Adventuresome film lovers looking for the most warped stuff from around the globe would do well to check out this terminally weird Indonesian horror film. "Leak", a.k.a. "Mystics in Bali", is a real trip, one where you won't believe what you're seeing. It's equal parts cheesy, creepy, silly, and mysterious, and establishes an interesting lore. It's this lore that intrigues an American named Cathy (Ilona Agathe Bastian), who seeks to know more about the powerful magic known as Leak, supposedly more powerful than any other form of magic. Well, she really gets in over her head, as the female Leak cult member whom she meets (Sofia W.D.) is willing to mentor her in all things Leak, but the horrific old crone mainly wants to use Cathy for her own ends. It's up to Cathy's good friend Mahendra (Yos Santo) to help save the day. The special effects in this thing may not always be terribly slick, but it's this very crudeness that makes them so endearing and, sometimes, hysterical. The audience may howl with appreciative laughter seeing the way that the crone manipulates Cathy's body, separating her head from her body on occasion and sending it out on killing missions. There are also a couple of transformations, as Cathy is shown how to become lower animals, such as a pig and a snake. The music, by Gatot Sudarto, is very atmospheric, as is the jungle setting; director H. Tjut Djalil handles everything with a certain degree of panache, ensuring that the stupefied viewer will keep watching. As can be expected, the actors performing the dubbed in voices are hilariously bad, while the people on screen gamely perform this material with the straightest faces imaginable. It's worth sticking with this just to see how this wild story will resolve itself. While it was a big hit in Asia back in its day, it never got a proper release stateside as it was thought North American audiences wouldn't be able to appreciate its weirdness. Of course, now we can watch it on the DVD from Mondo Macabro and soak up its ambiance and flair. Anybody who's a fan of strange cinema is advised not to pass it up. Eight out of 10.

This movie is full of all manner of bizarre and offensive imagery and yet I was bored to tears by it. This is because while it is certainly insane, it lacks the commitment to go completely insane in the manner of films such as Lady Terminator.It has been said that there is a version of this movie that is 30 minutes longer. Egads! I do not use that word often, but I felt I had to use it now. I could not imagine this movie being any longer than it already is. It may run under 90 minutes on the US DVD but it feels like it is several hours long.I have given it a 5 mainly for the pig people as they made me laugh. As for the rest of the movie, once you've seen the head fly around once you've seen it enough. I'm sure there is a way to make a version of this movie that is a blast but this is not it.Watch it if you must humans. You may be slightly amused.

MYSTICS OF BALI has to be seen to be believed. Up until this time (1980) Indonesian cinema had been following along India cinema - where the movies pretty much had EVERYTHING in them - musical numbers, slapstick comedy, violence, horror, etc. MYSTICS was one of the first times they tried to make just a flat-out horror film and specifically for Western horror audiences. The film is a strange blend - with some genuine creepy moments and others that will have you unintentionally laugh out loud. Obviously they had no budget to pull off the special effects so when the woman's head leaves her body and she becomes this flying head with her entrails still connected - well, she looks like a badly made prop from George Romero directing Let's Go Fly A Kite in Mary Poppins. A western women comes to Bali to study their "black magic" and gets in too deep and before she knows it, Indonesian forest witches control her and make her become this nocturnal flying head that flies around....and there is one scene where she attacks a pregnant woman and bad effects or not - it is downright creepy. The other truly bizarre thing in this film is the evil witches - they are gnarled old women with bad teeth and long fingernails and they laugh/cackle for five solid minutes at times (or so it seems) - it becomes comical because they are giving it 110% percent in their evil laughing but it ends up sounding like Witchiepoo from H.R. Pufnstuf. What a weird film - check it out.

An American woman named Cathy asks her Indonesian boyfriend Hendra to help her investigate Balinese black magic known as 'Leyak'.Leyak is the most powerful black magic there is and she soon begins to pay a terrible cost when she turns into a flying head that feasts on unborn babies.I have seen my share of crazy Indonesian horror cinema and "Mystics in Bali" is perhaps the most known of 'em all.It is based on Indonesian mythology and for a supernatural culture largely undiscovered by Western movie fans.The special effects are incredibly cheesy and inept,the dubbed dialogue is absolutely hilarious,still there's a flying head which has the body's internal organs trailing behind,along with a little foetus eating and an evil sorcerer for all of you fans of Indonesian trash.The main actress Llona Agathe Bastian is incredibly wooden-in fact she was never an actress at all,but a German tourist spotted in Bali by one of the producers.Give this amusing trash a look.7 out of 10.