Brief Story Line
Story was set in a small town in Central Java, where a traditional company that specialized in making herbs was tasked to create a medicine that could make person younger by its owner Mr. Sadimin (Donny Damara - Kembang Api, Perwira dan Ksatria etc). When the experiment seemed to be successful, Sadimin decided not to sell the company which gravely upset his family that consisted of his new younger wife Karina (Eva Celia - Andai Ibu Tidak Menikah dengan Ayah, Pendekar Tongkat Emas etc), his jobless son Bambang (Marthino Lio - Seperti Dendam. Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas, Glenn Fredly the Movie etc), his younger sister Kenes (Mikha Tambayong - Bismillah Kunikahi Suamimu, Induk Gajah TV series etc) with her husband Rudi (Dimas Anggara - Sri Asih, Lafran etc) who came together with their young son Raihan (Varren Arianda Calief) just to sign the sale paper.
Unfortunately the medicine had a terrible side effect that made the person became a zombie and infected any person that they bite. Soon the infection spread out to the village nearby and endanger everyone including a villager named Ningsih (Claresta Taufan - Badarawuhi di Desa Penari, Buku Harian Seorang Istri TV series etc) and her boyfriend, policeman Rahman (Ardit Erwandha - Tinggal Meninggal, Petualangan Sherina 2 etc).
So how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.
End of Brief Story Line
The reason I was intrigued with this movie was because it has an interesting genre of zombie that I think was very few times created in Indonesia (the only one I could think of was ReuniZ which was mostly comedy, though there is possibly others which I am not aware of). Anyway, when I saw the name of Kimo Stamboel as director, I thought this should be of better quality. Kimo was pretty well known for directing several hit movies like Ratu Ilmu Hitam, Sewu Dino and few films together with his friend Timo Tjahjanto (as the Mo brothers) such as Headshot and Killers.
And his experience was used to good effect here, as could be seen by the intensity of the zombie outbreak and pursuing of the humans. He was able to build the suspense throughout the whole movie, even if there might be times when things seemed to be a bit too convenient for the protagonists which resulted to their "easy" survival. Regardless though, the make up effects were quite awesome and seemed to be done professionally and did not look cheap. The high production value could also be seen by the amount of extras who played the zombies. I could see so many of their names during closing credits and later read that it has > 200 of them. It was definitely not an easy feat managing so many of them with good make up effects as well. Oh there was a nice effect on one of the zombie who used to be the maid of Sadimin's family (you would understand it once you see this film).
The story to me was pretty standard and adequately served as the background of the main premise which was zombie survival. Though the characters might have been rather shallow, but it was enough to give some moving moments towards the climax. I read some viewers who commented about the poor acting of the main cast, but I personally felt they were not that bad (have seen worse). The duration though I think was a bit too long with 116 minutes including closing credits that did not have any mid or post end credit scene. However, the scene before names started to roll was smartly added and provided a nice finale.
In addition to the names I mentioned above, there were also some cast in support/minor capacity such as Kiki Narendra (A Normal Woman etc) as driver Aris, Vonny Anggraini (Kabut Berduri etc) as the head maid Mbak Sum, Karina Suwandi (Tira TV series etc) and plenty others whom I believe Indonesian audience would have been familiar with. The sound effect here was definitely one of the plus point as it sounded realistic. Even my wife who was watching different series commented its good quality despite only hearing it once in a while. The musical score was OK, and the modernized national song of Indonesia Pusaka by Ismail Marzuki was heard during the end. The title of Abadi Nan Jaya was part of the words from that song. Btw, the English title of the film is The Elixir in case you are looking for it in the movie database.
Overall this is actually a good quality zombie movie with wonderful special effects with quite consistent intensity and suspense throughout. Despite few things that I thought could have been done better, I was still pretty entertained by the film and applaud the hard work by the crew of Indonesian film makers. Irrespective of some harsh comments, I believe this is definitely worth to give a try. So if you are fans of zombie genre, I think you would enjoy this. But if you are very critical and wanted a high quality writing/drama, then likely this would not satisfy you. The choice is yours.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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