March 17th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)
The late 1970's opened up a golden age for Indonesian cinema, as government grants helped local producers make films for their domestic market. But instead of more conventional fair, they wisely choose to create a cinema filled with all types of strangeness. From vampiric flying heads that stalk the countryside at night to mythological super-heroes, super villains and mounds of gore.
In the 1980's the age of the home video market further expanded this trend, sending waves of strange genre mixing films out into the Western world. This resulted in some very odd hybrids such as 1988's Lady Terminator which mixed the Western original with folk tales leading to an insane spectacle of one over the top set piece after another.
Virgins From Hell is one of the strangest of these Indonesian exploitation films. It appears that it was produced principally for its domestic market given the absence of Western actors, a common device to allow for ease of international video sales.
Its story is a mix of women in prison, mercenary jungle action and biker gang elements and in all cases these are taken to excess. While Indonesian exploitation cinema is not for everyone, it is virtually unbeatable when it comes to those who like their cinema on the wild side.
Indonesia, Director Ackyl Anwari, Cast Enny Beatrice, Yenny Farida, Nina Anwar and Dicky Zulkarnaen, 93 minutes, in English
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