The rattlesnake hiss of the kuntilanak endures and the seduction of Julie Estelle continues – this time to cap a trilogy for the flying ghost franchise. However, is the Playboy Indonesia starlet reason enough to watch "Kuntilanak 3"?
We wouldn't ask more from lesser Indon horrors but this is "Kuntilanak", one of the most successful series from the region in recent times. This was the top-grossing, people-pleasing Indonesian blockbuster that really got people going. Yet, while both parts one and two had quite a few things going for it, "Kuntilanak 3" is easily the weakest instalment. Adventure seems to be the main drive this time, instead of the historical hocus-pocus or intense shriek musicals we know from the first two films. However, the feeling this time is that the kuntilanak allure has turned into Fear Factor-meets-Pocong sensationalism – to little advantage, at that!
Imelda Therinne ("Medley", "Quickie Express") and Laura Antonietta ("Jakarta Undercover") are the other two sexy girls in the film flanking Estelle, while Mandala Shoji ("Enam", "D-Trax") and Reza Pahlevi ("Jelangkung 3") pump some testosterone into the tale. Sadly, not only is there no intention to weave any sexual undercurrent between the five, there wasn't even any customary romance going on! What a waste of resources on director Rizal Mantovani's part! The man chartered helicopters and shot the film mostly in the deep, difficult jungle – yet he didn't provide anything remotely naughty with such an attractive cast.
That would've been fine if the story was more exciting. It wasn't, really. Most of the time, the lot of them look for a missing couple in the woods, busy being bothered an awful lot by the titular undead, but never improving the story. Customary cheap scares aside, the most original scene would probably be a demon foetus calling out one of the girls for instant adoption from inside a rotting cow lying on the ground.
The expanded cast also diminishes Julie Estelle's appeal – as we find it harder and harder to believe that this was the same girl who held such awesome powers earlier in the trilogy. Where is the death lullaby now?
Julie Estelle o Julie Estelle, they didn't even give you enough lines to say! The sole purpose that drove this instalment was that Julie's accursed Samantha character had to get to a neck of the woods called Ujong Sedo to meet an old lady who can help end her banshee affiliations. Oh the Mangkoedjiwo are turning in their graves. Do something, woman!
