 Thanks for checking out this movie review video This is for the 2019 Indonesian film release and shutter original that's coming to shutter on Thursday, January 21st The Queen of Black Magic now This is one that I didn't know much going into it But I had kind of seen a still from it because when I get the screeners for these films I have there's like a little still image there and based on the still image I was thinking oh no I think this is one of those kind of subgenres of horror that I'm not really that into but gonna give it Then I started doing the research on Who has directed it who has written it and when I saw the writer? I thought okay I'm very interested to check this out now because they have another film that they did on shutter at the moment that I really enjoyed and This ended up being the same very very happy So I'll gush a little bit about that writer in a minute But I want to talk about some other things real quick mainly the director because I don't want You know everything to get overshadowed by my interest in this writer Newfound interest basically so directed by Kimo Stamble Who did films Takut faces of fear macabre killers headshot and dread out? Real good job on the directing with this it looks really really really good camera work is really nice Lighting is appropriate. This is one of those instances where I talk a lot about When films are shot in a dark setting and they're too dark, so you can't really see what's going on It sucks. There's a lot of dark time in this film. Well, not just lighting Lighting-wise, but dark like material, but You can still see what's going on And that's one of the biggest things for me is they do a good job of making sure even though it's dark You can still see what's happening. So good job on that Now this is written by Joko Anwar now Joko Anwar has done some films such as the forbidden door Ritual Satan slaves and in pedagore now if you've seen my review for in pedagore, you know I really enjoyed that film was not expecting to this film was the same situation Although since I had seen in pedagore and knew that Anwar had written the script I had pretty high hopes, but even then it really I was I was happy with it There's something about how Anwar can write a story So after watching this film, I started thinking I want to know more about this individual so I started looking things up online about Anwar and Sounds like Anwar is a very well respected in Indonesia and B should be very well respected in many other places And when I looked into his history and kind of how he is with film He hits a lot of genres apparently He's written and directed and done film for a bunch of different genres and does it really well So I think this is probably gonna send me on a bit of a joko Anwar rabbit hole to discover more of Anwar's films I mean the first one I need to hit up is Satan slaves because I haven't seen that yet and it is on shutter So people know if you end up liking the queen of black magic or you like in pedagore or Satan slaves See the other films that Anwar was involved with So yeah, basically, I think I'm becoming a fan. I think I'm becoming a fan I get a vibe from Anwar and his ability to tell story and weave a tale and the pacing of it and write a really Well-done script. I get a feeling kind of similar to Chamwook Park from South Korea, which coming from me That's a really big Compliment because Park is my favorite director of all time. I think he's amazing So Well writer and director not just director, but anyway, I'll stop there quick synopsis of this film I don't want to give too much away because this is a film where you shouldn't give too much away and so basically there is an orphanage where the Main individual who has taken care of the kids at the orphanage is on his deathbed. So a bunch of Family members for who grew up together at the orphanage kind of come back get together for the end of this individual's life and Then things start happening. So that's as much as I want to say because I don't want to ruin much It's it's very good to go and blind on this film and that gets to a point of I Wish the title for the film was different just even more vague now The fact that it's called the queen of black magic doesn't give a lot away about the film to be honest because there's a lot that happens and They're twists to it and you know everything like that, but It gives a aspect of it away, and I just wish that it was more vague for that reason So I wish you would not know the title and Associate anything with it with the film until after you're done with the film So it's just a small thing that bothered me a little bit So this starts with the family in a car and through their dialogue You get a good feel of for who they are and what their kind of family dynamic is like It's realistic and that's one of the biggest things one of my biggest problems with screenplays is That a lot of times when characters are written They don't feel real the way they talk to each other the way they interact to their Relationships the back stories all that stuff doesn't feel real But with this it does it feels real the dialogue the relationships the backstory all of it feels real much like with him in Empedagoras so Anwar has a really good grasp of how to write Realistic people into film which is not easy. I will say it is not I've written some scripts You know nothing's ever been done with them really, but I've written some scripts, and I know it's tough It's not an easy thing There's a jump scare that changes the tone of the film Pretty early on before the title card Followed by a oh shit moment Literally, I said that when this thing happened. I was like I didn't see it coming. I was like oh shit. Okay. Oh Wow, okay Grabs your attention great attention grab really like it came out of nowhere Well, not out of nowhere, but I just didn't see it coming and it was it was a nice surprise There's palpable awkwardness that's kind of captured well with the acting the directing in the cinematography And it makes sense within the story. It's intentional I assume because the characters are kind of seeing each other after not seeing each other for quite some time and the Circumstances aren't the greatest so there's this palpable awkwardness and the acting is really good to to make that happen The directing the cinematography all that stuff comes together to really paint a good picture of it Now one of the other things that happens is with a bunch of the shots II with multiple characters in it. They're kind of like Spaced out quite a bit within the shots and I noticed that early on and I was like this has to be intentional And it played to me I don't know if I'm right about this or not But it played to me like it was to kind of show a visual representation of what's going on with the actual relations between these individuals that you know To go along with that awkwardness. You're seeing physical space in between them, which is also, you know, you know Mental space emotional space between them, you know too much space, so they're not super close anymore So I like that aspect of it The music used in this is pretty minimalistic which is a good thing in my opinion I hate it hate it hate it when scores go over over the top. They're too heavy They lead the viewer over what's actually happening on screen So this really draws the music back It gets a little bit more intense and more heavy When it needs to be and when appropriate and it never crosses the line of being too much So really good job with the music on that There are also some really nice stretches of music not being used at all which if you've watched enough of my reviews You know, this is something I hammer as being awesome and very important with film I think we we lead viewers too much with the score and they're There's a great use in silence and in this film They do that quite a bit where they have these great stretches of silence where you're just kind of left to yourself And you need to figure out how to feel and I think it also does a great job of building more tension When eventually something hits, you know either for the purpose of a jump scare Or just to leave the audience a little bit confused until they can figure out how they should be personally feeling at that time So I really do like that When the situation makes the next step up kind of goes up the next level and ratchet things up It's in a pretty significant way. So I quite enjoyed that It's not a situation where You know, you can tell they're trying to step things up and you're just like it's a little bit weak Very decisive moves very decisive and done well I Like the camera work in this because it's very smooth Until it's not smooth and when it's not smooth It's intentional and it's during the points where it should not be smooth Which are the more intense moments the more horror driven moments. It gets very much not smooth So that kind of dichotomy between Smooth when things are going well and rough when things are going roughly is cool I love that kind of visual play between the two The pace at which key information Comes out in this is good. This goes back to the script reading with on more pacing is great The story is paced very very well It leaves enough time to work on character relations, but not let things get boring too many times with scripts And and just in film in general There are these long stretches where the characters are interacting and there's not a whole lot going on There's not a whole lot being added to the actual story And it gets boring and you're just kind of like what are we doing? It's stagnates that does not happen with this film So that is awesome. There are good stretches where you know Something's not necessarily being added to story wise or you know You feel like something horror related hasn't happened in a little bit, but you're not bored at all because it's working on Relationships it's working on some backstory So the time is utilized quite well It's a pretty tight script in my opinion and that's one of the biggest things I like to harp on a lot is when scripts are not very tight because Just edit it down edit it down, you know, people don't like to have their time wasted with this film It was a little bit under an hour and 40 minutes. No time wasted. Love it There's some CGI used in this now I'm very I don't like CGI use typically But there are situations in which it looks a lot better than it would look otherwise I understand that it's a much cheaper way to go so you can kind of stretch the budget budget more so I get it There are a few moments where they do the CGI in Lighting that doesn't make it look the best it looks a little bit wonky and those are the moments that I don't like But there are also instances where they use it in kind of darker Settings and that's when it works more because you can't see kind of like the rougher edges You can't focus on it enough for it to look Unrealistic for whatever it's being placed on as it's as the backdrop. So It's just one of my things. I just practical is always better There is practical stuff in this and when that happens it looks very good Overall, I think they did a pretty good job with the CGI, but Some of the stuff in the lights just like I said, it's a little bit wonky looking They got me with an uncomfortable horror moment Yeah, it's They really got me with it because I started to cringe Not because it's something that is like a thing for me because I know they're always, you know There are things that I have or like if I see it in film. I'm just like very uncomfortable with it it wasn't one of those it was a Something it's the way they shot it the way the acting was done and just how it looked effects wise just really got me and I was just like You know, like I could I felt like I could Almost feel what it would be like if that was happening in my life. So yeah and then They also did something that is one of my things that if I see it in film I'm like that's gross that makes my skin crawl and they did it It's I don't want to say any of this stuff obviously because it ruins a little bit of stuff that you would not necessarily expect So let's keep the surprise going but Yeah, it's one of those things I'm sure it's a thing for some other people too But yeah, we can talk about it in the comments because spoilers in the comments no problem and just know that The twist reveal is well done and actually there are kind of a few twists to this But like the main twist is what I'm talking about It has real impact and it changes a lot about the film itself much like in the film in pedagore You can tell if you've watched these two films that the writer is the same because the structure of the of it Is the same there are some themes that are kind of similar There's a lot of focus on family and also, you know family history family secrets stuff like that. So Both very good films. I'm a fan, but yeah, the twist well done had real impact I mean if you if you don't know much about on worse stuff At least horror wise you would probably go into this and think okay This is what we're getting until the twist happens So you'd be even more surprised than I was because I was expecting a twist based off of in pedagore now to that to that degree Much like in in pedagore The twist is messed up and I say that in a good way like messed up from a horror fans perspective is always a good thing That means it's creative. That means it's dark. That means it hits. It has impact like I was saying so It's good This is dark disturbing Relentless and just makes me really appreciate how on war writes a story Already said it gonna say it again on large very nice work on the script very nice This speaks to how the secrets people keep especially the dark ones can change everything past present and future and it also Speaks to how it can change How a story is told from an audience perspective and how a audience perceives that story and then also when twists happen Like in this film you look back and think well, then if if that's the reality of this then that means this From earlier events it has implications is what I'm saying that kind of like sends the audience's head You know kind of twirling off in in a direction of but then that means this and this means this And which is a good thing because anytime with a film you have me thinking past watching it Which this film did? I'm in I don't I don't like films where I just watch them and then I'm just like alright I'm done well sometimes I do but for the most part when I want to see a movie that I deem to be really good That's the situation. So anyway Yeah, can you tell that I liked it? This is one of those films do not sleep on this make sure you see it Watch it on shutter Very happy with it. So out of five stars with half stars in play I'm gonna give it a very very solid four star rating. I was between four and four and a half But if I did quarters, I definitely do a four point two five if you know my rating scale I'm extremely hard. I barely ever give out fives and four and a half's are like crazy Rare as well. So a four is really good and this film like I said, make sure you check it out So real quick puts like I said in the comments. We can talk about this film. Let's let's go at it Spoilers go ahead. Let's talk about this. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Are you in between? Let's talk it out I want to hear what everyone else has to say about it Yeah, so One thing real quick if you could do me a favor hit that subscribe button if you like this review or any review Or any video I've ever done. I would really appreciate that That's your best way to pay me back for the time I'm spending doing this because I don't you know I don't make money or anything doing this. It's a it's a hobby. I'm just trying to bring horror nerds together at This point build a community through this channel So also hit that notification bell button if you can and that way you'll know whenever I'm putting up new videos Whether it is a review or an unboxing or a haul video or other stuff. I end up doing but regardless I do appreciate you taking your time to check this out and until next time. Keep it brutal