Special Silencers (Indonesian: Serbuan Halilintar) is a 1982[note 1] Indonesian martial arts horror exploitation film directed by Arizal[1] and starring Barry Prima, Eva Arnaz and W. D. Mochtar. Prima plays Hendra, a man who arrives at a village where deaths are occurring as a result of red tablets—the titular "special silencers"—supplied by a forest-dwelling mystic; when ingested, the pills cause trees to burst from the consumer's stomach.[2][3]
| Special Silencers | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) Promotional release poster | |
| Directed by | Arizal |
| Starring | |
Production company | P.T. Parkit Films |
Release date |
|
| Country | Indonesia |
| Language | Indonesian |
The film's titular plot element may have been inspired by the chestburster scene in Alien (1979).[3][4]
Cast edit
- Barry Prima as Hendra[4]
- Eva Arnaz
- W. D. Mochtar
Release edit
Distributor Mondo Macabro, who released the film on Blu-ray, identifies the film's release date as 1982.[1] Other sources, such as author Pete Tombs, have identified its release date as 1979,[4] but Mondo Macabro essayist Ekky Imanjaya writes, "I've had difficulties finding a valid source on the circulation of Special Silencers in the global film market in 1979. Most probably, it was sold straight to video."[5] The film received distribution across Indonesia in 1982, with cuts made to "sexually suggestive and sadistic scenes" due to censorship.[5]
Home media edit
Special Silencers was released on VHS in the Netherlands in the 1980s.[6] A restoration of the film is set to be released on Blu-ray by Mondo Macabro in April 2024.[6][7]
Reception edit
In 2015, author Clive Davies called Special Silencers "a ridiculous action/horror crossover [...] Unusual but slow-moving, until the exciting finale involving smelly shoe torture, rats, gore and booby traps."[3]
Notes edit
References edit
- ^ a b "Newsletter #17". Mondo Macabro. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ Tombs 1998, p. 72–73.
- ^ a b c Davies, Clive (2015). Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won't Write About. Headpress. p. 896. ISBN 978-1909394278.
- ^ a b c Tombs 1998, p. 72.
- ^ a b Imanjaya, Ekka (2024). The Special Case of Special Silencers (Blu-ray booklet). Mondo Macabro. pp. 6–7.
- ^ a b "Special Silencers limited red case edition". Mondo Macabro. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- ^ "Mondo Macabro Presents Special Silencers". Horror Society. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
Bibliography edit
External links edit
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