Mystics in Bali and Sumpah Pontianak

How are women portrayed in monstrous ways?

In Southeast Asian folklore, supernatural female beings are often depicted as malevolent characters. These supernatural beings such as the ‘Pontianak’ and ‘Penanggalan’ are described as beautiful and seductive, but once provoked, they turn into monstrous beings. Their stories are passed down as cautionary tales across generations, in different cultures and forms, particularly in Southeast Asia, to encourage good behaviour in people.

Can we flip this narrative?

Mystics in Bali is a 1981 Indonesian cult horror film that delves into the eerie world of Balinese black magic, known as ‘Leák’. Notable for its uncanny special effects and grotesque imagery, the film showcases a hybrid creature called the ‘Penanggalan’, a flying, detached head that sucks the blood of unborn children. In this film, American researcher, Cathy travels to Bali to explore these occult traditions, she becomes entangled with a Leák Queen’s spell, transforming Cathy into a Penanggalan.

Sumpah Pontianak (The Curse of the Pontianak) is a 1958 classic Singaporean-Malaysian horror film that delves into the Southeast Asian folklore of the ‘Pontianak’, a vengeful female spirit associated with the death of a woman during childbirth. Traditionally, the Pontianak is said to lure men into the forest, killing them to satiate her need for revenge. In the film excerpt, a group of villagers remove a nail from the Pontianak allowing her to transform into her monstrous form.

RE-VISITING FOLKLORE