manisimmati American author Catherine travels to Bali to learn the art of "Leák" – some kind of black magic. Her native boyfriend Mahendra introduces her to a shady Leák mistress. The witch teaches Catherine strange rituals including (but not limited to) maniacal laughter, erratic dancing and pig transformations. Pretty awesome, isn't it? Well, unfortunately the witch turns out to be evil. She takes control over Catherine's head at night and forces her to gather blood. Mahendra tries to cut the bond between Catherine and the witch, but that's easier said than done."Leák" (better known as "Mystics in Bali") is an Indonesian horror movie about the mythological figure Leyak: a flying head floating trough the night and sucking the blood of newborn babies, with the entrails of its former body still hanging from it. For Indonesians, this legend might be familiar, but for us westerners it's decidedly weird, especially because the director H. Tjut Djalil doesn't feel the need to explain what's happening on screen. But regardless of our cultural background, I think we can all agree that this movie wonderfully crazy trip which will conjure a smile on the face of every trash fan out there.The plot is strange from beginning to end, and there's no point in me listing all the lunatic scenes - you have to experience them first-hand. What makes "Leák" so funny is the fact that neither Catherine nor Mehandra seem to be bothered by the outrageous events. They're like: "Let's meet with this disfigured witch and learn black magic! You can't go wrong with that, can you? Oh, could it be that Catherine killed someone?! Ah well, whatever. Let's kiss and be all lovey-dovey!" Those two might be the most carefree couple in film history.Amidst all the chaos there are some quite effective scenes. The cheap special effects are disturbing at times. But "Leák" seldom is truly scary. The story is told roughly. The ending is an overhasty jumble: Things seem to happen at random, and then the movie ends abruptly.All in all, "Leák" is an interesting yet clumsy introduction to Indonesian mythology. The shocks are few and far between, but the movie amuses with obscure ideas and visuals.

Scott LeBrun Adventuresome film lovers looking for the most warped stuff from around the globe would do well to check out this terminally weird Indonesian horror film. "Leak", a.k.a. "Mystics in Bali", is a real trip, one where you won't believe what you're seeing. It's equal parts cheesy, creepy, silly, and mysterious, and establishes an interesting lore. It's this lore that intrigues an American named Cathy (Ilona Agathe Bastian), who seeks to know more about the powerful magic known as Leak, supposedly more powerful than any other form of magic. Well, she really gets in over her head, as the female Leak cult member whom she meets (Sofia W.D.) is willing to mentor her in all things Leak, but the horrific old crone mainly wants to use Cathy for her own ends. It's up to Cathy's good friend Mahendra (Yos Santo) to help save the day. The special effects in this thing may not always be terribly slick, but it's this very crudeness that makes them so endearing and, sometimes, hysterical. The audience may howl with appreciative laughter seeing the way that the crone manipulates Cathy's body, separating her head from her body on occasion and sending it out on killing missions. There are also a couple of transformations, as Cathy is shown how to become lower animals, such as a pig and a snake. The music, by Gatot Sudarto, is very atmospheric, as is the jungle setting; director H. Tjut Djalil handles everything with a certain degree of panache, ensuring that the stupefied viewer will keep watching. As can be expected, the actors performing the dubbed in voices are hilariously bad, while the people on screen gamely perform this material with the straightest faces imaginable. It's worth sticking with this just to see how this wild story will resolve itself. While it was a big hit in Asia back in its day, it never got a proper release stateside as it was thought North American audiences wouldn't be able to appreciate its weirdness. Of course, now we can watch it on the DVD from Mondo Macabro and soak up its ambiance and flair. Anybody who's a fan of strange cinema is advised not to pass it up. Eight out of 10.

shark-43 MYSTICS OF BALI has to be seen to be believed. Up until this time (1980) Indonesian cinema had been following along India cinema - where the movies pretty much had EVERYTHING in them - musical numbers, slapstick comedy, violence, horror, etc. MYSTICS was one of the first times they tried to make just a flat-out horror film and specifically for Western horror audiences. The film is a strange blend - with some genuine creepy moments and others that will have you unintentionally laugh out loud. Obviously they had no budget to pull off the special effects so when the woman's head leaves her body and she becomes this flying head with her entrails still connected - well, she looks like a badly made prop from George Romero directing Let's Go Fly A Kite in Mary Poppins. A western women comes to Bali to study their "black magic" and gets in too deep and before she knows it, Indonesian forest witches control her and make her become this nocturnal flying head that flies around....and there is one scene where she attacks a pregnant woman and bad effects or not - it is downright creepy. The other truly bizarre thing in this film is the evil witches - they are gnarled old women with bad teeth and long fingernails and they laugh/cackle for five solid minutes at times (or so it seems) - it becomes comical because they are giving it 110% percent in their evil laughing but it ends up sounding like Witchiepoo from H.R. Pufnstuf. What a weird film - check it out.

delbruk Seriously, how many Indonesian horror films have you come across? This one is the only one I know of and that makes it an interesting watch right off. There is some real creativity here with the flying head and transformation scenes as the story follows a Serpent and the Rainbow kind of plotline. The acting is not bad but the dialogue is hokey (my version was dubbed) but the real success is the soundtrack which varies from spooky to psychedelic rock and the witches cackle which was perfect except overdone. Havent heard a cackle like that since Margaret Hamilton. The films editing is a bit choppy as it combines elements of early 80's f/x ("Tron" style) with Asian martial arts. Overall worth the watch, but not the Indonesian Psycho...but how would I know.