Rizal Mantovani & Jose Purnomo's sleeper hit Jelangkung (2001) was an integral part of Indonesian film resurrection. This harrowing story-about ancient ritual of summoning spirit using wooden avatar called 'jelangkung'-was highly phenomenal that it spawned two sequels and cleared the path for other Indonesian ghouls to silver screen.
Sixteen years later, the winning team, Mantovani & Purnomo, is reunited with their winning formula into making a reboot titled Jailangkung. While their 2001 hit is a lo-fi production, this one is completely the opposite. With new target audiences, Jailangkung repackages itself with younger and fresher look; but, was it worth the scare?
Dread embarks in Jailangkung (Notice the different spelling!) when Ferdi (Lukman Sardi), a widower with three daughters, fell mysteriously ill without any medical explanation. His daughters-Angel (Hannah Al-Rashid), Bella (Amanda Rawles), and Tasya (Gabriella Quinlynn) -along with a colleague, Rama (Jefri Nichol), seek answers for the father's malady to the family's residence in Alaskeramat (literally means 'hallow woods'), a remote place by the lake. There, the party finds an obscure 'jelangkung' and a box full of old tapes detailing Ferdi's practicing a ritual-to summon his late wife's spirit-which apparently went wrong.
While the premise seems promising, Jailangkung falls short in manifesting it into a whole body of horror, despite the set-pieces which appear to be grandiose (and expensive) for a horror film. There's no doubt in the technical direction to create an eerie atmosphere and gritty spectacles. Mantovani and Purnomo have the penchant in making this film a stylish horror with obscure production design, slick cinematography and other nerve-racking details. Yet, the final product is more like the embodiment of style-over-substance horror which is barely neither coherent... nor scary.
Jailangkung missed too many opportunities for the sake of horror hullaballoos and overly cheap jump scares. The plot is a whole bloody mess (without the 'real blood', of course); the editing is clumsy; the dialogues are banal at best and ridiculous at worst; and there's basically nothing but jump scares and failing set-pieces. Once entering the horror mode, Jailangkung derails from the plot-neglecting the family tropes they first introduced.
The biggest mishap in Jailangkung is how the film fails to accommodate the new 'jelangkung' myth they have invented. The new mantra-'datang gendong, pulang bopong' (trans. 'carried aback when come, upfront when leave') -feels gimmicky, meaningless, and goofy. In addition, there's more to it that makes the whole supernatural world a mess (why would they need the ghost hospital part, anyway?).
The messy plot sinks the characters, making them all underused and one-dimensional. Lukman Sardi could still deliver convincing performance, but the plot hinders him from reaching top potential. Even, Nichol and Rawles' ready-made chemistry (from Dear Nathan) barely stands out, although both actors manage to display their prowess.
For final verdict, Jailangkung almost made a decent horror should it not be weighed down by weak narrative, dialogues & basically everything but the visuals.
Jailangkung (2017)
Horror, Drama Written & Directed by: Rizal Mantovani, Jose Purnomo Starred by: Amanda Rawles, Jefri Nichol, Lukman Sardi, Hannah Al-Rashid Runtime: 86 mins
