That was an excellent one.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Newly-weds Adjie and Astrid, Adjie's sister Ladya and a few of their friends fall prey to the wicked cannibal family led by evil Dara in the Mo-Brothers directed 'Macabre'. While the scenario is inspired from various cult-slashers of the late 70s and early 80s, the treatment is what makes it stand its own ground.'Macabre' is indeed a lot more violent and gory film than you'd expect. The first 30 minutes neatly sets up the premise and nastiness follows suit. There are some skilfully choreographed kills and the writing is campy enough to draw cheers from the viewer. Although one initially hesitates to root for the protagonists as they consistently seem to be making bad decisions, the latter half is executed with sufficient flair. There are quite a few edge-of- the-seat moments. Julie Estelle as Ladya puts up a good effort while Shareefa Daanish who plays Dara is menacing. Shareefa's striking features add to the character: her wide eyes and stone-faced expression (until the climax), her unhurried movement and other-worldly tone of speech are intimidating. The rest of the ensemble do their best with what's handed out to them. The violence is gratuitous (easily on par with Rob Zombie's films); dialogues are sparsely used to convey the intentions and emotions of the antagonists. In fact a lot more is conveyed through expressions and actions than through excessive babbling. This helps 'Macabre' carve out a niche of its own in the slasher genre. Recommended for the lovers of horror, gore and slasher films. This definitely ain't for the weak-hearted!

I stumbled across Macabre literally by accident. Bored and scanning Netflix relentlessly for something refreshing to watch, I came across this Mo Brother/ Indonesian film that caught my attention with its 4-star approval rating. I had not heard of the film prior and after reading a few user reviews, I was hoping for a The Lovely Ones or a Dream House – namely, a film that flew under my radar then impressed me to no end at the conclusion of its screening.Directed by Kim Stamboel and Tim Tjahjanto (as The Mo Brothers), Macabre is the story of a group of five friends (one eight months pregnant) that pick up a young girl who claims to have been robbed and is looking for a ride home. When the group arrive at secluded house of their picked-up stranger, they are met by a Lucy Liu looking mother figure that looks as creepy as she will prove deadly as the story progresses.Unsuspecting that their hosts (which also includes two male figures) are murdering cannibals, the five guests enjoy a meal with the seemingly thankful clan before they are drugged, bound and tortured resulting in plenty of the red stuff being sprayed liberally in almost every room in the house. All put up a fight, but few survive in what becomes a very bloody evening with a body count that reaches the double digits.Horror films which circle around a group of friends ending up in a remote house where a sadistic and murdering family reside are nothing new. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tourist Trap, Silent Scream, House of 1000 Corpses…there have been countless horror titles that could be summed up with the same synopsis.So what separates Macabre from the rest of them? Nothing really. When stripped to the bone, Macabre is just another stupid horror movie where stupid people do stupid things which eventually get them killed. In fact, I don't remember a movie in recent memory where people did as many stupid things. Worse still, it is all the stereotypical horror movie stupid things. People drop weapons after inflicting non-fatal wounds; people stay when they should run and fall when they do decide to high-tail it (a drinking game of taking a shot every time someone falls down or slips in Macabre would lead to alcohol poisoning); and why would anyone go back to a house of death if they had a chance to continue running through the woods until they find safety? These elements are all too present in Macabre and take away from some pretty good scenes of blood soaked gore. It is sometimes hard to judge the acting when you are busy reading the subtitles, but everyone involved seemed to be doing their part with the elements of the predictable script.As you can likely ascertain, Macabre will not get a recommendation from this post. It was never boring but it wasn't anything revolutionary or different that would constitute a positive word-of-mouth event.www.killerreviews.com

My first review was not accepted and I do not know why. So here it goes as I submit another review and hopefully it will get posted. This is an Indonesian Horror Film that came out in 2009 but wasn't made readily available in till 2013. It is subtitled and if you do not like subtitles I still have to insist you give this film your full attention. Directed by the Mo Brothers, most known for their short in V/H/S 2 called Safe Haven which was arguably the best in the whole series both 1 and 2, everything from the cast to camera angles works great in this movie.So let me jump in and give you the basic story and why this is one of the best horror films ever in my opinion.The story follows 6 people who are friends in a restaurant. As they are leaving they run into the beautiful Maya who says she has been robbed.They decide to take her home and are invited to stay for dinner after meeting Adam and Arman who are her brothers and we also meet Dara, who has the scariest stare I have ever seen and there is something that gives you chills watching this woman. Dara is the mother and that is the family.Soon after a nice 25 minute build up the group is killed off one by one. That is all I will say and I admit that it probably took some cues from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But while that movie was good, this movie is something special and I'll explain why.First when it comes to movies like this one of the important questions is the kills and pacing. While some of you might be turned off by the slow(but entertaining)build up. However it sets up everything nice and lets you get attached with our group of friends. Once the fun starts it never lets you go but keeps getting crazier and crazier all the way in till the surprise ending. This movie makes you question if this family is even something normal and while there is only a slight background on them, when we finally understand why their doing these killings, it's nothing short of insane. Do not read the story from anyone and just watch it, you will be blown back by the why.As for the kills I have to admit that they are really well done. I have seen a lot of over the top movies and then movies with barely any gore even though they should have more. Very rarely do movies like this land in the middle and everything is done right. Every kill in this movie is so memorable. There is a lot of blood and decapitation. You feel their pain and everyone in the family is an expert killing machine. It just makes for a lot of fun and I will admit this is one of the few movies that has actually grossed me out in a long time. If you aren't into gore there is more than just a lot of gore in this movie and you should still give it a chance. Dara is absolutely terrifying and a lot of people are saying unlike TCM who had LeatherFace, this movie doesn't have a memorable character. I am sorry to say Dara is one of my favorite villains of all time now and Maya I believe is the craziest woman ever. Arman is just plain nasty and Adam is a killing machine. The camera angles used in this movie are great and we actually get to see the kills instead of the usual technique used which is to show the start of the kill then jump ahead to the end result. They really aimed to let us see each kill fully instead of using that editing technique which is something we don't see to much. Dara makes this movie very special and what is freaky is how much she really does care for her family which I picked up on after watching it a third time. Which leads to one of the best things about this movie.This is one of those rare horror gems in which each viewing is better than the last. You pick up on things you didn't notice before and it just stays so entertaining you can't help but love it. If your a true horror fan then this movie is an absolute must watch because I promise you will never look at another horror movie the same. The only flaws for some people might be how little is explained about the family. I honestly would love to learn more and I believe there is talk about a prequel. But one of the nice things about this movie is how it leaves mystery and you WANT to know more about the family and the people they are "involved" with. Also as I said earlier if you do not like subtitles that is your only option to watching this movie. Besides those two things this movie really nails everything else which is so rare to see.I believe that no movie is ever perfect and everyone has different opinions. Well I give this movie a 10 out of 10 because everything just works so well together in this movie. It is blended together and gives you a fun and sick ride throughout. Some of the kills are so well done you cant believe what you just witnessed. The secret behind the family is never expected and you will want to watch it again after you learn it just because it changes everything. This is a must watch movie for any mild horror fan. You can watch this on Hulu.com also. Side note, ABC's of death segment L was done by the Mo Brothers. Keep an Eye on these two.

Hello, everyone. I had the opportunity to see Macabre on Friday night at the PiFan festival in Bucheon, South Korea, and I was overall pleased. It's a story that has been told a hundred times, but it has a good, suspense building pace, some good acting (great in terms of "Maya", "Adjie", "Dara", and "Adam") despite mostly cardboard characters, and some great make up special effects. In fact, outside of the steady build into chaos, the gore may be the best part of this movie. That and that deep, wide-eyed stare of "Dara's" that truly is creepy. Some of the movie is pretty perfunctory and formulaic; some of it is cliché; most of it is predictable; and there are some parts that you can't help but burrow your eyebrows and frown, thinking, "Well, that was just stupid..." Still, the directing here is very well executed, and the cinematography is spot on. Plus, again, the make up is great. Who doesn't like seeing several people slipping around in ankle deep puddles of blood while being chased by a mad woman waving a roaring chainsaw at their face? Solid Slasher Cinema.