If you follow Asian horror, you will have no doubt heard of Joko Anwar, who has become one of the most exciting names in modern Asian horror featuring his very distinct style – folklore, religion, family trauma, and an old-school horror feeling with a much bigger cinematic approach.
He has 5 major horror films as a director — Satan’s Slaves, Impetigore, Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion, and Grave Torture, Ghost in the Cell (Which I have not seen yet, hence why I haven’t included it in my ranking) — but for the ones I have watched, here’s my ranking so far, and I will update it once I have watched Ghost in the Cell.
4. Grave Torture (2024)
Grave Torture is probably the most ambitious of Joko Anwar’s horror films, as it takes a much heavier approach, focusing more on ideas around faith, guilt, punishment, and what people believe happens after death, and the film is much more serious in tone compared with the Satan’s Slaves movies, so it feels like Anwar was aiming for something more philosophical.
The atmosphere is excellent though, and Anwar has always been great at creating a feeling of dread, and there are several moments here where the tension comes from what you imagine rather than what you actually see, but the downside is that it doesn’t alwaysland with the same impact as his earlier horror films – the ideas are interesting, but the pacing is slower and the emotional connection isn’t quite as strong.
Still, even a slightly weaker Joko Anwar horror film is more interesting than a lot of modern horror releases, and there are plenty of memorable images, uncomfortable moments, with a real sense that he’s trying something different.
A fascinating film, but probably the one I would place lowest out of his major horror movie releases.
3. Impetigore (2019)
For many horror fans, Impetigore is the Joko Anwar film that introduced them to Indonesian horror, and it’s a fantastic example of modern folk horror, taking ideas around curses, villages, tradition, and family history and turning them into something much darker, where the village setting gives the film a completely different feeling from his other movies – the isolation, the old customs, and the sense that the characters are stepping into something much older than themselves brings the dread.
The production is also a huge step up, as the cinematography is beautiful, but there’s always something uncomfortable underneath that beauty, and the film can look stunning one moment and deeply disturbing the next, but what I really liked about Impetigore is that it feels like a modern version of an old legend, where it has that feeling of a story that has been passed down for generations, with every character carrying some connection to the past.
The only thing stopping it ranking higher is that the final act loses a little of the mystery and atmosphere that made the first two-thirds so effective, but it still remains one of the best Indonesian horror films of the last decade.
2. Satan’s Slaves (2017)
This is the film that really put Joko Anwar on the international horror map – a remake of the 1980 Indonesian horror classic, Satan’s Slaves takes a familiar haunted family story and turns it into something much bigger and more cinematic, with a blindingly wicked atmosphere to boot – the old house, the religious imagery, the sound design, and the slow build all work together incredibly well, and it’s a film that perfectly understands that horror is often more effective when you’re waiting for something to happen.
The film also has some genuinely creepy sequences, especially involving the mother, and while it is quite a patient film because it doesn’t rush from scare to scare., it still does a brilliant job at making you feel uncomfortable and capturing something very specific about Indonesian horror — the connection between family, religion, and supernatural beliefs.
There are moments where the story becomes a little more conventional, but the atmosphere carries it through, and it ends up being a brilliant modern ghost story and one of the best Asian horror remakes.
1. Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion (2022)
For me, Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion is Joko Anwar operating at his highest level, and we all know sequels often struggle because they try to recreate the original without bringing anything new, but this goes in a different direction, expanding the world and moving the horror into a completely different environment – the apartment setting is fantastic too, creating a feeling of being trapped.
Anwar also improves the scale, as while the first film is more intimate and focused on one family, the sequel feels much larger, with more characters and a bigger sense of danger, with some incredible filmmaking thrown in as well – the camera movements, lighting, sound design, and set pieces feel much more ambitious, and the elevator sequence alone is one of the most memorable horror scenes from recent years.
Some people prefer the simplicity of the first movie, but I think Communion is where Anwar really shows what he can do with a bigger canvas, and I cannot wait for Satan’s Slaves 3.
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