‘Kromoleo’ Review: An Average Indonesian Curse Movie

What is Kromoleo About?

In 1984, on the Indonesian island of Java, a dangerous man named Djarot used black magic to wreak havoc on a small village. Djarot was beheaded, but he spoke of a curse before his death. Ten years later, his daughter Zia arrives in the village for her mother’s funeral after living most of her life far away. The local citizens are nervous about her arrival, and with good cause. That night, ghosts appear and roam throughout the village, viciously killing anyone who lays eyes on them. If she survives the night, Zia will learn the truth about her family and her connection to the curse of her hometown.

Kromoleo Review

Indonesia has produced many excellent horror films, especially over the past decade. When put into the larger canon of Indonesian horror cinema, Kromoleo falls somewhere just below the middle of the pack. It’s entertaining enough, but it’s also very average in almost every way.

Starting with the plot, it’s fine. Most of it is fairly predictable, but it does the job well enough to get from one plot point to the next. However, many of the specifics of the story and characters are somewhat vague, and that might frustrate some viewers. Things like depth and emotion are kept at a safe distance from the audience because we never really get to know any of the characters in the film. For instance, Zia’s friend Dika definitely has a background that could lead to some intense moments, but his connection to Zia is never truly explored. All of the emotional beats in Kromoleo are very perfunctory, as if the writers felt the need to include them, yet they didn’t bother to flesh them out. Basically, it’s a movie filled mostly with stock characters.

Kromoleo somewhat makes up for its bland story with violence and overall spookiness. The movie is not particularly scary, but the CGI ghosts are fairly interesting to look at. Really though, it’s what the ghosts do that can be fun. The way people die in Kromoleo is nicely bloody. Sure, it’s mostly CGI blood, but it usually happens in the dark which obscures some of the fakeness of it, and the aftermath is sometimes quite gory. The computer animation isn’t great, but for a lower-budget movie, it’s fine. This is all just very fine.

Everything else aside, perhaps the most important aspect of a movie like this is having a main character that the audience wants to watch. Having a good sympathetic lead can make up for a lot of other shortcomings, and Safira Ratu Sofya does a very good job as Zia. Even when we aren’t always privy to the specifics of why she’s sad or scared or whatever emotion she’s feeling at the time, Sofya’s performance makes us believe those emotions enough to want to root for her survival. For some viewers, that might be enough to make Kromoleo enjoyable.

Kromoleo Rating and Recommendation

Further Reading

• New/Upcoming Horror Movies
• Best Indonesian Horror Movies
• Stupid Games Review: An Engrossing Supernatural Chamber Piece
• Hell Hole Review: Body Horror and Parasites from the Adams Family
• Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End Movie Review