Indonesian Horror Film ‘Siksa Neraka’ Has Been Banned in Malaysia & Brunei

By Danial Martinus • 09 Jan 2024 in Movies & TV

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(source: Antenna Entertainments / Twitter & CINEMA 21 / YouTube)

Indonesian horror film, Siksa Neraka (Torture of Hell), has been banned in Malaysia and Brunei.

The highly anticipated film was slated for a 25 January release in Malaysia and Brunei. But according to the film’s distributor, Antenna Entertainments, the film has been banned in these two countries.

Sorry, if you were waiting

The news was announced on their social media pages with a short caption that reads, “To those who were waiting – Siksa Neraka is banned in Malaysia & Brunei.”

To those who were waiting – Siksa Neraka is banned in Malaysia & Brunei 🙏 pic.twitter.com/4Mz49IXtGP

— AntennaEntertainments (@ANTENNAETS) January 8, 2024

Antenna Entertainments hasn’t publicly revealed the reason for the ban, but due to stringent censorship laws in Malaysia and Brunei, we can only assume it has something to do with physical depictions of Hell. JUICE has reached out to Antenna Entertainments for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

A still from the official trailer. (source: CINEMA 21 / YouTube)

According to CNN Indonesia, Siksa Neraka is a film adaptation of a series of comics with the same name. It was quite popular in Indonesia several decades ago. Antenna Entertainments has also made several references to the comic series on social media.

The story follows four siblings who grew up in a very religious household. They were taught to believe in the existence of Heaven and Hell, the latter being a place so torturous you’d never want to commit any sins. When tragedy strikes, some people find out what Hell is really like.

Directed by Anggy Umbara and written by Lele Laila and M.B. Rahimsyah, Siksa Neraka stars Safira Ratu Sofya, Kiesha Alvaro, and Ariyo Wahab.

Watch the official trailer below:

Unsurprisingly, however, this isn’t the first (and probably won’t be the last) film to be banned in Malaysia. Check out these other films that didn’t fulfil censorship criteria.