Cathy Kean (Ilona Agathe Bastian) is an anthropology student who is researching black magic in Bali with the idea of writing a book about it. She is interested in learning about Leyak, a Balinese form of black magic. Cathy’s friend, Mahendra (Yos Santo) is attracted to Cathy, so he agrees to help her in her research. Mahendra tells Cathy about the legend and about the Queen (Sofia W.D.) of the Leyak cult and that the cult is said to be able to kill by summoning a supernatural entity. Mahendra takes Cathy into the jungle where they encounter the old queen. The Queen turns out to be a deformed creature with long fingernails and a prehensile tongue. She has the ability to change her appearance to fool others. Cathy asks the queen to teach her the Leyak secrets. The queen agrees but demands that Cathy see her alone.
Cathy visits the queen who not only inducts her into the cult but tricks her by performing a ritual over her turning her into her servant. The queen turns Cathy into a vampire creature consisting of a disembodied head complete spinal cord, stomach and entrails that can fly through the air seeking out the blood sacrifices which the queen needs to regain her strength and power. The first sacrifice Cathy finds is that of a newborn infant that she eats right out of the mother’s womb as it is being born.
Mahendra, unaware of Cathy’s predicament, has to go out of town for a couple days but tells Cathy that he will be back. While he is away, the queen uses Cathy again to garner another blood sacrifice. According to the old witch, she needs three sacrifices to regain her youth. When Mahendra returns, he finds out that Cathy is now under the power of the queen. Mahendra’s uncle, Machesse (W. D. Mochtar) tells him that to stop the queen they need to repeat a series of mantras that were stolen from the Leyak by his Uncle Oka. Machesse enlists Mahendra’s help in burying Cathy’s body and watching over it until the queen appears forcing a showdown between good and evil.
“Mystics in Bali” AKA “Mistik” AKA “Balinese Mystic” was released in 1981 and was directed by H. Tjut Djalil. It is an Indonesian supernatural folk horror film. The film was based on the novel "Leak Ngakak" by Putra Mada. It is considered to be the first actual Balinese horror film and was dubbed specifically for the Western market.
The film was not made in Bali but in Java, most likely due to the subject matter, and was, for a time, banned in Indonesia. Bootleg copies ended up distributed throughout the world. It has since garnered cult status.
The special effects are amateurish, but Bali is not a big movie Mecca, so I’m not surprised. Ilona Agathe Bastian, who plays Cathy, was not an actor but a German tourist visiting Bali. She was talked into extending her stay to be in the film. I suspect because her character was exploitative and a bit of a no-no in Bali etiquette protocols for women. Acting all around is rather bad. The story itself is rather weird, but most folklore is. It’s not really a good movie but it does explore a culture that is usually not available in mainstream horror.
Sofia W.D., who plays the old queen, was married to W.D. Mochtar, who played Machesse.
Bali is a province island in Indonesia, located in Southeast Asia.