Lawang Sewu: Dendam Kuntilanak

Plot

Seven teenagers from Jakarta, Diska (Thalita Annemarie Latief), Naya (Salvita), Cika (Bunga Jelita), Dinda (Tsania Marwa), Yugo (Marcell Darwin), Armen (Melvin) and Onil (Ronald Gustav), are in Semarang to celebrate their graduation from high school. All but Diska, driving the car, are drunk after going to a discothèque. On the way to Naya's grandmother's house, Armen, Onil, and Yugo ask Diska to pull over so that they can relieve themselves; they stop at Lawang Sewu, and the boys urinate onto the grounds from outside the fence. Cika, who also must urinate, does not feel comfortable with the boys and so goes into the complex to relieve herself.

When she does not come back, the six enter the complex to look for her. The ghosts inhabiting the complex, angered by their lack of respect for the property, begin to frighten them. The first to come is the ghost of a Dutchwoman, Noni van Ellen, who possesses Dinda and causes her to insult the others. After Dinda returns to normal, Diska yells at her for violating the sanctity of the building by entering it while menstruating. Onil is told to take Dinda outside, but before they can leave the complex they are approached by a kuntilanak with a ball and chain wrapped around her leg; Onil wets his pants, and the two hug as the ghost approaches them.

Meanwhile, Diska, Yugo, Armen, and Naya find Cika's body inside the building. As they are attempting to take the corpse away, the kuntilanak comes and chases them. Diska makes it outside the building, but Armen, Yugo, and Naya are chased into the basement, where they are terrorized by the kuntilanak. Diska drives away to get help from Naya's grandmother. When they return, they attempt to drive away the ghosts by performing an exorcism; the ghosts rise up and kill Naya's grandmother, driving Diska into the basement.

There, she meets up with Armen, Yugo, and Naya. Armen tells her that he knows who the kuntilanak is: his ex-girlfriend Ratih. Ratih, unintentionally pregnant with Armen's child, was chased out of Jakarta by Armen and his friends; Diska, who wanted to help her, was stopped by Naya and Cika. Upon arriving in her hometown of Semarang, Ratih was disowned by her family and in desperation threw herself into a well at Lawang Sewu.

Upon learning the truth, Diska runs to the well in order to close it. Meanwhile, the kuntilanak kills Naya and Armen. As the kuntilanak is preparing to kill Yugo, Diska manages to close the well and stop it. Together Diska and Yugo leave to go to their own homes.

Production

Lawang Sewu: Dendam Kuntilanak was produced by MD Pictures, which had previously produced Kala (2007) and Suster Ngesot (2007). It was directed by Arie Azis and written by Aviv Elham, and drew its inspiration from stories about Lawang Sewu in Semarang, Central Java, a colonial building rumored to be haunted.

While filming the scene where Dinda is possessed by the ghost of Noni Van Ellen, Tsania Marwah reportedly began speaking in fluent Dutch, a language she had never studied before.

Themes

Manoj Punjabi, the film's producer, stated that he believed Lawang Sewu: Dendam Kuntilanak carried an important message, that humans as social creatures must always follow social norms and be aware of their surroundings; if not, he added, their secrets would be revealed.

Release and reception

Lawang Sewu: Dendam Kuntilanak premiered at the Senayan City XXI Theatre on 19 September 2007, with a wide release the following day. It received a poor reception. Evi Febrian Surya, writing for the Semarang-based Suara Merdeka, gave the film a scathing review, saying that it "truly 'raped' an icon of Semarang."