Sebelum Iblis Menjemput

Máscaras perfectas, gore y aullidos demoníacos al estilo de El ejército de las tinieblas. Pero desgraciadamente está ensartada en una maldición familiar (cómo si no), cuyo desentrañamiento entretiene como mucho la primera media hora. Solo se trata de adolescentes que están en desacuerdo con sus propios padres o padrastros y, sobre todo, el guionista pone en su boca diálogos y comportamientos como si los adolescentes le disgustaran. En esos cortes demoníacos asados, uno podría incluso preguntarse si el propio cineasta estaba poseído por el diablo. Luego, con la aburrida e histéricamente molesta salsa de la relación, todo se va a al traste. (13.10.2020)

Timo Tjahjanto is undoubtedly Indonesia's greatest butcher and talent, and this year he is on a rampage for the second time. May the Devil Take You is a solid mix of Evil Dead, Drag me to Hell and, most importantly, it feels like a throwback to Hong Kong in the 90s when similar madness was quite common, but nowadays is very rare. In the end, the film is surprisingly not the carnage I was hoping for. He probably won't surpass his debut Macabre, and he did more with gore in the recent actioner The Night Comes for Us, but there are still a few tasty bits, the highlights being the poking around in the entrails of a buried corpse, playing with Voodoo and a scene where the demon rips the skin off his face. That said, the film quite atmospherically creepy, intense with an intense soundtrack and excellent make-up effects (the demon is very unpleasant), and it's very well paced, so all in all I'm satisfied. The weaker actors and the mediocre story didn't bother me, but someone will complain. Next is the horror movie DreadOut, which we'll see either at the end of the year or in 2019. 75%. (22.11.2018)

An Indonesian take on Evil Dead, May the Devil Take You showcases Timo Tjahjanto's prowess as a director who’s continually improving, especially in screenwriting, which used to be his main weakness. This is a top-tier horror film, packed with everything a horror fan could want — intense suspense, a suffocating atmosphere, psychological twists, plenty of violence, chilling scenes that get under your skin, and high-quality practical gore effects with minimal CGI. Despite its nearly two-hour runtime, the film never loses its momentum. The terror steadily escalates, and the story develops well even within a confined setting. It might not be the most original concept, but it’s a prime example of how a modern horror should be done. (08.10.2018)

The Indonesian film May the Devil Take You wants to be an atmospheric film on the one hand, and quite a brutal horror on the other. I think it's particularly good at the brutal aspects, where in some scenes, even if you close your eyes, you'll get a very uncomfortable feeling in your stomach simply from what you're actually hearing. It is good in this respect, but unfortunately not very revelatory in terms of plot. (08.04.2019)