Allegheny College’s Music Department is set to play a horror flick unlike anything you’ve seen — or heard — this Halloween.
The 2017 silent film “Setan Jawa” by Garin Nugroho will be shown in the Vukovich Center for Communication Arts’ Gladys Mullenix Black Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 31, with a live score — created specifically for the film — performed by Javanese Vocalist Peni Candra Rini, Percussionist Andy McGraw and Allegheny’s own ethnomusicologist and Assistant Professor of Music Hannah Standiford.
Standiford began teaching in 2024 and simultaneously launched a musical program for the Gamelan — a traditional Indonesian pitched percussion ensemble — on campus. She’s hosted a guest artist from Indonesia every semester.
“I’ve spent three years in Indonesia — not consecutively — so I have a lot of these relationships, but it also still feels important to me because I think a lot of Americans still don’t know where Indonesia is,” Standiford said.
“Setan Jawa” is a contemporary horror silent film that draws on the mythology of Java — both an island of Indonesia and its largest ethnic group. Standiford said Indonesia is the largest Muslim-majority country in the world, and the film explores the culture’s spirituality through the horror trope of making deals with devils.
“Setan Jawa,” she added, is like the Javanese version of “Nosferatu” by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau; the vampire film inspired Nugroho’s work.
While Rini’s score is a fully fleshed out musical piece, it’s almost never performed the same way twice. The score always features Rini’s vocals paired with traditional and electronic instruments, but collaborators — like Standiford — are often invited to improvise and add their own flair.
Standiford said the score exists “between two worlds.”
“Peni is a traditional Javanese musician, but her inclination for this piece is to draw on experimental, avant-garde sound,” Standiford said. “I think that attendees who are looking for something out of the box to do on Halloween will appreciate the eerie atmosphere of this film and how deeply rooted it is in Javanese traditions.”
“Setan Jawa” will be shown Saturday, Oct. 31, at 3:30 p.m. Both the performance and the ensuing reception — with Indonesian snacks and treats — are free and open to the public.