The original Kuntilanak (which I’ve reviewed here) I do really love. So, obviously, I was looking forward to see the sequel, Kuntilanak 2, as well. Like, who wouldn’t, right?
It’s interesting, as it’s actually a direct sequel, that means, it follows more-less straight after the ending of the original movie.
But first, we see 3 kids going to play in the haunted boardinghouse (where the most of the original Kuntilanak was based). Not the best decision of their life and – as expected – they haven’t lived to tell the tale.
But this scene confirms (at least, from the point of atmosphere) that we’re gonna stay in the same visual settings as the original movie. Which, if you ask me, was a wise decision. I’m not so sure about the more – and in more detail – displaying of Kuntilanak itself, I’ve preferred the original “blink-and-you-miss-it” approach of the original one. But OK.
The story follows Samantha, who’s simply succumbing to the dark side. What she didn’t know was that the more you invoke Kuntilanak, the more you’re going evil. And on her tail is the mysterious and dangerous Mangkoedjiwo sect. We’ve been briefly introduced to its existence in the first movie, here we see this evil group in their evil dealings.
The story is pretty simple. The sect want Samantha to join their ranks so they can use her ability to summon Kuntilanak. Agung (Samantha’s boyfriend) tries to help her not to succumb to the dark side. Who’s gonna win?
Watching the movie there was evident drop in the budget, as the sets and the camera work resembles TV movie (read, soap opera) rather than a cinematic feature, but that posed no problem to me. I kinda like it. The story itself was OK, not really lapsing in logic or logical sequence bar the ending, which was a little out-of-touch. I guess it was necessary to get the story little further, but still….
One of the let-down was quite a long scene between Agung and Samantha in the Mangkoedjiwo lair (with that white background thing), which was totally stupid. Also Agung’s escape from the dead pit. Yeah, you just throw the guy in the pit and let him here. I know it needs to be done in order so he can escape, but it was totally unbelievable. And yes, stupid.
Summed up, overall it was not as good as the first one. It still possesses some qualities and if you liked the first one, you’ll very probably like this one as well.
Let’s have a look at some of the cast here.
Rizal Mantovani repeats his position as the movie director here, and Julie Estelle, Ibnu Jamil, Evan Sanders and Lita Soewardi all repeat their roles from the original movie (also with a very brief appearance of Alice Iskak in the role of Sri Sukmarahimi Mangkoedjiwo). And all are more-less the same in those roles.
We have new roles here, especially with the not-so-good folks from the sect, among those Piet Pagau in the role of the leader of the Mangkoedjiwo, Madeng. He’s appeared (among his other roles) in Jaka Sembung & Bergola Ijo (1985), and in horror movies like Leak (2007), Bangku Kosong (2006), Bayi Gaib: Bayi Tumbal Bayi Mati (2018), Arwah Tumbal Nyai the Trilogy: Part Arwah (2018), Denting Kematian (2020) and dramas like Hijrah Cinta (2014) or Zharfa (2019) among others.
One memorable villain is Cepi Setiawan in the role of Enceng, the cruel killer with a mad face. Strangely, that was his only movie credit.
For a quite a few actors there are no much info to be found, but that’s now a challenge to add to this review as I’ve got them.
Now, the bad thing is, the movie (basically the whole trilogy) is quite hard to find, especially with the English subtitles. Which is really a shame.
Trailer:
