Kritiken (3)
Something brilliant from Indonesia. The poster made me expect some kind of insane gorefest, but my jaw dropped after ten minutes. Atmosphere. Atmosphere! Atmosphere!!! The first half is pure horror delight. It’s not so much about the story – the protagonist falling deeper and deeper into madness – but the way it’s delivered! Excellent visuals, amazing cinematography, and fantastic performances in the main roles. It feels like a checklist of the worst nightmares: a bizarre village with bizarre inhabitants, depression, rain… and a giant plush rabbit wielding an axe. Basically, the first half of Shackled is the purest type horror filmmaking that any fan could wish. I haven’t seen anything better in the genre in the last year. My quibbles are addressed towards the second half, which was too literally explained for my taste, and the conclusion feels a little uneven perhaps (so, the classic problems with the script), but this time I don’t care. I haven’t had so much fun in 100 minutes in a long time.
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Psycho atmospheric blast! With this film Indonesia proved that it has a huge potential to make quality horror. From the first minute Shackled escalates its destructive atmosphere with the help of an excellent retro style, an amazing soundtrack (Sinister, go fuck yourself!), perfect cinematography and a scary rabbit with an axe. The portrayal of the main character as he descends into madness is perfect, haunted by horrific dreams of blood, murder and he spends all his time wandering aimlessly. It's a shame that from the second half onwards the film shifts to a crime investigation, but it makes up for it with a perfect, hard to guess final twist that is sure to surprise. A powerful experience. 80%.
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My first encounter with Indonesian cinema turned out more than good, and I was pleasantly surprised by how the creators managed - at first glance, seemingly simply - to create a horror film that grips you with its atmosphere and literally sucks you in with its dense atmosphere. The fact that the story itself may not entertain you much is probably the price to pay for how dense - and strange - this spectacle is.
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