''Tengkorak Hidoep'' (literally ''The Living Skeleton'') is a 1941 film from the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

(now Indonesia) directed by Tan Tjoei Hock. It has been called Indonesia's first domestic horror film.

Plot

Raden Darmadji and several of his friends go to the island of Mustika in search of Darmadji's brother, who was lost in a shipwreck ten years earlier. There, they discover that the god Maha Daru, who was locked away on the island 2,000 years before after losing a battle to the goddess Gumba. Darmadji, while exploring a cave, notices a huge rain storm. The earth rips asunder and Maha Daru escapes his prison. As Darmadji tries to escape the cage, he is accosted by savage men and supernatural beings. His daughter, Rumiati, is also caught up in this apocalypse but seemingly rescued by Maha Daru. However, Maha Daru's ill-will towards Rumiati – whom he considers a reincarnation of Gumba – is soon made clear. A man living in the jungle rescues her, and they fall in love.

Production

The black-and-white film production begin in October 1941 and was written, shot, and directed by Tan Tjoei Hock, with Java Industrial Film's

The Teng Chun The Teng Chun (; 18 June 1902 – 25 February 1977), also known by his Indonesian name Tahjar Ederis, was an Indonesian film producer. Born to a rich businessman, The became interested in film while still a youth. After a period as an expo ...

as producer; it was Tan's last film as director. It starred Tan Tjeng Bok, Moh Mochtar, Misnahati, Bissu, and Ali Joego. Salim Said, writing in 1981, stated that ''Tengkorak Hidoep'' was influenced by previous

film adaptations A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...

's ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'', while Ade Irwansyah of ''Tabloid Bintang'' suggested that the dominance of the jungle scenes was inspired by the various

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

centred on

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

Release and reception

''Tengkorak Hidoep'' was released in 1941 and reportedly a commercial success. Tan credited this success on the film's special effects, including a scene in which lightning smashes Maha Daru's grave and he comes out, a living skull, surrounded by flames. A 35 mm copy of the film is reportedly stored at

Sinematek Indonesia Sinematek Indonesia, or Sinematek for short, is a film archive located in Jakarta. Established in 1975 by Misbach Yusa Biran and Asrul Sani, the archive was the first in Southeast Asia, and remains the only one in Indonesia. It is home to rough ...

in Jakarta. Several articles, including one in the Indonesian film magazine ''F'' and the entertainment publication ''Tabloid Bintang'', write that ''Tengkorak Hidoep'' was the first Indonesian horror film. However, other publications, such as JB Kristanto's ''Katalog Film Indonesia'' (''Indonesian Film Catalogue''), consider the 1971

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...

film ''Lisa'' the first true Indonesian horror film; in Kristanto's catalogue, ''Tengkorak Hidoep'' is considered an

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

. By the late 2000s, horror films had become one of the dominant genres in the Indonesian film industry.

References

Footnotes Bibliography * * * *

External links

* {{Tan Tjoei Hock 1941 horror films 1941 films Indonesian black-and-white films Dutch East Indies films Films directed by Tan Tjoei Hock Indonesian horror films