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Indonesia, the 19th century, the time of the Dutch occupation : Presently,
the Dutch oppressors, led by Commandante Van Schramm are at their
cruelest, so much so that even Van Schramm's daughter Maria (Eva Arnaz) is
appalled. However, there is one man fighting for the suppressed
Indonesians, master martial artist Jaka Sembung (Barry Prima) - and he's
so good at it that the Dutch actually put a price on his head. Invincible
strongman Kobar soon enough shows up to collect the money, and he puts up
quite a fight, too, but in the end, Jaka manages to kill him. This really
angers the Dutch, who now bring magician/martial artist Ki Itam back from
the dead to take Jaka out. However, only when they threaten to slaughter a
child can they lure Jaka out into the open. Jaka really thinks he can take
on the Dutch army single-handedly, but he is no match for Ki Itam's magic.
But Jaka now is not only captured, he is gravely humiliated, when he -
just like Jesus, acutally - is forced to carry a yoke to the streets and
later is nailed to a wall by his hands. Then his eyes are gauged out as
well ... Maria tries to free Jaka, but she's caught by her father.
Later, Jaka's girlfriend Sirti tries the same, but she's captured and
tortured. When Jaka feels Sirti is in the dungeon with him though, he
develops super-strength and manages to tear his nailed down hands away
from the wall, even if that makes the wall cave in, and though he's blind,
he frees everybody in the jail, but at the escape, Ki Itam turns him into
a boar. Sirti escapes as well, but is gravely wounded and dies somewhere
in the woods, where she is found by a magician who later finds Jaka the
boar as well, returns him to his human form, than transplants Sirti's eyes
onto him. As soon as Jaka has come back to health, he tracks down Ki
Itam for a rematch, but seems to be losing again when torn off limbs -
including the head - just reattach themselves to his opponent. But Jaka
figures to defeat Ki Itam he has to kill him and not let his body touch
the ground where he gets his energy from - and thus he cuts Ki Itam in
half in mid-air. With Ki Itam dead, Jaka and his men go against the
Dutch, whom they defeat in a big battle, and Jaka personally kills Van
Schramm. With his dying breath though, Van Schramm tries to shoot Jaka -
but kills his own daughter, who has since fallen in love with Jaka (and
vice versa) instead ... The film starts with a prison revolt
and initially looks pretty much like any other historical about some
freedom fight or other - but when the black magic plot sets in, it gets
not only historically totally inaccurate but also really weird, really
trashy ... and really wonderful: The special effects might be a tad
crude, but they are also gorey, the pace is quick enough to never let
plotholes get in the way of the action, the action is so over-the-top it's
exhilarating, and the directorial effort, while
not exactly inspired, is exciting enough to keep the audience entertained
throughout. A real trash gem!
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