built an ideal setting template that paved the way for other horror films. Once again, Satan’s Slave 2 is The Raid of the horror genre. Technically, this film can compete with overseas movies for horror connoisseurs.
So what about the storytelling side? This is a contrast to its technical achievements. Many things in the story are unclear, not to mention other irregularities that are difficult to reason with common sense. For people who have experienced the era in which the story is set, it seems impossible for a 14-floor flat (closed without opening) to target the lower middle class; located on the outskirts of the city without any other supporting buildings; without adequate AMDAL (Environmental Impact Analysis) studies; could be built in the 1980s. Let’s say this is tolerable. If we refer to the plot of the story, many things still cannot be answered. A great flood disaster is coming, and many flat residents have already evacuated; how could there be no prior warning? Even some residents do not know that most of the residents have evacuated. This is just one small example that kills the plot of the film. The script is unable to adequately accommodate this situation. We haven’t even discussed the continuity of the storyline. This is not a strong argument if the excuse is answered later in the sequel.
It can be seen from the use of the concept of the plot of the heretical sect that since the first film, the Western influence has been heavily strong. The local target audience may be the primary target, but the international market bonus is tempting. The filmmaker knows precisely this. As a result, the tastes of western audiences seem to be getting more and more dominant. Local elements are affixed to a “pocong” figure without daring to take the risk of simply describing the style of jumping up and down, like in most of our films. If there is, it could be that the western audience is not scared but laughs. Even the name of the devil has a Latin smell, “Raminom”, like western in general, for example, Mammon (Constantine), Paimon (Hereditary), and Valak (The Nun).
Western film oriented is not a taboo subject. Also, taking tributes from other movies. Take the essence and make it ours without sacrificing the story. A plus if you can take local traditions or myths. This will make our horror film characteristics different from foreign production horror films. Satan’s Slave 2: Communion confirms that we are technically capable of producing films
