Armando Siahaan

The Mo Brothers, Kimo Stamboel, left, and Timo Tjahjanto.

Indonesia’s New Breed Of Movie Makers

Their names are Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto. But together, these intrepid young movie directors go by the name of “Mo Brothers.”

They’re most likely strangers to Indonesian movie fans as their debut feature-length film, “ Rumah Dara ” (“Dara’s House”) — the story of a twisted family that kill its guests — was only released in local theaters a couple of days ago.

But prior to its domestic premiere, the movie, originally titled “Macabre,” was screened at a number of film festivals around the world, and left quite an impression.

“In their first feature, the self-styled ‘Mo Brothers’ show a natural feel for genre rules that makes this fresh meat for gore hounds,” proclaimed Derek Elley, in a film review for the Los Angeles-based entertainment magazine Variety.

Writing for The Austin Chronicle, an alternative newsweekly in Texas, Richard Whittaker said the movie “may put the Southeast Asian nation on some gore hounds’ maps. … This may be the bloodiest film of the [Fantastic Fest Film] festival.”

Relaxing at a cafe in Kemang, South Jakarta, each with their own MacBook Pro laptop — the increasingly must-have gadget for creative industry types — the affable directors talked about what they’re trying to bring to the table with “Rumah Dara.”

Kimo, 29, said the directorial duo sought to break the stigma about Indonesian horror films, where the stories typically revolve around mystical beings — from traditional ghosts such as pocong (shrouded ghosts) and kuntilanak (female ghosts dressed in white), to urban legends like suster ngesot (the crawling nurse) and hantu kolong jembatan (the ghost under the bridge).

The outspoken Timo, 29, said the stigma of these movies, which are mostly of low quality, is so prevalent that some people are “starting to lose faith in the industry.”

He said that they had even considered labeling their grisly 95-minute flick a “thriller” instead of “horror,” just to avoid having the audience prejudge it.

“[Up until now] Indonesian horror movies have not shown any significant progress,” said the bespectacled Kimo. “It has never been pushed as a respectable genre.”

Instead of relying on mystical beings, Kimo and Timo use good old-fashioned violence to incite terror.

“A slasher film exploits excessive violence and killing, but the terror comes from a real being,” Kimo said.

Timo, who was born in Germany, said a slasher film usually includes the brutal use of sharp-edged instruments.

“Rumah Dara” is no exception, with chain saws, crossbows and kitchen knives used in the plentiful and sadistic killings.

“We try to focus more on creating the fear by the idea of how much violence one person can do to another,” Timo said.

Local cinema is not unfamiliar with slasher films, with Hollywood movies like the remake of Tobe Hooper’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Eli Roth’s “Hostel” and the “Saw” series having graced local screens. But the Mo Brothers are among the very few local filmmakers who have taken up this style of horror.

Last December, Maxima Pictures released a slasher flick called “ Air Terjun Pengantin ” (“The Bride’s Waterfall”), directed by Rizal Mantovani. But the movie focused on sexually suggestive scenes and lacked blood and gore.

Award-winning director Joko Anwar, who has a cameo appearance in the Mo Brother’s movie, said slasher films were not new to Indonesia, “but the Mo Brothers are the ones who did it right.”

But slasher films face extra obstacles in the country.

In September last year, a new film law was introduced, increasing the amount of government control over the film industry, largely through its censorship agency. The typical violence of a slasher film is still considered taboo and usually prohibited.

“Rumah Dara,” according to its directors, was subjected to this harsh scrutiny and some of the close-up scenes of violence were cut.

But Kimo reassured horror buffs that the cut scenes were just a very small part of the movie and did not affect the integrity of the film.

“We thought that it could’ve been so much worse,” he added. “We could’ve been banned.”

The film has also faced public criticism for its extreme violence, with one reporter saying after a press screening that the film had no value and was “immoral.”

Timo said, “It’s not like we’re advertising violence. Film is entertainment first.”

But the twosome are reluctant to be labeled as horror directors. Kimo said they would prefer to be seen as filmmakers who like to explore different possibilities.

Kimo and Timo first met during their college days in Sydney in 2002, and their directorial careers began the following year with an unreleased short-film called “ Sendiri ” (“Alone”).

They then parted ways for a few years, with Kimo returning to Indonesia to run a production house and Timo flying to New York to sharpen his directorial skills at the New York Film Academy.

In 2006, they met again and decided to co-direct another movie, coming up with “Dara,” the short-film that “Rumah Dara” was conceptually based on.

Kimo said that although they loved to watch horror movies, the decision to make one themselves came more from their desire to challenge themselves creatively.

“From a technical perspective, making a horror movie is challenging, especially with the state of technology we have here in Indonesia,” Kimo said. “A horror movie is also a lot about playing with people’s emotions. There’s a lot that we can learn from the experience.”

Timo said their next movie, for which they will collaborate with Japanese filmmakers, will be a reality-driven psychological thriller.

“ ‘Rumah Dara’ is more a ‘leave your brain out, bring your guts in’ kind of movie,” he said. “We’re done pushing the limit with blood. The next one is less bloody, but much more disturbing.”

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