Macabre (Rumah Dara)

(2009) *****

While on a road trip a group of close friends stop to help a distressed woman, Maya, who is weeping on the side of a road.  She informs them that she lives nearby and they agree to drop her off at her family’s homestead.  Arriving at Maya’s house the friends are invited inside where they are introduced to her bizarre family including her quiet brother, Armand, her intense brother, Adam, and her eerily young mother, Dara, who insists that they stay for dinner as gratitude for helping Maya.  Despite some glaring red flags including a room full of hunting weapons and numerous stuffed animal heads on the wall the group accepts the invitation with little hesitation.  Dinner becomes a perilous affair as the friends are given a strange tasting meat and some bitter wine which quickly knocks them out.  Things go bat-shit crazy when they awaken and quickly realize that they are slated to be the next meal.

Wow!  Directors Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto, who directed the standout sequence, “Safe Haven” from V/H/S/2 are behind this frenetic gore-fest.  Sure it completely rips off The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but you won’t care once the true horror of the situation is unveiled.  Never dull for one second Macabre moves at a breakneck speed as attempts to escape from the house of horrors are met with ghastly results.  The situation becomes even crazier when four police officers show up to investigate the disappearance of the friends and become unwittingly drawn into the cannibal insanity.  Not for the feint of heart but fantastic for everyone else, Macabre delivers the goods.  Dara is sure to become an iconic horror villain.  Her quiet demeanor barely contains a simmering rage that is terrifying once unleashed.  Check out this trailer and you will be convinced that this is a must-see event for all horror aficionados.