Takut: Faces of Fear – review

Directors: Kimo Stamboel & Timo Tjahjanto

Release date: 2008

Contains spoilers

Those who read this blog regularly will know I have a soft spot for anthology and portmanteau films and so, when I spotted this Indonesian anthology film on Amazon Prime, I didn’t hesitate. I wasn’t watching it for a vampire connection (although its always nice when one comes up).

In this case someone watching it cold would be forgiven for asking why I have tied this into vampires. I am specifically looking at the segment entitled Dara and, if you didn’t know better you’d class it at cannibalism (and perhaps serial killing).

Shareefa Daanish as Dara

However, this anthology pre-dated by a year the feature by the same directors entitled Rumah Dara, also known as Macabre, and the short has the same actress, Shareefa Daanish, as the titular character Dara. When I watched Rumah Dara I decided it was a vampire film and, whilst that vampiric aspect of the film was not captured here, nor were Dara’s wider family, I think its worth tying them in with this as it is a prequel, though may have predated the invention of the more supernatural tropes that the later feature added.

ready for butchering

It starts in the kitchen of a restaurant and a meal being prepared that Dara takes out to a lone diner, Adjie (Mike Lucock), she sits with him as he eats and talks to her. Eventually she invites him to her home so she can cook for him. He knows that it is her restaurant and she is the head chef but doesn’t know her name. He clearly takes her up on her offer – but comes around chained and gagged and ready for butchering.

uninvited suitor

Things go wrong when another suitor, Eko (Dendy Subangil), turns up a day earlier than arranged and she has to entertain him – having left Adjie in the slaughter room. To make matters worse, a third suitor, Rama (Ruly Lubis), also turns up. The short is pitched as a black comedy and, as I say, the more supernatural elements that the feature would introduce are missing. What makes the short, however, is Shareefa Daanish who can say more with a single look than many actresses with a slew of dialogue and has a commanding presence on the screen.

she's a maniac

This is well worth a look – the full anthology being interesting but a bit of a mixed bag. The segment The List is probably the best after this but Dara works as a standalone cannibal short as much as a prequel for those who have seen the feature. 7 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK