Kimo Stamboel brings the 2024 supernatural horror film Dancing Village: The Curse Begins AKA Badarawuhi di Desa Penari to living breathing life. In essence, the film is about dancing and snakes. A village is terrorised by a snake queen, who rules somewhat malevolently. Her fangs get pulled, however, by the stealing of one of her talisman snake armlet.
*Dancing Village: The Curse Begins is a prequel to KKN di Desa Penari. SimpleMan, unlike Sewu Dino which was taken from his internet thread, co-writes this story with Lele Laila.*
The Dancing Village Story
The evil entity Badarawuhi tricks several people into returning her armband to the village where she rules. Mila and Ritah must combine forces to fight against Badarawuhi’s magic and lies. Both girls want to save their mothers from a fate worse than death.
The Cast
Aulia Sarah is Badarawuhi.
Jourdy Pranata is Yuda.
Ardit Erwandha is Arya.
M. Iqbal Sulaiman is Jito.
Claresta Taufan Kusumarina is Ratih.
Diding Boneng Mbah Buyut.
Let’s Talk Dancing Village: The Curse Begins
This film has a runtime of 122 minutes, just over two hours. It has a languid, almost dreamlike pace which works to the film’s advantage. Although the events later turn into a nightmarish spectacle, it does so very slowly. There are several times that the story does indeed feel like a waking nightmare for those who enter the village.
*The “sequel” to this prequel, KKN di Desa Penari Luwih Dowo, Luwih Medeni (Available to stream via Prime.) runs just under three hours. I have not seen this one as yet. However, I do believe an intermission may well be in order.*
Mila opts to return this snake amlet to the village at the prompting of a local Shaman. We later learn that he too was being prompted by the owner of the jewelry piece. This is the first trick of many played on the young woman, Mila. Her two male friends accompany her and when they reach the farthest tip of Java, another male, their guide and friend, joins the small group.
This All Works
Stamboel stays away from gratuitous gore in the film. *Quite unlike his recent 2025 zombie flick; The Elixir.* He is clearly adept at presenting horror in a subdued, yet effective, fashion. As evidenced in Sewu Dino, he knows how to frighten the audience where it counts. Small moments that all add up to scare the viewer.
The dead baby or small spider monkey. The snakes in the bathing pool. The male dancers who surround the girls and Badarawuhi with their assorted mutilations. Both Mila’s and Ratih’s mothers have mottled skin and bulging bloodshot eyes. So bloodshot that they appear to be bleeding. Small, almost subtle things that all go toward evidence of supernatural interference.
The FX used convinces. They appear to be mostly, if not all, practical. This helps the film no end. Although the eyes of the two young women, while they are dancing in the other realm, turn white with no pupils. These could very well be VFX or CGI but regardless they work.
The Verdict
Dancing Village: The Curse Begins is a solid 3.75 stars. Many will not care to watch it as the film has subtitles and offers no “dubbed” versions. However, the subtitles are not intrusive or very long. It really is worth the effort to watch this in its original language. The film is streaming on AMC + right now. Go put your glasses on and catch this one, it is delightfully lowkey in the best of ways.
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