Indonesian actress Suzzanna (nee Suzzanna Martha Frederika van Osch) was a fairly prolific star in Indonesian cinema, starting from her earliest roles in 1958 and continuing to act up until her death in 2008 (her last film, Hantu Ambulance, is included in this set as a bonus feature). She had quite the boom in her career in the 1980s when Indonesian horror cinema was at a high, appearing in nearly 20 films throughout the decade including some previously-released Blu-ray restorations like The Hungry Snake Woman. In Severin Films’ Suzzanna: Empress of Darkness boxset, the boutique label collects some of her best late ’80s output in a three-disc boxset that also includes David Gregory’s 2024 documentary Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic. Here, we review each of the films in this set and offer an extensive look at the Blu-ray quality and extras included in the collection.
Pact with the Forces of Darkness Film Review
The Empress of Darkness collection doesn’t proceed in chronological order but instead tends to offer Suzzanna’s best roles first and foremost. In Pact with the Forces of Darkness or its original title Perjanjian di Malam Keramat, Suzzanna stars as Kartika, a woman whose family is brutally murdered in a fascinatingly twisted opening sequence that starts things off with a literal bang; we’re talking over-the-top shootouts, split editing between a short love-making sequence while the attackers storm their house, and even dead children blasted through with machine gun fire. Director Sisworo Gautama Putra spares nothing here, really leaning into the debauchery of American ’80s slasher films by effectively taking inspiration from all of the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies and combining them with a more mystical, religion-infused depiction of a haunted house akin to The Amityville Horror.
That means Suzzanna gets to sport a Freddy claw glove with glee after she’s possessed by a demon who makes a pact with her during her death to help her get revenge on her murderers. The film wastes little time, since it has so much fodder at its disposal; throughout the relatively short 85 minutes, Putra hones in on kill after kill, wherein some of the techniques of Freddy Krueger are remixed to fit this film’s narrative. Pact with the Forces of Darkness is particularly brutal, and it sports some great, though obviously lower budget, special effects gore; one sequence where a man’s entire internal head contents pop out of his cranium is a hilariously horrifying curiosity. Suzzanna is tasked with giving Kartika the kind of malicious comedy that Robert Englund embodied some well in ANOES sequels, and she does an excellent job leaning into the humor here. Also stick around for an epic fight choreography between a religious medium and Suzzanna, complete with hand-to-hand combat and insane acrobatics.
While Pact with the Forces of Darkness is obviously in debt to western horror films of the time period, its shtick generally works well by playing off of familiar kill sequences in revitalizing ways. It’s a chaotic movie that truly needs to be experienced by more fans.
White Crocodile Queen Film Review
Suzzanna takes on a role very similar to her earlier Nyi Blorong (Snake Queen) film series in White Crocodile Queen, in which she plays both the titular White Crocodile Queen – who is master over the crocodiles – and her sister, a head-scratching 20-year-old Larsih. H. Tjut Djalil (best known for Lady Terminator) directs this unique picture that sort of comes across as a combination of possession and killer animal films – and truthfully, this may be the best crocodile attack film I’ve ever seen.
White Crocodile Queen is both horny and mean-spirited, which makes for a great combination. In between utilizing body doubles for Suzzanna’s sex scenes, the film also includes a number of absolutely brutal death sequences including one that truly made me gasp; I won’t spoil it here, but it involves a child. Somehow the movie also works in a possessed woman who turns a teal blue before attacking her family. Most importantly, all of the zaniness remains fairly self-contained, too, meaning it doesn’t go off the rails too often. And with Suzzanna getting two different roles, there’s no dearth of her presence here.
The film’s plot really isn’t all that nuanced or important in the scheme of things, but it does deal with environmental conservation specifically centered around the illegal poaching of protected crocodiles. All of this is sort of muddled with the family curse aspect, and the film does run just a bit overlong as it pads out the running time with dream sequences at the end. But it’s still a worthwhile watch for wackiness that’s too good to pass up.
Also, don’t worry: Djalil manages to sneak a song-and-dance number in here too!
Malam Satu Suro Film Review
Malam Satu Suro is the first of Suzzanna’s sundel bolong films included in the Empress of Darkness boxset, but it’s not even her first film as the Indonesian ghost lady for director Sisworo Gautama Putra! Previously, Suzzanna had starred in Putra’s 1981 film Sundelbolong with roughly a very similar premise, and here they continue the idea of the “prostitute with a hole where a baby used to be” haunting a group of men who wronged her. The Indonesian myth is pretty popular as a horror movie trope, and generally used to exaggerated effect much like Japanese ghost stories; but with Malam Satu Suro, Naryono Prayitno’s script excises a lot of the more over-the-top theatrics and gore expected of a film like this in favor of a sentimental journey through the sundel bolong’s life (and what’s stolen from her).
Suzzanna plays Suketi, a coquettish young girl (again, Suzzanna was likely in her mid-40s when filming this, so these allusions to her as a much younger woman are sort of comical in their own right) who is quickly married to Bardo (Fendy Pradana) after he sees her running through the woods; and Bardo immediately begins to accumulate fortune after the marriage on Satu Suro (Javanese New Year), something that his business rivals just can’t stand to see. They immediately think Suketi must be a sundel bolong, seek out a priestess, and remove the stake in Suketi’s head that makes her a living girl – this then changes her back to evil sundel bolong form, and she proceeds to reek havoc on these enemies after they accidentally murder her daughter.
The film is pretty tonally disparate, jumping around quite a bit in its search for a major plot throughline. Its initial half hour puts horror in the backseat to showcase a very mushy montage sequence with Suketi and Bardo starting their happy life a la something out of a ’90s sitcom intro, and it takes a long time to actually get to the conflict. Unfortunately, even then Malam Satu Suro drags despite its relatively short 80 minute running time. It’s not nearly wacky enough like this boxset’s previous works, nor does it make much use of the more haunting elements of the sundel bolong’s ire. Eventually, it even finds time to work in yet another dance-and-song number that leaves audiences scratching their heads and wondering how it even relates to the overall story.
There are better sundel bolong films out there, and Malam Satu Suro simply doesn’t have enough to set it apart from those others (especially considering Putra is well-versed in the subject).
Kliwon Friday Night Film Review
Suzzanna’s second sundel bolong film in this boxset is Kliwon Friday Night, the title meant to represent a mystical day within the Javanese calendar that is purportedly similar to Friday the 13th. Sisworo Gautama Putra also directs this movie, which actually released chronologically prior to Malam Satu Suro but is technically the subsequent film on this double-feature. Here, the sundel bolong myth plays out a bit differently, while hitting on much of the same topics. The movie focuses on Suzzanna’s character Ayu, a mystery author suffering from writer’s block and anxiety who moves into an abandoned house that’s purportedly haunted by the presence of a sundel bolong. Of course, in classic Suzzanna fashion, she’s putting in a dual role here as the ghostly woman, who is eventually revealed to be Ayu’s mother who died during childbirth when Ayu burst out of her back due to a hex.
Kliwon Friday Night is a bit better paced than Malam Satu Suro and gets better mileage out of the haunting aspects of the sundel bolong, as well as throwing in a few demonic entities for some reason. Suzzanna puts in a good performance and it truly feels like Putra is leaning into the horror side of the woman in white rather than a more tender-hearted portrayal of the supernatural entity. It still suffers from some weird tonal shifts – there’s a blowjob sequence that will surely leave most confused at its inclusion – as well as the now-expected song-and-dance interlude. Interestingly enough, Putra must have liked the actual birth sequence so much he decided to include it twice, because we see the gory baby birth through Suzzanna’s back both at the beginning of the film and during a later reveal of the events. This and an overlong sensual sequence sort of pad out the already short 88 minute runtime, but these are minor complaints.
This one’s certainly better than Malam Satu Suro, but all of the familiar flaws apply. Still, the more ghost-like paranormal activities are appreciated.
Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic Film Review
David Gregory’s 2024 feature-length film on the life and myth of Suzzanna finds the documentary pursuing a number of very interesting throughlines. First and foremost is centering Suzzanna’s career, from her first role at a young age throughout a career filled to the brim with horror films that moved her from the Queen of Sex to the Queen of Horror. Gregory collects interviews from a number of cinema icons to discuss Suzzanna’s output, showcasing many of the films seen on this boxset as well as a number that have not yet shown up for American audiences.
Surprisingly, though, it is Suzzanna’s personal life that leads to more interesting ends. Interviews with her second husband, her childhood friend, and her daughter reveal a traumatic life fraught with tragedy – including the death of her son – that influenced the very expressions that led Suzzanna to have such an alluring personality on-screen. The Queen of Black Magic even delves into the more mystical nature surrounding Suzzanna’s life and death; there’s the more mundane, like her obsession with eating roses and lavender, and then the more suspicious events surrounding her death. While the documentary doesn’t point any fingers, it also doesn’t shy away from providing context about the scandal surrounding her home life and her eventual death. Questions about her passing still abound, and since there was never an autopsy and the body was quickly buried, those suspicions will always remain.
Over the course of 90 minutes, Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic does an excellent job entertaining the viewer with stories about Suzzanna’s life celebrating her achievements and her contributions to Indonesian cinema. It’s perfect for both those that know Suzzanna’s body of work or any who are looking to get into it.
Blu-ray Review
Severin Films has provided new 2K scans of the original camera negatives for all of the films included in this set. The video quality is consistent throughout, showcasing a fairly medium-bodied grain scale that is a bit more noticeable during darker sequences but otherwise resolves well. Detail is fairly high and skin tones look impressively formulated. Surprisingly, these negatives show little damage and blemishes despite the usual difficulty in preserving Indonesian film due to poor techniques and heat-related degradation. On White Crocodile Queen, particular blue lighting is managed well. Malam Satu Suro and Kliwon Friday Night look the best out of all the films here, with exceptionally little damage to the negatives and strong visual detail, with the grain resolving very nicely. Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic has an obvious mix of collected footage, so its quality can widely vary (since some of the included film scenes have yet to be restored).
For audio, each movie gets a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono Indonesian track with included English subtitles. The results vary depending on the film; in particular, Pact with the Forces of Darkness sports a high treble mix that leads to some sharp-sounding effects and dialogue. Others, like White Crocodile Queen and Malam Satu Suro, are perfectly rounded with strong dialogue and very little flaws. Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic has a mixed-language track which includes both Indonesian and English; subtitles are included for only the Indonesian translations, but it would have been better to include for the entirety (or at least have that option).
Extras are included on a couple different discs in this set. Pact with the Forces of Darkness and White Crocodile Queen contain no extras. On Malam Satu Suro and Kliwon Friday Night, a new featurette titled “Hantu Retribution: Female Ghosts of the Malay Archipelago” interviews both Katrina Irawati Graham (likely in the same session as Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic) and Dr. Rosalind Galt to discuss the hantu mythology of Malay filmology like the pontianak, the sundel bolong, and other mythological female monsters; in it, they discuss the conflicting misogyny and female empowerment that these ghostly apparitions can symbolize.
On Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic, a web discussion between David Gregory and Ekky Imanjaya goes into the inspiration for the documentary and why there was such an interest in bringing Suzzanna’s life story to fruition. There’s also a short introduction from David Gregory that was played for audiences seeing a screening of the documentary at Jakarta Film Week, which essentially summarizes a lot of the things said in the previous discussion. A trailer for Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic is also included. Finally, Ghost Ambulance or its Indonesian title Hantu Ambulance is included as a bonus feature, provided in 1080i and showcasing Suzzanna’s final feature film before her death. Included with this feature is a making-of featurette that interviews cast and crew as sort of an EPK-style cut; more on-location interviews with the cast and crew; a Silet interview; promo clips; and a trailer.
Extra Features
DISC 1: Pact with the Forces of Darkness / White Crocodile Queen
- NEW 2K scans from the original camera negatives
DISC 2: Malam Satu Suro / Kliwon Friday Night
- NEW 2K scans from the original camera negatives
- NEW Hantu Retribution: Female Ghosts Of The Malay Archipelago – Interview With Filmmaker Katrina Irawati Graham And Dr. Rosalind Galt, Author Of Alluring Monsters: The Pontianak And Cinemas Of Decolonization (1080p; 28:43)
DISC 3: Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic / Ghost Ambulance
- NEW A Conversation With Director/Co-Producer David Gregory And Co-Producer Ekky Imanjaya (1080p; 18:55)
- NEW David Gregory Introduction At Jakarta Film Week Screening, October 2024 (1080i; 3:10)
- Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic Trailer (1080p; 2:35)
- The Making Of GHOST AMBULANCE (1080i; 28:33)
- ShowBiz On Location Interviews With Cast And Crew (1080i; 20:35)
- GHOST AMBULANCE Silet Interview With Actors Suzzanna And Clift Sangra (1080i; 14:50)
- Promo Clips (1080i; 24:05)
- Ghost Ambulance Trailer (1080i; 1:57)
BOXSET
- NEW Boxset artwork collecting the three Blu-ray cases
Verdict
Suzzanna: Empress of Darkness collects a number of truly imaginative films from Indonesian cinema that highlight exactly why Suzzanna became a starlet; while the boxset doesn’t collect a ton of extras, Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic sort of serves as a showcase to collect a lot of information about the actress and her life. Ultimately, this is a fantastic boxset for those interested in Indonesian cinema who have not had the opportunity to experience these fantastical films.
