By: Joseph Perry (Twitter/X)
Writer: When It Was Cool
Also Featured At: Gruesome Magazine, The Scariest Things, Horror Fuel, B&S About Movies, The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict, and Diabolique Magazine, and film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope and Drive-In Asylum.
Film Review: Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic (2024)
Official Shudder synopsis: She starred in 42 classic movies, was hailed as “The Queen of Indonesian Horror” and crowned “Asia's Most Popular Actress.” But who was Suzanna Martha Frederika van Osch, long-beloved by the Asian world as Suzzanna yet virtually unknown outside it? Through exclusive interviews with family, colleagues, filmmakers, and historians, as well as clips from her classic films, this documentary unearths the legacy of the Scream Queen who has begun to emerge as one of the most compelling icons in cinema history.
Admittedly, I have never watched any of Indonesian horror star Suzzanna’s films before. My litmus test for a documentary about someone or something in which I’m not normally knowledgeable is whether the film makes me want to watch or learn more about the subject. In the case of Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic from director David Gregory, color me highly interested in making up for lost time!
Gregory’s documentary covers the details of Suzzanna’s personal life — suffice it to say that it wasn’t an easy one when it came to romantic relationships, and she also went through the death of a child — and hints at a mystery regarding her death. Interviews with family, friends, and coworkers are plentiful and insightful. But equally as fascinating as the enigmatic life Suzzanna led is her rise to become Asia’s top screen queen, starting in the early 1970s and lasting through the early 1990s. Film clips from those shockers abound here, and will have fright-fare fanatics interested in supernatural cinema offerings doing deep dives to watch Suzzanna and her famous stare.
When an actor insists that live snakes be used for a Medusa-like effect, and admits being nervous about doing so, that shows intestinal fortitude and commitment to craft that can’t be denied. Suzzanna left a legacy of chiller films behind her, and finally her oeuvre can get the proper worldwide attention it deserves, thanks in large part to Gregory’s Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic.
Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic is currently available to watch on Shudder.
Joseph Perry also writes for the websites Gruesome Magazine (gruesomemagazine.com), The Scariest Things (scariesthings.com), Horror Fuel (horrorfuel.com), B&S About Movies (bandsaboutmovies.com), The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict (gbvreviews.com), and Diabolique Magazine (diaboliquemagazine.com), and film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope (videoscopemag.com) and Drive-In Asylum (etsy.com/shop/GroovyDoom).
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