Visual Analysis of the Monstrous Feminine Characteristics of Sundel Bolong Through the Mise-en-Scene in Suzanna: Malam Jumat Kliwon (2023)

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-603-1_2How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Mise-en-Scene; Monstrous Feminine; Sundel Bolong; Suzzanna: Malam Jumat Kliwon (2023)

Abstract

Indonesian horror films often depict females as objects of terror to instill fear in the audience because their local culture contains many myths about female ghosts. One of the most impactful female ghost figures who has a terrifying physical appearance and has had a big influence on the history of Indonesian horror films is Sundel Bolong. The film Suzzanna: Malam Jumat Kliwon (2023) is the latest Indonesian horror film featuring Sundel Bolong as a main character. Sundel Bolong as a frightening female ghost is presented strongly in the film, especially through the visuals that are displayed in it. In terms of creating visualizations of terrible things and creatures, the mise-en-scene is a very prominent aspect of a horror film. This research uses Barbara Creed’s monstrous feminine theory which discusses the characteristics of various types of female monster characters in horror films as well as Bordwell, Thompson and Smith’s mise-en-scene theory. In constructing this research, a qualitative method with a visual analysis methodology approach was implemented. The conclusion of this research refers to the analysis results of the mise-en-scene of Suzzanna: Malam Jumat Kliwon, especially the costumes and make-up, settings, and props that support the visualization of Sundel Bolong in the film as a monstrous feminine character.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Andiena Feodora Putri
AU  - Rista Ihwanny
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - Visual Analysis of the Monstrous Feminine Characteristics of Sundel Bolong Through the Mise-en-Scene in Suzanna: Malam Jumat Kliwon (2023)
BT  - Proceedings of the International Moving Image Cultures Conference (IMOVICCON 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 7
EP  - 20
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-603-1_2
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-603-1_2
ID  - Putri2026
ER  -