5 Horror Movies Like The Elixir Streaming On Netflix

When "The Raid: Redemption" delivered some of the most epic movie fights of the 21st century, it became a cult hit across the globe, helping to introduce American audiences to Indonesian cinema. Netflix subsequently helped to further expand the reach of movies from the country by having an increasingly growing library of Indonesian films on its service. In recent years, that library has come to include a number of horror films, some of which have become quite popular on the streaming service.

One such example is "The Elixir," which is currently enjoying a place on Netflix's 10 most watched movies and has been trending on social media. It follows a family that tries to make a breakthrough with their herbal medicine company by creating an innovative new product — a tonic which ends up turning people into zombies. "The Elixir" has found a big audience on Netflix in time for Halloween, holding its own among the various established horror classics that are also available on the service. 

It stands to reason that people are digging these fresh horror imports, and might appreciate some recommendations that are also available on Netflix. As a note, the titles used in this feature are the ones that the U.S. version of Netflix uses to list them, which in some cases are translated into English (like "The Elixir"), and in other cases retain the original Indonesia title. 

We're now so far removed from the golden era of slasher movies that some of those movies have now been rebooted multiple times. By all means, revisit the classics during spooky season. But after that, rather than falling into the trap of watching the umpteenth reboot/sequel/remake of "Halloween," "Nightmare on Elm Street," etc., why not check out a brand new slasher movie this year? We'll even do you one better by offering up "Sumala," a film from Indonesia that brings unique flavor to a very well-cooked genre.

In fairness, "Sumala" can be simply and conservatively described as a supernatural horror film. It's about a woman (Luna Maya) who makes a deal with a demonic shaman to be able to have children, which comes with a major caveat along with the children she wanted so badly. The downside in this case is that the mother is given what amounts to a good twin and an evil twin (both played by Makayla Rose Hilli) — and after the evil twin dies, she comes back to enact brutal revenge on anyone who mistreats her sister. It's at that point that the supernatural horror gives way to more traditional slasher trappings, and cements "Sumala" as a much watch for fans of both subgenres of horror.

Things seem pretty uneventful at Rodiatul Jannah, a boarding school for Islamic girls. That is, until the arrival of a mysterious new student named Yolanda (Aghniny Haque) who makes waves with her unusual appearance and mischievous behavior. Not long after, strange things start happening in the facility, making it clear there is some sort of mystic evil lurking within its walls. When the head of the school (Omar Daniel) orders the students to perform a ritual, the girls find that each one of them now has an evil doppelgänger spirit — and that's when all hell truly breaks loose.

"Qorin" director and co-writer Ginanti Rona was not only an assistant director on both "The Raid: Redemption" and "The Raid 2" under Gareth Evans, but she also helped Evans on his segment for the horror anthology film "V/H/S/2." It was there that she must've developed a taste for the genre, as most of her solo directorial work since has been in horror. "Qorin" is a great starting point for her filmmaking output — especially for fans of "The Elixir" — but it's worth noting that Rona's 2023 horror film "Susuk" is also worth checking out on Netflix.

There are a lot of great movie monsters based on real-life folklore, and Indonesian horror movies are finally starting to trek into that fertile territory as well. "Kuyang" is titled after the South Asian folktale creature of the same name, a woman that became immortal through the use of dark magic. With this gift comes tradeoff that she is transformed into a gluttonous creature that needs to feed off of blood to maintain her terrible existence.

"Kuyang" echoes some versions of the myth by having the titular creature haunt a village that has recently become the new home for a man (Dimas Aditya) and his pregnant wife (Alyssa Abidin). The wife and the couple's unborn child soon become the obsession of the kuyang, along with other evil spirits in the area. A big hit in its native Indonesia, what "Kuyang" lacks when it comes to maintaining a big budget level of polish in the makeup and special effects departments, it more than makes up for by bringing a scrappy spirit that hardcore horror fans — from any country — tend to love. "Kuyang" is ready to be a cult hit in the west. 

Originally called "Siksa Kubur," "Grave Torture" is a highly acclaimed psychological horror thriller that was nominated for an impressive 17 awards at the 2024 Indonesian Film Festival. While it only won a single award, it was the one that mattered: best picture. "Grave Torture" then went on to huge success at the box office in Indonesia, first having one of the best opening days in the country's history and then subsequently becoming one of Indonesia's all time biggest hits. The cast is also packed with famous Indonesian stars.

Needless to say, "Grave Torture" was a pretty big deal in its home country, and it deserves to be a big deal here, too. The title comes from a religious concept where the dead are still spiritually conscious while they are lying in their graves. They are tested to see whether they get to pass on to an afterlife of paradise, or are instead punished by eternal damnation. In other words, the dead are tortured in their grave.

In "Grave Torture," a woman named Sita (Faradina Mufti) lets her life become consumed with trying to disprove the technique, after a suicide bomber kills her parents in an effort to avoid this post-death ritual for himself. Her mission becomes more than she bargained for, when a series of tragic and terrifying events brings her face to face with her demons — literally. 

It needs to be pointed out that "Dendam Malam Kelam" has seen multiple releases in English-speaking regions as "Violence in the Dreary Night" — and is still called this on some websites, including IMDb — but U.S. Netflix uses the original Indonesian title. "Dendam Malam Kelam" is how we will refer to it. As for the plot, it begins as the story of a married man named Jefri (Arya Saloka) who murders his wife, Sofia (Marissa Anita), so that he and his mistress (Davina Karamoy) can be together (and live off of his dead wife's inheritance). 

It's pretty clear that foul play was involved in Sofia's death, so her body is sent to the morgue for further investigation. That's where "Dendam Malam Kelam" starts, dodging a life as true crime drama about an affair turned deadly and becoming a psychological horror thriller instead. The body of Sofia not only disappears, but then seems to have begun attacking the workers at the morgue. 

The movie pushes viewers through multiple questions: Did Sofia come back to life as an avenging angel? Was she never dead, and simply woke up to take revenge as herself? Or is something entirely different and potentially more supernatural going on? Those questions are answered in full over the course of "Dendam Malam Kelam," making it into an effective tale of betrayal, murder, and incredibly unsettling revenge.