Clowns are scary. That is one thing most people can agree on. No doubt you’ve seen Tim Curry’s terrifying portrayal of Pennywise in Stephen King’s It, and hopefully you’ve had a chance to see Eli Roth’s Clown, but now there’s a new one from Indonesian director Awi Suryadi, Badoet.
Badoet stars Daniel Topan (who also served as producer and writer), Christoffer Nelwan, Aurélie Moeremans, Ratu Felisha, Marcel Chandrawinata, Ronny Paulus Tjandra, and Tiara Westlake. It tells the following story:
Tragedy strikes a close-knit government housing project complex in Jakarta when three children are found mysteriously dead. Suspecting foul play, three tenants decide to investigate: Donald (Daniel Topan), a smart college senior with a temper; Faarel (Christoffer Nelwan), Donald’s socially awkward yet kind-hearted cousin, and Kayla (Aurelie Moeremans), Donald’s tomboy college mate. The entity responsible for the heinous deaths is revealed after our heroes find drawings of a clown made by all the victims, and, later, by VINO (Fernandito Raditya), the 9-year-old son of feisty landlady RAISA (Ratu Felisha)—who clearly now is in danger. With help from the eccentric indigo siblings NIKKI (Tiara Westlake) and ROCKY (Marcel Chandrawinata), our heroes do their best to save the boy. As Donald and his friends begin their attempt, terror starts to mount. Our heroes soon realize that they are facing a force that disguises its darkness through laughter—a force so menacing, it will not hesitate to take lives to get what it wants: immortality.
Horror is one genre that transcends language and when done well it is an incredible feat. As part of the horror genre, it is with pride to see such well done horror come from around the world. A fascinating aspect of the genre is analyzing how different cultures approach the ideas of horror, terror, and death. Although concepts and stories may differ, the ways these films inspire and scare us is one in the same. This trailer for Badoet is all the right kind of messed up, and the new poster is frame worthy.
Badoet has a local Indonesian release date of November 12, 2015, but good news for those of us not in Indonesia; the producers are in talks with distributors for a worldwide release. We Are Indie Horror will keep you updated on all things Badoet.
