The Menstruating Ghost of Puncak

JAKARTA – A NEW Indonesian horror movie about a menstruating ghost ran foul of the country’s highest Islamic body on Thursday.

‘Hantu Puncak Datang Bulan’ (The Menstruating Ghost of Puncak) made its debut in Jakarta on Thursday and was quickly condemned by senior clerics in the mainly Muslim country.

‘I watched that horror movie… it contains sex scenes, violence and decapitation. I call on the film censorship board not to approve its screening,’ Indonesian Ulema Council official Amirsyah Tambunan told AFP. ‘Muslims have the right to watch the film but I suggest they don’t because it contains scenes that are against Islamic principles,’ he added.

But Tambunan said the council, which is the highest Islamic body in the land, had no plans to pass a fatwa or religious edict forbidding Muslims from watching the film. ‘Hantu Puncak Datang Bulan’ contains graphic gore scenes and erotica involving scantily clad actress Andi Soraya.

Muslim leaders in September condemned plans for 23-year-old Japanese porn star Maria Ozawa, popularly known as Miyabi, to visit the country to play herself in a comedy movie called ‘Menculik Miyabi’ (Kidnapping Miyabi). The actress consequently ‘postponed’ her trip.

In December, Australian movie ‘Balibo’ was banned because it depicts the alleged murder of five Australian-based journalists by invading Indonesian forces in East Timor in 1975. Indonesia claims the men died in crossfire. — AFP