Deconstructing fear in Indonesian cinema: Diachronic analysis of antagonist representations in half a century of Indonesian horror films 1970-2020

Abstract The antagonist representations in horror films demonstrate how cultural symptoms of a community respond to fear. The diachronic analysis in this study employs a mixed method to analyze the dynamics of antagonist representation in Indonesian horror films. This research investigates the portrayal of antagonists from a macroscopic standpoint, encompassing a wider scope of analysis. During the 1970s, the Indonesian film industry had a prevailing trend characterized by the prominence of psychological horror films. Indonesian cinema in the subsequent decades continued to produce films featured antagonists characterized by psychopathic tendencies. Nevertheless, the growth of the former was not commensurate with the surge observed in the latter genre of supernatural horror movies. From 1985 to 1998, there was a notable shift in Indonesian horror films, as ghostly spirits emerged as the predominant antagonistic entities. The increase in the portrayal of spectral adversaries within the genre of supernatural horror is closely associated with a shift towards spirituality, particularly in the Indonesian cultural and social milieu. The Indonesian horror archetypes, such as kuntilanak and sundelbolong, are rooted in the trauma stemming from violence, rape and the horror experienced by women during significant historical moments in Indonesia. We can also see how the expansion of Hollywood films and New Asian Horror also influences the appearance of antagonists with special characterizations in Indonesian horror films.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Justito Adiprasetio is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Communication Science, Universitas Padjadjaran.His research interests span the range of: misinformation, communication and history, crises, popular culture, contemporary journalism and film.He also wrote Komunikasi dan Kuasa (Communication and Power), the history of communication studies in Indonesia on 2023.He and his wife wrote Memaksa Ibu jadi Hantu (Mother Who Forced to Haunt), which discussed maternal horror in Indonesian films on 2022.Justito is currently conducting an intensive investigation of how Indonesian horror films address cultural fears: exploiting timeless themes of violence, death, sexuality, and how the genealogy of its discursive formation.Justito is preparing another book about pocong, the Indonesian sacred ghost is presented on the contemporary Indonesian cinema screen.

Introduction
The characteristics that make the horror genre are not static because horror is dynamic, flexible, and open to various interpretations.Horror works in various ways, suits different audiences, and is set in different contexts; it is also built on a familiar set of conventions simultaneously using different cultural resources drawn by filmmakers and audiences (Tudor, 1989).Horror films are also challenging to translate across cultural boundaries, for example in the expanse of world horror film history, there have been various attempts to reinterpret it by remaking horror films from Japan with a Hollywood vision, such as The Grudge (2004;2006;2009;2020) series that is adapted from Japan, Ju-On series (2001; 2001; 2003; 2009; 2014; 2015), The Ring series (2002; 2005; 2017) which are also adapted from Japan, Ringu series (1991;1995;1998;1999;2012), andShutter (2008) adapted from Thailand, Shutter (2004).Each attempt at film adaptation is accompanied by attempts to adopt antagonist representations, such as the ghost of Kayako and the child in The Grudge series, Sadako in The Ring series, and Natre in Shutter.Indonesian horror films have also repeatedly tried to imitate the characterization of Hollywood horror and provide many touches of influence from New Asian Horror, even an early Indonesian horror film which is considered one of the scariest in the history of Indonesian horror films, Lisa (1971) get a very significant influence from the film Psycho (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock.For example, ghost dolls that appeared after 2015 in Indonesian horror films have been influenced by the representation of ghost dolls from Hollywood films.Even the representation of female ghosts, which continued to rise in Indonesian horror films in the 2000s, bears similarities to ghosts that appeared in other Asian horror films of the same period.Indonesian horror films have a vast expanse with diverse representations of antagonists.The antagonistic figures within horror films, particularly those associated with ghosts and apparitions, have emerged as global phenomena due to their ceaseless transcendence of boundaries in diverse directions, encompassing both practices and imaginative representations, disseminated through travel, migrations, and the global cultural industries (Blanco & Peeren, 2013).This article attempts to demonstrate these dynamics by examining how antagonists are represented in the historical landscape of Indonesian horror films.
Before the 1998 monetary crisis that marked the fall of the Indonesian authoritarian regime, New Order, Indonesian films had a long list of horror films.Beranak dalam Kubur (1972), Sundelbolong (1981), Nyi Blorong (1982), Malam Jumat Kliwon (1986), Malam Satu Suro (1988), Ratu Buaya Putih (1988), Wanita Harimau (1989), Guntur Tengah Malam (1990), Gadis Misterius (1996) are the examples of popular horror films in Indonesia.Indonesian horror films in the 1970-1990s period were identical to the folklore of rural communities, wrapped in elements of sex, comedy, and violence.Heider (1991) stated that Indonesian films tended to "represent general Indonesian behavioral patterns rather than represent regional ethnic markers."As a result, they were "an essential medium for shaping the emerging national culture."The antagonist representations in horror films also demonstrate how cultural symptoms of a community respond to fear.For instance, people who do not believe in the spiritual realm may not be scared of supernatural horrors, just as those who do not understand how the psyche can be wounded might not comprehend how a psychopath can perform the worst imaginable acts in horror films.

Indonesia film trends and antagonist representations
Heading on Indonesian reformation, especially from 1992 to 1998, Indonesian films were hit hard and tended to be crushed by the large number of films from the Hollywood .Indonesian films are experiencing obstacles to being accessed by the leading distribution channel of Cinema 21 (read: twenty-one) and tend to rely on circulation on the periphery.Even serious national films like Surat untuk Bidadari (1994), Cemeng 2005(1995), and Bulan Tertusuk Ilalang (1995), were forced to rely on other distributions.Indonesian horror films were also directly affected, and there was a decline in horror film production in the period leading up to Reform (Sasono, 2011).
The revival of Indonesian horror films itself is in the same period as its release of Ringu (1998) and its Hollywood adaptation, The Ring (2002) or coincided with the rise of New Asian Horror, namely with the presence of Jelangkung (2001), which is considered one of the most successful films of Post-reform Indonesia.For comparison, with a shooting time of only two weeks and a total production cost of around Rp. 1 billion, this film can bring in 1.5 million viewers as long as it is screened on the big screen., compared to Petualangan Sherina (2000), the highest-grossing children's film of that period, by Riri Riza which cost Rp 2 billion with approximately the same number of viewers (Paramita, 2016).Jelangkung (2001) marks the revival of Indonesian horror films after the decline of Indonesian films, the national film industry due to the flood of imported films, and a wave of monetary crisis (Sasono, 2011).After Jelangkung (2001), a distinctive characteristic is that Indonesian films were flooded with supernatural horror movies featuring various ghosts and monsters, with storylines intersecting with religious aspects (Larasati & Adiprasetio, 2022b).
The trend of Indonesian horror films is always related to international film trends.The rise of Indonesian horror films, as mentioned earlier, cannot be separated from the rise of a new wave of horror films in Asia, New Asian Horror, in the period of the late 90s and 2000s (McRoy, 2008(McRoy, , 2014)).Although not the pioneer, Indonesia is a part of and gets significant influence from this new wave.New Asian horror itself is considered equivalent to the expression of the French New Wave, which refers to the avant-garde trend in the 1950-1960s period.French contemporary artists firmly rejected traditional film conventions at that time.They began to experiment with various things, including related shooting techniques, dialogue improvisation, narrative reinforcement, and the tendency to adopt existential themes, such as emphasizing the individual and acceptance related to the absurdity of human existence and filled with irony, sarcasm, and references to other films (Brody, 2008;Marie, 2008;McRoy, 2008).New Asian horror built a paradox in the violent gestures that are not displayed in a vulgar manner but always show many themes, such as sexual deviance (McRoy, 2008(McRoy, , 2014)).Also, there is parallelism where antagonist representations in the New Asian Horror wave are dominated by female ghosts, such as in Japan's Ringu (1998) and Thailand 's Shutter (2004).At the same time, antagonist representations in post-reformation Indonesian horror films are also dominated by female ghosts, such as kuntilanak, sundelbolong, or their transformations like the suster ngesot (crawling nurse).
After Jelangkung (2001), Indonesian horror films slowly accumulated fans, although they occasionally experienced ups and downs.Every year there are always Indonesian horror films that are included in the top 15 most-watched Indonesian films.Even the number of Indonesian horror films has increased significantly from 2015 to 2019 after the previous five years, from 2010 to 2014, experienced a decline.From 2015 to 2019, horror films mainly featured antagonist representations that were not identical to traditional Indonesian ghosts, such as pocong, kuntilanak, and tuyul.The representation of antagonists in Indonesian horror films during this period adapted many nontraditional Indonesian ghost figures, such as zombiesin Pengabdi Setan (2017), although not as the main ghost, also a puppet in The Doll (2016), The Doll 2 (2017), and Sabrina (2018).However, the antagonist representation displayed still contains traditional Indonesian patterns, for example, a female antagonist with a half-burnt face in Tarot (2015), which features the ghost of a kuntilanak but dressed in Dutch women's clothes from the 1950s, which is undoubtedly different from the kuntilanak figure in the 1950s that is generally only wearing long plain white shirts-one of the most common representation of antagonists in Indonesian horror films.
The success of horror films that aired in the 70-the 80s prompted several Indonesian directors to remake horror films from that era in recent years.For example, Pengabdi Setan (2017) is a remake of Pengabdi Setan (1980), which tells about the terror faced by Munarto's family after his wife died.The constant terror experienced by Munarto and his two children came from their maid named Darminah -who turned out to be a villain by being a servant of the devil.Pengabdi Setan (2017) worked on a different storyline by telling the story of a mother who became a servant of the devil in order to get offspring.After her mother died, her figure haunted the whole family.Suzzanna: Bernapas dalam Kubur (2018), with Luna Maya as the main star, is trying to meet public expectations replacing the legendary actress, Suzzanna in Bernapas dalam Kubur (1971).This is an example of an attempt to recall the success of Indonesian horror films achieved decades ago and revive the realm of fear that once worked effectively.

The tension of antagonist representations
There are several explanations for why there have been changes or dynamics in the representation of antagonists in horror films, including in Indonesia.Many scholars highlight that socio-cultural factors significantly influence antagonist representation (Baumgaertel, 2015;Fuhrmann, 2009;Kitiarsa, 2011;Lim, 2007;Wee, 2013).It can be understood if horror and antagonist representations in Indonesia are shared with antagonist representations of Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.For example, Malaysia and Singapore have films that use representations of the Pontianak ghost, other versions of kuntilanak since 1957, respectively in Pontianak (1957), Sumpah Pontianak (1958), Gergasi (1958), Pontianak Gua Musang (1965), Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam 1 and 2 (2004;2005), Pontianak Menjerit (2005) and Paku Pontianak (2013).Pontianak or kuntilanak itself comes from folklore which is usually the embodiment of a ghost who returns to the world because he demands revenge for the actions that have happened to her, either murder or suicide and is always related to aspects of her sexuality (rape victims, failure at birth, abortion, jealousy, infidelity).In many areas of Southeast Asia, there are various transfigurations to the kuntilanak narrative and representation, usually linked to specific locations and events, Nang Nak (1999) Thai supernatural horror film based on the Thai legend of Mae Nak Phra Khanong, stems from the same discursive affinity (Fuhrmann, 2009).
In Indonesian films, kuntilanak is almost always female-apart from when the kuntilanak is shown as a transwoman with a comical and sexist feel, has fangs, has haunting tendencies, and can only be subdued by sticking a nail into the crown of its head.Kuntilanak is known for highpitched squealing or giggling, has long, flowing hair, and wears a long white robe.Despite their frightening characteristics, kuntilanak and pontianak, in particular, continue to be popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore due to their deep roots in theological beliefs and superstitions.Some scholars also explained how political factors and the dynamics of domestic violence affect the dynamics of the representation of antagonists and horrors in Indonesia.A study from Aprilia (2020) examined how Beranak dalam Kubur (1971) is a manifestation of a monstrous feminine whose discourse is reproduced from the myth of Lubang Buaya (Crocodile' pit), where the Gerwani women's group is depicted as torturing seven 'revolutionary heroes' with various cruel activities.Likewise, a study from Ndoen (2022) showed how monstrous femininity is a form of post-1965 anti-communist propaganda, later manifested in Indonesian horror films.These two studies explained how the political movement that resulted not only in the transfer of power but also the deaths of millions of people due to persecution and accusations of communists, and the detention of many more people for being involved or affiliated with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), have changed how Indonesians perceive a horror, and imagining fears which in the end are represented in monstrous feminine which is a characteristic feature of antagonist themes in Indonesian films.
The horror genre is a collection of related but often very different categories.As a set of overlapping and evolving conceptual categories, the horror genre is constantly in flux rather than being a set of distinct and unified films by a common convention (Cherry, 2009).Martin (2019) articulated well that the existence and primary purpose of horror films is to frighten, shock, dismay, and disgust by using a variety of visual and auditory leitmotifs and devices, including references to the supernatural, abnormal, mutilation, blood, gore, suffering, pain, death, deformity of the human body, decay, darkness, invasion, mutation, extreme instability, and exposure of the unknown (Cherry, 2009;Martin, 2019;Newman, 2011).On the other hand, the most simple definition of a horror film is a film that aims to frighten and thrill the audience (Creed, 2005;Davis & Natale, 2010).This statement or categorization is a paradox; it tends to be contradictory because it contains two opposite emotions.
The paradox of horror films lies in their enchanting appeal to horrifying audiences.While the term "horror" denotes feelings of fear, shock, dismay, and disgust, when aired, it makes horror films able to cross cultural, religious, and class boundaries by attracting a wide range of audiences from different classes, localities, and beliefs.We can include films such as Perempuan Tanah Jahanam (2019) and Pengabdi Setan (2017) in the same category: horror films.However, each has a different approach to horror and a strategy to build terror.While Perempuan Tanah Jahanam (2019) tends to adopt a gore and sadistic approach with a village setting, Pengabdi Setan (2017) is more of a paranormal horror with a secular approach.The two films with different approaches but from the same director, Joko Anwar, have proven successful in scaring Indonesian audiences if one looks at the number of viewers of each.
The popularity of horror films and their continued acceptance by audiences has made them one of cinema's most provocative and controversial genres (Hutchings, 2008).Horror films have emerged from being initially seen as a low-cultural form to a form that often reflects the social, cultural, and political anxiety at its creation.Despite its marginal status, the horror genre has endured since the birth of cinema.Audience perceptions of the horror genre have evolved since the dawn of cinema.Horror has become a timeless genre that has evolved from generation to generation (Lee, 2016).
Horror's rotation from the periphery became the mainstream genre, placing it as the most sustainable genre in cinematic history.In order to continue to frighten its audience, the boundaries of the genre have shifted over time to continuously revitalize, evolve, transform, and hybridize into a very diverse set of sub-genres and new forms to offer thematic variety to its audience (Cherry, 2009).This also explains how the representation of the antagonist in a horror film can shift, along with the dynamics of the audience's fear.The endurance of the horror can be explained through its ability to relate the audience's perception of fear to the changing times.This research attempts to read diachronically how the antagonist representation changes and is in tension with the dynamics of fear in Indonesian society.As explained and exemplified by Foucault, the diachronic dimension can be unraveled not only by mapping the continuity of discourses but by unraveling the complexities of mutations, transformations, modifications, and even discontinuities within the discursive order that operate in human history today (Foucault, 1976(Foucault, , 2005)).Through an examination of the dynamics surrounding antagonistic representation in Indonesian horror films spanning the years 1970 to 2020, an exploration can be undertaken to elucidate the manner in which many contextual factors, including social, cultural, and political tensions shape people's objects of fear.

Research method
The diachronic analysis in this study was carried out in two stages.First, the mapping of antagonist representations in Indonesian horror films in the 1970-2020 period was carried out from the Indonesian film corpus.Second, a qualitative analysis was compiled from a literature review to explain the configuration and dynamics of antagonistic representations over the past five decades.
This study began by collecting a corpus of films compiled from the three most complete Indonesian film sources, which are the Katalog Film Indonesia 1926-2007by Kristanto (2007), the Film Indonesia site (filmindonesia.or.id), and the Wikipedia page "Kategori: Film Indonesia."Katalog Film Indonesia 1926-2007 is considered a documentation of the primary references to the history of Indonesian cinema.Meanwhile, the data obtained from filmindonesia.or.id and the Indonesian film catalog in Wikipedia are to fulfill the data on Indonesian horror films shown on cinema screens.Until now, these three data sources can be considered the most complete corpus of the list of Indonesian films.The definition of a horror film on which this study is based came from Creed (2005) and Davis & Natale (2010), that a horror film is a film that seeks to cause fear, horror, or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
The total population studied in this study is 580 films.Among them are short films compiled and published under one big title.Those films are Takut: Faces of Fear (2008), which is divided into Show Unit, Titisan Naya, Peeper, The List, The Rescue, and Dara/Darah; Hi5teria (2012), which is divided into Pasar Setan, Wayang Koelit, Kotak Musik, Palasik dan Loket; and Dongeng Mistis (2018), which is divided into Pocong, Lehak, Bayi Bajang, Sundel Bolong, Begu Ganjang, and Genderuwo.Each short film is counted in the total population mentioned, while the notable titles of each film collection are ignored.
After obtaining the film's population, the two coders codify the antagonist type inductively to get the antagonist's main typology.The two coders discuss to get a decision in the codification process.The main categorization is based on the mention of the antagonist itself in each film.However, if there is no direct mention of the film itself, the criteria for antagonists are categorized based on the physiological and behavioral characteristics of each antagonist, such as a kuntilanak with a typical representation of a woman with long hair, dressed in all-white, vengeful with strong character, has empathy and emotions that are difficult to predict by other characters and tend to have particular cruelty, sundelbolong with a typical representation of women who have a certain grudge and have holes on the back of her body, tuyul with a bald head who likes to steal, etc.The antagonists codified to become corpus data are the main antagonists who appear the longest in duration from each film.Each film is assumed to have only one primary type of antagonist.
The qualitative analysis is carried out by collecting and analyzing relevant literature that can explain the dynamics of horror antagonist representation in Indonesian horror films.This study examines antagonist representations on a macro level with a broader perspective.It attempts to fill the gap where studies within the scope of Indonesian horror films are dominated by microanalysis, focusing solely on specific films which tend to overlook the larger context and genealogy of antagonist representations in Indonesian horror films.

Result and discussion
From 1970-2000, most Indonesian horror films were produced in the 1980s with 86 films, followed by the 1970s with 46 films, then in the 1990s with 32 films.The 1980s was the golden era of Indonesian cinema; the Indonesian horror film scene also experienced its most productive period.The decline in Indonesian film production, including horror films, in the 1990s to early 2000s was caused by the destruction of cinema infrastructure at the district and lower levels due to the supply of imported films, which mainly were screened or played in network 21 cinemas in the city -big cities, the high popularity of pirated VCDs (video cassette recorders) and DVD (digital versatile discs), the growing demands for cinema technology have made cinemas in suburban districts out of business, as well as the broader reach of private television broadcasts so that people prefer to watch broadcasts on television compared to the cinema (Kristanto, 2007).
The following graph, Figure 1.shows the increase in horror films by year.In general, post-reform, especially in 2005, despite the dynamics of ups and downs, there has been a significant increase in Indonesian horror film production.The highest peak of Indonesian horror film production was in 2018, with 46 films.In 2020, there was a significant decline in horror film production due to the impact of the Indonesian film industry and the rest of the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kuntilanak as the most dominant Indonesian horror film antagonist
As previously explained, Indonesia shares similar antagonist representations with Malaysia and Singapore and even shares horror narratives with films in Thailand.According to Ainslie (2016), there may be some "cultural proximity" between horror films from Malaysia and Thailand.A detailed examination of South East Asian horror movies reveals striking similarities in their supernatural representations.As a result, they start to make suggestions for a potential structure for a Southeast Asian model of horror, one that is heavily centered on structure and genre (Ainslie, 2016).However, the fact that the kuntilanak represents the antagonist that appears the most when compared to other forms and types of antagonists in Indonesian horror films from 1970 to 2020 shows that other discourses become stimulants that reproduce the fear of women and mothers.The case of 1965 became the momentum for the massacre of those accused of being affiliated with the Indonesian Communist Party, including the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani) group.The reproduction of myths about the disgusting, cruel, and sadistic behavior of these women accompanied it.Part of how monstrous feminine discourse is reproduced multidimensionally in various layers of discourse (Aprilia, 2020;Ndoen, 2022).The following is a table of types of antagonists in Indonesian horror films in the period of 1970-2020: As shown by Figure 2, in the 51 years, 1970-2020, the most frequent representation of antagonists was kuntilanak, with 111 films or 19.14% of the total 580 films.In the second place, the spirit with 87 films, or 15.00%.In third place are psychopaths, with 59 films, or 10.17%.In fourth place, Pocong with 42 films or 7.24%.In fifth and sixth place are children and supernatural beings, with 30 films each, or 5.17%.In seventh place is stealth, with 22 films, or 3.79%.In eighth place is Shaman, with 21 films, or 3.62%.In ninth place is the old woman with 13 films, or 2.24%.While in place of ten demons with ten films, or 1.72%, followed by other antagonist representations.Ndoen (2022) noted that the Army used very massive anti-Gerwani propaganda.As one of the largest Indonesia women's organizations in the 1950s, Gerwani's broad membership was also a product of its close affiliation with the Indonesian Communist Party-reflected in Gerwani"s concerns, particularly with helping poor women workers, as well as their alliances with various labor unions such as All-Indonesian Labor Unions Federation (Sentral Organisasi Buruh Seluruh Indonesia, SOBSI) and Indonesian Farmers" Front (Barisan Tani Indonesia, BTI).Nonetheless, Gerwani was an independent organization with a feminist and PKI-led wing.Gerwani claimed to have 3 million members in 165.After the First October Movement (Gestok) events in 1965 and the "attempted" coup, Gerwani's connection to the PKI ultimately contributed to their downfall.The allegations that Gerwani was responsible for the deaths of the six army generals during G30S justified the group's arrest and imprisonment of its members (Wieringa, 2002).Source: Adiprasetio, 2023 On 11 October 1965, 11 days after the events of the Gestok, Angkatan Bersenjata's newspaper (Indonesian Army) published an article about Gerwani with the headline "Kuntilanak in broad daylight ."TheArmy developed monstrous feminine references such as Gerwani being possessed by a ghost and an evil demon; sexually lewd; that they would use their beauty to discourage men from attacking and killing; immoral; have disobedience that is worse than animals; is beyond the limits of humanity, and has no religion (Wieringa, 2002(Wieringa, , 2003)).
Even though Gerwani was never directly involved in Gestok as an organization, even on the evening of September 30, there was confusion within Gerwani at the central level (Wieringa, 2002).Gerwani is seated in the myth of torture with the Army's leading propaganda actor.For public reporting and reporting on the deaths of seven officers, people rely heavily on two military newspapers, namely the Angkatan Bersenjata and Berita Yudha (Anderson, 1987).The "Lubang Buaya" myth is sensational and very effective dark propaganda detailing the alleged torture of seven army officers, symbolically positioned as harassment against the state and nation (Drakeley, 2007).The official sensational stories plotted by two newspapers depicting the PKI as a crime are as follows: Angkatan Bersenjata describes death as a "barbaric act in the form of torture carried out beyond the limits of human feelings."Barbaric acts in the form of torture are carried out beyond the limits of humanity (Angkatan Bersendjata, October 5, 1965).Furthermore, Berita Yudha wrote about the bodies "covered with signs of torture.Scars all over their bodies, the result of torture before being shot, still cover the bodies of our heroes."The scars all over the body from the torture before being shot still cover the bodies of our heroes.(Berita Yudha, October 5, 1965) Major General Suharto himself is quoted as saying that "It is clear to those of us who saw [the bodies] with our own eyes what the barbaric tortures were carried out by the barbarian adventurers who called themselves the '30 September Movement.'"It was clear to us who have seen with our own eyes the cruelty of the persecutions, the savage adventures of what started the "September 30th Movement."(Anderson, 1987) Gerwani is sensationally portrayed as playing a role in the myth of the torture of these officers (Taum, 2015).To encourage more convincing propaganda, Berita Yudha, on 4 October 1965, published the "honest confession" of Djamilah, a 15-year-old woman who was three months pregnant and nicknamed "Heroine of Crocodile Pit" (Srikadi Lubang Buaya): There were some 500 people collected there, 100 of whom were women.Small knives and razor blades were distributed.I only got a razor blade.From far we saw a short fat person entering; he was in his pajamas.His hands were tied with a red cloth and red cloth was also tied over his eyes.Our leader Dan Ton ordered to beat up this person, and then they started stabbing with those small knives at his genitals.The first one, as we noticed, to beat and stab the genitals of that person was the chair of Gerwani Tandjung Priok.Then other friends followed . . .after that we ourselves joined in torturing that person.All the hundred women did like wise and were witnesses.(Cited from Taum, 2015) After this confession, the terror against Gerwani increased excessively.The terror against Gerwani produced a sense of horror in society, resembling witch-hunting events in the Middle Ages.Gerwani is even thought to have certain bodily markings that prove they are magicians: Gerwani's stamp (Ndoen, 2022).
The negative sentiment and even hatred prior to the Gestok eruption against Gerwani were based on Gerwani's position, which was considered a threat to conservatives and the Army.In 1954, at its inception, it had only 80,000 members; two years later, the number of members more than doubled to 500,000.In 1960, it was around 700,000 and reached the threshold of one million members in 1961.By mid-1965, Gerwani had about 1.5 million members nationwide-making it the largest in Indonesia and one of the most significant women's movements.The world at that time (Wieringa, 1999).Gerwani's tight relationship with the PKI, as well as the PKI's success in the elections, indirectly benefited Gerwani.Gerwani was even able to place six of its members in the People's Consultative Council (DPR), namely: Suharti Suwarno, Salawati Daud, Suwardiningsih, Maemunah, Umi Sardjono, and Mrs Mugdigdo.Gerwani herself tends to dare to speak up, even act in political spaces, and challenge male domination (Wieringa, 2002).Heryanto (1999) elaborate that the authoritarianism of the Indonesian New Order could not survive without the discursive resonance of the shadow of the communist threat.Including how Gerwani was made a cruel "ghost" through various depictions such as in the diorama at the Lubang Buaya monument and the film Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (1984), which was shown every year for 13 years since it was first released in 1984.Nugroho Notosusanto, historian and Minister of Education and Culture for the period of 1983-1985, even curates personal, diorama depictions of the beginning of the coup attempt, the actual events and their aftermath, as well as portraits of the heroes and their bloodied displays of clothing and personal artifacts.Nugroho Notosusanto's writings were Arifin C. Noer's primary reference in writing the screenplay and directing Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (1984).
The film became a medium of propaganda and an effective instrument for the New Order regime to spread the narrative of its country.During the Suharto period, all aspects of the media, and especially film, were placed in the Ministry of Information, which was under the umbrella of the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs (Adiprasetio, 2016(Adiprasetio, , 2019;;Sen, 1994).Not only are all films thoroughly censored, but the narrative of the film is also interdiscursivewith the narrative that the state expects-the presence of Ustadz in horror films, as described elsewhere in this book, also shows how the state plays an important role in controlling the representation of crime and horror (Barker, 2011).Ndoen (2022), for example, explained the very popular film of 1981 and the object of analysis by many film scholars; Sundelbolong (1981) reflects how the ideology of the state with its various fears has become a kind of consolidation of various forms of "monstrous feminine" in which terror and stigma against Gerwani are a part.Sundelbolong is also considered to represent how State Ibuism (Ibuisme Negara) works, where the female ghost juxtaposes Gerwani's position against the harmonious order imagined by the power and will therefore be removed.State Ibuism is a theory developed by Suryakusuma (2011), where an ideology worked feudalistically and paternalistically in the New Order government in Indonesia.The state is considered to be able to control society as long as it can control women.Ndoen (2022), in the article, tend not to be reflected solidly from the existing data.As explained in the previous section, even though it is true that female antagonists were more prevalent in the period 1970 to 1999 (Kusumaryati, 2011;Larasati & Adiprasetio, 2022a).Nevertheless, quantitatively, the ratio of female antagonists to men is much higher after the reformation.Although it cannot be denied that the representation of female antagonists in Sundelbolong (1981) can be a kind of metaphor for how the New Order's power and ideology worked, the representation of antagonist types in general in the pre-reformation period was not dominated by ghosts such as sundelbolong and kuntilanak.

The shift of dominant antagonists in Indonesian horror films, transition from psychological horror to supernatural horror
From 1970-1984, there were 73 horror films shown on Indonesian cinema screens.In the first order, the antagonist that most often appeared in 1970-1984, as shown in Figure 3, was a psychopath in 27 films or 36.99%.In second and third place are spirit and kuntilanak, with each as the main antagonist in seven films, or 9.59%.In fourth place, Shaman with six films, or 8.22%.While in fifth place stealth with five films, or 6.85%, followed by other antagonists.
Meanwhile, in fifth place, Grandmother attached three films, or 3.30%, and was followed by other antagonist representations.In the period 1985-1998, compared to the previous period, there was an increase in the representation of antagonists with paranormal backgrounds.
In the 1970s, there was a dominant pattern of psychological horror films in the Indonesian film landscape, such as Dendam Berdarah (1970) by Lie Soen Bok, Pemburu Mayat (1972) by Kurnaen Suhadirman, and Napsu Gila (1973) by Ali Shahab.This trend continued into the 1980s when we encountered films like Tirai Malam (1983) by Ida Farida, Misteri Cinta (1988) by Willy Willianto, and Sepasang Mata Maut (1989) by Torro Margens.Subsequently, films in the psychological horror genre featuring psychopathic antagonists continued to exist throughout the following decades of Indonesian cinema.However, their rise was not proportionately compared to the increase in supernatural horror films.Between 1985 and 1998, ghostly spirits took the lead as the primary antagonists in Indonesian horror films, while the presence of psychopathic antagonists declined in the following periods.The rise in the representation of ghostly antagonists within the supernatural horror genre correlates with a spiritual turn in Indonesian society's cultural and social context.Several major events in Indonesia have also become part of the internal political turmoil that influenced the dynamics of antagonist representation in Indonesian horror films.However, of course, it would be extraordinarily reckless if these events were considered the only ones that affect the community's collective memory or mental structure regarding how they interpret antagonists or fears.Tiwahyupriadi and Ayuningtyas (2020) noted that most films in the New Order period were adaptations of folklore or modern forms of folklore, namely urban legends, which were later modified into narrative plots and various visual imaginations.There is a significant conclusion that we can draw in general: the New Order was not only an actor but also a canvas for how women experienced oppression in a physical context and touched the boundaries of representation in popular culture.The massive and sporadic oppression against women makes female antagonists dominant in Indonesian horror films (Kusumaryati, 2011;Larasati & Adiprasetio, 2022b).
The events of 1965 and how the state played a role in the suppression did not stand alone, considering that many events in the New Order period made the public think that women were raped, as experienced by Sum Kuning in 1970 and Marsinah in 1993.In both cases, it had a colossal effect nationally.The Sum Kuning case is a rape case against a woman named Sumaridjem that occurred in Yogyakarta on 21 September 1970.At that time, Sumaridjem, who was 17 years old, was kidnapped by a group of men using a car and then raped.Although the trial results have determined two people as the perpetrators until now, the Sum Kuning case is still a mystery because of the suspicion that the perpetrators are the children of prominent people in Yogyakarta.
Meanwhile, Marsinah was an activist and factory worker during the New Order era, kidnapped and later found murdered on 8 May 1993, after being missing for three days.Her body was found in the forest in the hamlet of Jegong, Wilangan village, with signs of severe torture.The Sum Kuning case was filmed under the title Perawan Desa (1978), and the Marsinah case was filmed under the same title as the labor activist, Marsinah (2001).What distinguishes Marsinah from other murder cases, such as Udin, a journalist for Harian Bernas who is very critical of the government, or systematic killings such as those carried out by the Mysterious Shooter (Petrus) in the 1983-1985 period, are murder cases involving women usually involving rape.
The increasing reproduction of kuntilanak and sundelbolong is a discursive effect of increasingly repressive situations against women and folklorism, a social and cultural phenomenon that presents and revives folk cultural forms in a series of versions ranging from scientific reconstructions to other cultural products, including films.According to Istenič (2011), folklorism evokes romantic, sentimental, and nostalgic feelings about it and a "new awareness that seeks to find new ways to communicate with the past" (Nuryanti, 1996).Reproduction of folklore in the form of films is a form of "indirect" folklorism, namely how the process of transmitting people's culture (including narratives) has been adapted to other means of communication, in contrast to direct folklorism (copying forms of folk culture that may be original).In the end, folklorism has characteristics such as "ideological manipulation of folklore," the product of "complex nationalistic inferiority," "created traditions," and in other forms (Hobsbawm & Ranger, 1983;Šmidchens, 1999).
Folklorism in Indonesian horror films does not work value-free; this can be seen from the dominant representation of female ghosts compared to male ghosts (Kusumaryati, 2016).Duile when explaining the origin of the name of the city of Pontianak and the myths that cover it explains kuntilanak thus embodies the fear and irrationality not only of the female but also of nature as it is contextualized in Indonesian modernity (Duile, 2020).Indonesian folklore with female ghosts is much more adapted into films when compared to male ghosts or carries a masculine tone.Of course, this does not mean any folklore or urban legends about male ghosts have never been adapted into Indonesian films, such as Headless Pastor in Hantu Jeruk Purut (2006) and An Old Man in Kakek Cangkul (2012).However, none of these antagonist representations can beat the iconography of kuntilanak and sundelbolong, reproduced dozens of times in Indonesian film horizons, and make Indonesian films' patriarchal features very thick.

Spiritual turn, transnationalism, and the tension between regionalism and globalization
In Post-reform, antagonist representations such as kuntilanak, sundelbolong, siluman, and even suster ngesot came to the surface of Indonesian horror films, along with the widening ratio of female main antagonists compared to male antagonists.Meanwhile, the horror that departs from the representation of psychopaths in the post-reform period has decreased in rank compared to before the reform.Rakhmani (2017) explains the correlation between the convergence of commercial media and the emergence of heightened religious enthusiasm within society, particularly in the post-reform era.This convergence has resulted in the integration of Islamic symbols inside media platforms.The portrayal of Islam has attained a prominent place on prime-time television, appealing to both loud and moralistic Muslim viewers as well as a diverse public audience, thereby evading rejection.The establishment of stable economic agreements among media firms has contributed to the rise of "mainstream Islam" in the Indonesian television industry, highlighting the interdiscursivity between the increasing impact of Islam and the process of commercialization (Rakhmani, 2014(Rakhmani, , 2017)).The supernatural film with Islamic story background is part of this mainstreaming process, particularly within the realm of horror with religious undertones, "spiritual turn."This phenomenon cannot be detached from the exponential rise of Islamic ideological influence from the Middle East, Islamic populism (Hadiz, 2016;Rakhmani, 2017).
The concept of the spiritual turn denotes a notable upsurge in supernatural horror and a corresponding decline in the prominence of other horror genres, such as monsters, slashers, and psychological horror.This trend is particularly evident when comparing contemporary Indonesian horror films to those produced throughout the 1970s and 1980s (Larasati & Adiprasetio, 2022a).The discourse around Indonesian horror films in the post-reform era is heavily influenced by a spiritual perspective, which explores the interconnectedness of the physical and spiritual realms.This perspective often seeks to portray the belief that the spiritual realm holds significant messages, reminders, and wisdom to impart (Cherry, 2009).The study by Adiprasetio &Larasati (2023), for example, shows how the increase in the representation of the pocong as an antagonist in Indonesian horror films is strongly influenced by the spiritual turn of Indonesian society.The term "pocong" denotes a spectral being that is commonly perceived as the ethereal manifestation of a departed person, believed to be trapped beneath their burial shroud (kain kafan) following Islamic funeral rites.
A prevalent topic of discussion within the realm of supernatural horror is around a modified interpretation of Freud's notion of the "return of the repressed."One prevalent portrayal is the deceased entity, who has been wrongfully killed, establishing communication with the living in order to unravel the enigma behind their demise.
From 1999-2020, there were 416 horror films shown on Indonesian cinema screens.Kuntilanak as shown in Figure 4, became the most dominant antagonist appearing in this period in 102 films, or 24.52% of all films.This significant increase shows that monstrosity feminine has become a prominent ideology in this period compared to the previous period.In the second place, the spirit with 55 horror films, or 13.22%.In third place, Pocong with 40 horror films, or 9.62%.In fourth place are supernatural beings, with 30 horror films, or 7.21%.Meanwhile, in fifth place, small children with 29 horror films, or 6.97%, were followed by other antagonists.
During the 1999-2020 period, there was a notable rise in the portrayal of female antagonists compared to the preceding era.Although films with monstrous feminine discourse existed before 1999, prior to the reformation, the prominence of female antagonist like the kuntilanak was not as dominant as in the period after.Study from Ndoen (2022) about Sundelbolong (1981) and Aprilia (2020) about Beranak dalam Kubur (1971) showed how women and women's reproductive functions became one of the fragments in the kaleidoscope of Indonesian horror films before the reform.As previously explained, this is greatly influenced by the ideology of State Ibuism and the stigmatization of women's political roles who have ridden the Gerwani crackdown.However, the significant increase in the representation of kuntilanak as the antagonists in Indonesian horror cinema after 1999, shows another emphasis, which may be part of the escalation of misogynism that is also reproduced by the state and the actors behind it.
Approaching the 1998 reform, there was extreme political tension in Indonesia's big cities.Sentiment towards Chinese ethnic, which was previously escalated, peaked.During the four days of the May 1998 riots, from May 13 to 15 May 1998, 150 complaints of rape cases were recorded (Lestari, 2018).During the 1998 Mass Rape case, the Joint Fact Finding Team recorded that 168 victims of sexual violence reported up to 3 July 1998 (Komnas Perempuan, 1999).Two rape victims at Jembatan Tiga and Jembatan Dua, Jakarta, decided to end their lives.Ita Martadinata, an 18-year-old Indonesian human rights activist, was murdered one week before giving testimony at the United Nations with her mother and the Buddhist community.Ita Nadia and Sandyawan, who first came to Ita Martadinata's house in the Sumur Batu area of Jakarta, said that he died from injuries to his neck and vagina.After the murder of Ita Martadinata, the companion volunteers were asked not to talk about the rape case for a while until the situation subsided.Two days after Ita Martadinata's murder, the office of Kalyanamitra, the CSO who oversees rape cases, was burglarized by people trying to steal hard disks.After the incident, Ita Nadia, Director of Kalyanamitra at the time, received a phone call from someone threatening to rape her and kidnap her child."If you do not stop talking about rape, I will rape you, and I will take your two children," Ita told BBC Indonesia, recounting the threat (Lestari, 2018).There is a clear suspicion that rape was carried out systematically.
The mass rape in 1998 formed a collective memory, not only for the ethnic Chinese but also for the Indonesian public as a whole.The scalability of rapes that occurred in big cities, as noted by the Joint Fact-Finding Team for the May 1998 Riots in Jakarta, Medan, and Surabaya, affected both West and East Indonesia (Komnas Perempuan, 1999).
It is not an exaggeration if this incident can be suspected of being one of the triggering factors why after the reformation of Indonesian horror films comparatively exploits women and especially women's sexuality.Even the kuntilanak, represented as haunting as a victim of "rape," is dominant in post-1998 Indonesian horror films.The layers of discourse formed from 1965 to 1998 became the foundation for the monstrous feminine discourse, then accumulated and exploded after the reformation.The foundation then clashed with the tension of globalization and regionalism, where a cultural exchange led to the adoption and adaptation of Indonesian antagonist representations.
In the tension between globalization and contemporary regionalism, Indonesia and all actors in Indonesian cinema take part.Things represented and can be read at the intra-, inter-, and extratextual levels.This is manifested throughout the Asian region and globally through, for example, Hollywood adaptations and touching on themes and topics of strong regional and international significance (Knee, 2009(Knee, , 2020)).The success of Japanese Horror (J-Horror), low-cost digital filmmaking, and the ability of horror films to cross cultures and borders across Asia have led to the emergence of leading titles from a number of Asian countries, with Rizal Mantovani's Indonesian film Jelangkung (2001) showing the game calling ghosts from the afterlife.Jelangkung  (Lee, 2016).
The transnationality of human and technological capital also causes the cultural exchanges illustrated by the current horror boom across Asia.However, the cinematic representation in pan-Asian horror differs from the pattern Hollywood sets in that Asian horror films start on a low budget and tend not to exploit special effects like high-budget Western films (Rawle, 2016).Many "ghosts" in post-New Asian Horror films are made with similarities and traits similar to Sadako, and these films contain gore representations with the excessive depiction of thick red blood.The same thing applies in Indonesia, even ghosts like suster ngesot, who only appeared in Indonesia after the 1998 reformation by adopting urban ghost stories circulating in the community, adopting the behavior of Japanese ghosts: having long straight hair, unreal eyes with a blank face, move by crawling or shifting (Lee, 2016).
In addition to the New Asian Horror discourse, the expansion of Hollywood films to Indonesia also influences the appearance of antagonists with special characterizations.Sasono (2011) explained how Hollywood had influenced Indonesian cinema so strongly in various aspects: political economy and storytelling.Hollywood, the center of world film production for decades, dominates Indonesian cinema screens with its films.This is due to the expansive nature of the Hollywood film industry, and American film distributor associations actively seek assistance from the US government to facilitate the distribution of their films, including in Indonesia (Sasono, 2011).
Throughout the historiography of Indonesian cinema, many Indonesian horror films have adoptedsome or all of the plot-from Hollywood.For horror films, for example, the legendary Chucky franchise (1988), which began in the 80s through the film Child's Play (1990) about dolls who became an icon of killer horror, was shamelessly adapted into the film The Doll (2016), The Doll 2 (2017), and The Doll 3 (2021); which was serialized three times, but also later made a film with a side story, namely Sabrina (2018).Previously, Jessica Angelica directed the marketing flop 4 Tahun Tinggal di Rumah Hantu (2014), with a similar narrative to the series The Conjuring (2013;2016;2021).Ultimately, we can see how Indonesia has become intersections for horror discourses at the regional and international levels.

Conclusion
This study illustrates how the representation of antagonists in Indonesian horror films is not static but undergoes dynamic shifts.Two strong tensions play a crucial role in influencing the evolution of antagonists' representation in Indonesian horror films: the internal turbulence arising from the socio-cultural and political discourses within Indonesia and the external dimension, where transnational and globalized elements come into play.Although these factors can be observed separately, they fundamentally operate in a continuous interplay.
Socio-cultural and political tensions and conflicts serve as the backdrop for the transformation of horror in the 1970s, which was dominated by psychologically-oriented horror featuring antagonists portrayed as psychopathic figures, to the post-1985 period and the reform era, where supernatural beings, such as kuntilanak, spirit and pocong became the dominant antagonistic representations.The rise of supernatural horror also receives contributions from the increased piety in Indonesian society, co-occurring with the growing symbolization of Islam in various public spaces and other popular cultural products.While a phenomenon specific to Indonesia, this piety surge cannot be detached from the exponential rise of Islamic ideological influence from the Middle East (Hadiz, 2016).
Significant events that result in trauma also underpin the formation of Indonesian society's realm of fear.The Indonesian horror archetypes, such as kuntilanak and sundelbolong, are rooted in the trauma stemming from violence, rape and the horror experienced by women during significant historical moments in Indonesia.These occurrences are further reinforced by propaganda that subtly positions women as entities functioning under the umbrella of state ideology.
External tensions, such as the influence of Hollywood and New Asian Horror, parallelly contribute to shaping Indonesian universe of fear, particularly in a world that is increasingly interconnected, with Indonesia becoming a target of the global film market.The findings in this study can be the basis for us to reevaluate how we experience fear and review the artificiality of our fears.Apart from that we can also discuss further, for example why the science-fiction horror genre, which is dominant in the West, does not emerge in Indonesia, where it could be that the religiosity factor of Indonesian society is the most significant variable behind this.

Figure
Figure 4. Representation of antagonists in Indonesian horror films in 1999-2020.