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Indonesian Horror Movies: Time for a Change?

    Indonesians LOVE anything about horror. Movies, stories, podcasts, you name it. It started as a child when we had the experience of sitting together with some friends and each telling some scary stories on a random Tuesday. Then we grew up to love watching horror movies. Hanging out with some friends? Stream some horror movies. Going on a date? Horror movies in the cinema. When we were with the whole family, we would watch horror movies. Even TV Channels know that people would watch horror movies together in holidays. I know it’s fun, but do you ever realize lately the theme of horror movies is not as exciting as it was?

    Most of the horror movies in cinema currently have a similar theme. Cult, dark magic, meeting the wrong “person”, and even tragedy. Even a highly criticized movie like “Vina: Sebelum 7 Hari” is thriving right now. It is not an appropriate topic to bring up in a horror movie, yet a lot of people still watch it. In conclusion, Indonesian people just yearn for horror movies.

    Filmmakers are eager to get more money from horror movie enjoyers. These filmmakers saw the opportunity to get money from the way Indonesians are attracted to horror movies, regardless of the theme. They took that opportunity by giving out tons of horror movies each year. In just a week there could be two or three Indonesian horror movies playing back-to-back. Now, the horror genre is the money-making movies.

    Knowing the opportunity to make a profit from it, filmmakers are pushing film crews to produce more movies. Why? Because more movies equals more money. This prevents pressured film crew from working optimally. They are mandated to produce movies fast, resulting in not-so-good quality movies.

    Filmmakers should acknowledge that there is a market for movies other than horror in Indonesia. For example, the current top 2 and 3 movies are comedy, which is “Agak Laen” and “Warkop DKI Reborn!”. There are still a lot of people who watch comedy. Or romance, as long as it is good enough there will be no big problems. Even drama and action are rising lately. My personal favorites are “Jalan yang Jauh Jangan Lupa Pulang”, a sequel to “Nanti Kita Cerita Tentang Hari Ini” and “Mencuri Raden Saleh”, a heist action movie.

    To bring things to a close, Indonesian horror movies should be upgraded. Expanding the spectrum of themes and giving consumers options to choose from is one of the ways to do it. Avoiding sensitive topics is also a way. Being experimental is okay, just don’t be ignorant. Trust me, consumers would still watch horror movies even if it is not a popular theme.


Content Writer: Laetitia Razaa Mahestian

Editor: Sabrina Rahmah Izzati


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