Review - Flat 3A

Flat 3A tells the story of Fiqah (Intan Ladyana), a factory worker who is pregnant. Anas (Adey Shafrien), the boyfriend, forces Fiqah to undergo abortion. After that, Fiqah is overwhelmed by guilt and remorse that she moved to another flat with her friend Ratna (Shasha).

Unknown to her, the house she's moving in was the base of a black magic shaman, Kang Suman (Zaidi Omar) and people there suspected Kang Suman was responsible for the disappearance of a little girl named Fatin.

Fiqah is then haunted by a little girl in the house, who she says looks like Fatin. But Ratna dismisses her claims because Fiqah is still traumatised.

Meanwhile, Fatin's mom (Kathy Azean) and uncle, Wahyu, who is an exorcist, carry on searching for her.

Yet another horror movie... this one's from Azhari Mohd Zain, who brought us Santau and Mantra. Flat 3A's slightly different from the other two, but still kinda the same... especially the whole shaman/bomoh theme... guess he really can't run away from those elements...

For me, this was an entertaining movie... not too scary, but it has its moments... unfortunately, the whole experience was marred by the storytelling... although I loved that the story had layers and it was told separately but was united at the end by one common thread... but there were things that did not work...

For example... Fiqah... where did she fit into all this... it was just too coincidental for her involvement in this... why was she haunted by Fatin? Why doesn't Fatin just haunt someone else into solving the mystery of her disappearance? Why did she show up at her mom's place that night and not the nights before? And why doesn't the people around the flat do something about her and Kang Suman's disappearance? Plus, dead body? Would've reeked right? The entire flat would've smelled like, well, rotting flesh...

Anyway, even after all that, I still liked this movie... mostly because how every character and storylines eventually link to one another... it's like an onion, multilayered and delicious... hehe...

Acting-wise... not too bad... I've never really liked Intan Ladyana coz she was not too good an actress plus her voice is a bit too shrill... but she was not bad in this movie... suited her... Ery Zukhairi and Adey Shafrien looked like they could be twins or brothers... faces are too similar... they did not do a bad job but kinda stiff in a couple of scenes...

All in all, enjoyable... not too bad...

Review - Karak

Karak. A tiny town in Pahang. Used to be the way for KL people to go to Kuantan. Not anymore, after the highway was built.

There were plenty of urban legends and ghostly stories associated with the back roads of Karak. So when I heard KRU Studios was going to do a movie about them, I was excited. Even more excited when I find out Shahir (of AF8 fame) was starring in it. Yes, yes, I am a closet Shahir fan. Shhh.... dun tell anyone... hihi...

So yesterday, I was suddenly informed that Karak the movie had a premiere showing in KLCC. Premiere means stars would be there so I jumped to the chance to go. Plus KLCC is really near my office.

My media invite/entrance pass...

So the movie begins with a family stranded at the side of the road. Car problems. So the husband went off to find help, leaving the wife and baby in the car. Yup, this is the creature eating the husband urban legend. Seriously creepy scene. But it turns out it was just Nik (Shahir) telling the story in a car with three others.

They were stuck in a jam on the highway because there was a huge accident up front. They needed to get back to Kuantan because of classes in the morning so they decided to use the back roads, which would require them passing through Karak town. They stopped for a breather and that's when trouble started. The paranormal kind.

Story-wise, the plot really was exciting and new. There had never been a movie about Malay urban legend before. At least not that I know of. Or I remember. The opening scene with the flying creature eating the husband was good and creepy and scary. Dare I say it, right up there with the murder of Drew Barrymore in Scream. Okay, okay, it's not that good. Maybe Jada Pinkett's murder in Scream 2. Haha. But yes, it was good.

So the scene really set the expectations in my mind about the movie. And when they stopped at Karak town, the mood from the opener was still strong and the scare/horror kept on coming. Although I do detest the usage of loud music just to scare people or make them jump, there were genuine scares and horror abound.

At least until after a third of the movie. Then, it was just ghostly barrages, one after another. So much so that the entities stopped being scary.

I do feel the movie was split into three. The first part - scary shit. The second part - confusion. The third part - wrapping up. But looking at it now (and remembering), it was not as bad as I thought. I do have issues with part 2 and 3 of the movie.

For example: why would you pull a Sofea Jane and go 'berkemban' in the middle of the night and in the middle of a jungle when you just came out of an accident caused by ghostly presence and you are staying in at a creepy man's house. You might get mauled by a creature or a tiger or even by the creepy old man. The sexual part is unnecessary I think.

The necklace? What's the significance of it? Is that the source of the demonic activity? But she was already harassed by it before she put that thing on. So which is it? Which entity was actually doing the haunting? The one that was already at the house or the one that's been following them since they stopped at Karak? Why follow her? Why follow their car? It was never really explained why things are happening to them, except for the fact that the entity wanted to corrupt the girl. Hmm, sometimes I wish scary movies would stop using religion as the go to object to solve the hauntings. It's cliche and if it really was that easy to get rid off the entities, then why not just straight away call for the bomoh or pak imam and deal with it in the first five minutes of the movie? Coz there won't be a movie... I know...

Also, during the opening credits... it would have been a lot nicer if they put in a montage or illustrations of the Karak urban legends... at least, we'd know em before we watch this movie... I am sure some people don't know of the legends...

Acting-wise, pretty good debut for most of them. Shahir and Shera Aiyob, was pretty natural and kinda convincing in their acting. The best friend guy, Md Eyzendy, is no beginner, having been in two other horror movies in recent memory, Seru and Khurafat. In Seru, his character was the same as the one in Karak. The disbeliever. Even though the evidence is right there in front of his face. Kilafairy, the girl who went Sofea Jane in the jungle, was the weakest of the four. Not sure whether it was due to her inexperience or because that's the way her character was written. So damned annoying. Guess that's the cliched dumb blonde characters in horror movies that are always first to die.

So, all things considered, is this a good movie? Like all of April's horror flicks, this movie fell short of its intended awesomeness. Which would make one think that people are just jumping on the horror bandwagon because horror movies are quite profitable... just checked Finas' website... I stand corrected... the previous years' horror movies were profitable... April's movies were all not profitable... Khurafat was the only horror to make it big... hmm, maybe that had something to do with it was the only Malay movie showing in that part of January... and now all the Malay movies have to fight against the summer blockbusters...

Anyway, Karak is pretty watchable. The first 1/3 of the movie is really good and would satisfy horror movie fans. The rest of the movie? Just leave logic and brain at the door and enjoy... I know I did... :)

P/S - Now that I really think about it... it made no sense that the three of them are dead but they still interact with one another and we get to see their interactions... whose POV was that? When Nik and Jack were talking... if only Shera Ayub's character survived, then shouldn't she be in all the scenes where the other three are talking?

PP/S - What exactly did Tok Malam see when the entity using his wife's face were grappling with Nik and Jack? Coz he could not see Nik and Jack in the flashback. So he would've just seen the entity right? Speaking of Tok Malam, why did he not yank the necklace off of the girl when he sees her wearing it?

Review - Senjakala

As I've posted before, this month, we got a barrage of horror movies coming our way. Senjakala was the second movie after Dilarang Masuk. Penunggu Istana will be showing this week and next week, Seru. I have seen Seru, and cannot wait to write something about it next week.

Anyway, I went to KLCC to watch Senjakala with Sifu (who taught me a lot of things to do at the movies that would definitely save some money, haha). This would be my first time watching a movie with a well-regarded blogger/reviewer that was not at a media preview. And he did tell me that he would walk out if the movie sucks... (read his review here)

But he did not walk out. Not sure whether it was because the film was good, or it was okay, or because we paid good money for the tickets. Yes, I got a couple of free tickets but we can only go watch it Saturday onwards. Anybody want those tickets, just email me k? :)

So, Senjakala. This would be how many horror movies Ahmad Idham's made now? I lost count. I remember Niyang Rapik (which was not too bad, quite interesting for me... and starred Liyana Jasmay), and last year's Damping Malam, which I did not get to see, but will soon... anyway, I think Ahmad Idham has his own stamp by now, and we can see plenty of his stamp on this movie....

The movie starts with Khalisa dreaming. About running through the forest and bumping into a huge wooden house where she saw herself being possessed. Wakes up. She's in a car with her fiance. Then her fiance ran over a haggardly woman, and he was ran over by a lorry. Then she wakes up. From that moment on, she feels this strong urge to return to her grandmother's house in the kampung, which she was told not to do so by her parents. Of course, she defied them and went anyway, with a girl friend in tow.

There, she found her creepy grandmother, and even creepier kampung folks, who seemed to want her gone. Also, there's this guy who keeps saving her life but refused to interact with her. And there was a bit of a slo-mo 80's style shot when they touched... I think it was supposed to mean that there was an attraction...

So after a while, Khalisa found out the truth of what's going on and that she has an inheritance from her ancestors that she needs to accept, which was why she felt the tug to go visit the grandmother...

Story-wise, it's not bad. And the way it was layered... it was a nice touch I think...

Unfortunately, when it comes down to the actual horror part of this horror movie, it was severely lacking. For a horror-fest April, so far the two movies shown were not exactly horror movies.

And the entities that do show up on screen, especially early on... not exactly relevant to the story. Ahmad Idham did this with Niyang Rapik. All kinds of ghoulies but none of them were actually relevant to the storylines.

I heard from my colleagues and from reading other reviews that the sound mixing was done at Finas and yes, the sound was nice. But... but... why oh why did they use a rattling snake as one of the sounds? It got annoying after a while. Do we even have rattlers in Malaysia?

The actors are not too bad in this movie, but I do think there was a bit of a problem with the dubbing. Some of the actors' mouth are not in sync with the dialogue spewed out. Who's at fault when this happens? Hmmm... Also, Aida Aris and Eizlan Yusof does not look like they could've been the parents of Liyana Jasmay. But then again, Liyana looks like a young girl, what with her being cute and petite.

And the resolving of the conflict? It's always the Ustaz right? I think Malay movies should step out of the religion comfort zone and try to think of imaginative ways to resolve the issues besides just relying on religion.

By the way, Senjakala had a nice touch with the whole Khalisa and Arman romance thingy. I mean, not at first. They had to resort to a musical montage to tell us that they are hanging out and the slo-mo scene to show that there was an attraction. But I saw what the scene was meant to be. It was meant to show that Khalisa felt the attraction of the inheritance or the saka, rather than of Arman. Look at her dead fiance for goodness sake! And then, at the end of the movie, she touched him again, before he left the room and she felt nothing. Or there was no slo-mo scene, so you know that it was the saka and not Arman. Nice one! :)

Review - Scream 4

I love Scream. It was innovative and creative and witty. Brought the slasher flick to a whole new level, instead of just the slashing of the victims.

Scream 4 starts with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returning to Woodsboro for her nationwide book tour and it coincides with the anniversary of the original Woodsboro murders.

Also, in town are the other Woodsboro survivors, Dewey (who is now a sheriff) and Gale, who is now married to Dewey and struggling to accept life in a small town setting, having been a high-flying reporter before. The murders started happening as soon as Sidney puts her foot in Woodsboro, and it seems to be targeting her cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts).

Who will survive? The tagline of the movie says ‘New Decade, New Rules’…

Joining Roberts and the three original Scream stars are Hayden Panitierre who plays Kirby, Jill’s best friend and Marley Shelton as Judy Hicks, a policewoman who is crushing on Dewey.

Also, one of the Culkins. I think it’s Rory. I am not sure. Another familiar face is Adam Brody and Anthony Anderson, who was a staple in spoofs, especially in the Scary Movie series.

Anyway, what made Scream different from the other horror movies, in my opinion, was its suspenseful and intense opening scene. I read that Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell would be in the opening. Both are good actresses and I love Kristen Bell to death so I was super excited.

However, Scream 4’s opening scene lacks a bit in the suspenseful department. It was certainly original though. However, compared to Drew Barrymore’s offing in the first Scream and Cotton Weary’s murder, and even Jada Pinkett Smith’s… Scream 4’s felt a bit detached. Bit of a letdown there. But the rest of the movie was not a letdown at all. It was served up in typical Scream style. Brutal. Intense. Suspenseful. Maybe a bit gorier than the earlier movies. But nothing to get excited about.

However, the Censorship Board here went overboard with the excitement. Oh, no, not really. Most of the scenes were left intact. Unfortunately, they went a bit scissor-happy sometimes and cut up some scenes while some F-Bombs and some very graphic murders were left untouched.

Please, people of the Board… the movie’s classified as 18, so us adults should be able to watch the movie as it were… sigh…

But it did not really detract from the movie though, thank God. Sidney Prescott had never been a ‘taking it lying down’ kinda girl before and in this movie, she did not even need weapons as she can kick the killer’s ass all on her own. Good for her to have learned self defense. But I do really think that she should just carry a gun and shoot the SOB. But then again, there would not be much of a movie now would it? Huhu...

Speaking of the killer(s) of Scream 4... No, I won’t spoil, obviously. The red herrings were on point. I could not figure out who it was until closer to the third act or so… I am not sure how I felt when the killers were revealed. I think I was a bit disappointed that they went that route but now that I think about it, I guess I can digest it. But I gotta tell ya, I am gonna have to watch it again to see how plausible it was for the person(s) to be the killer(s). Some parts need discussing a bit here and there.

Oh, and don't get me started on the audiences. As per usual, there would be a few rude members of the audience. The chatting with each other ones, the talking on the cell ones, the kicking your seat ones, the narrating ones... all kinds of annoying pricks... In this movie, I got an asking questions ones and also a screaming and chatting ones... the latter ones really bug me... if ya wanna talk, go outside lar... lepak at mamak or something... sigh...

Anyway, Scream 4… all bets are off… although if you have seen the teaser or the trailer then you would already know some of the ones who gets killed off already, so their stalking/murder scenes is less effective but no less suspenseful, which is a feat right there. And yes, Scream 4 does measure up to the other Screams well. Perhaps even better than the third one and that right there is no mean feat.

April Movies

This month, there will be a plethora of horror movies coming to our cinemas. Local horror movies. On the one hand, it makes me proud that a genre that I absolutely love is getting much, err, love... on the other hand, makes you wonder whether it's gonna be about quality or merely quantity...

Wonder why we're getting barraged with a slew of horror movies? I think it's because most horror movies are profitable... Most... 2Alam did not make as much as its producer touted and did not even breakeven... What? 2Alam was not a horror movie? I was completely horrified when watching it, so that doesn't count? Hehheh... anyway, my colleague just showed me a 2Alam clip which was different from the one I caught at the cinema... is there two versions out? One crappy, and one decent? Hmmm...

But I digress... if you would check out Finas' website, there is a listing of movies shown since the year 2000 and the box office receipts... check out the entries for horror... most of them are profitable... in fact, Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam was the top earner of 2003 with a haul of 3.2 million. Jangan Pandang Belakang got a haul of 5.778 million in 2007, making it the year's top earner.

I think, since and after 2007, there has been a lot more horror movies showing in the cinemas...

In 2010, Ngangkung beat every other movie's receipt for a total haul of 8.18 million. Just a side note, Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah raked in 7.9 million and Adnan Sempit 7.66 million in the same year. Looks like the local movie scene's getting revitalized... Shaheizy Sam's star is shining brightly, especially since his double win at Anugerah Bintang-Bintang Popular...

So, because of the box office gold, horror movies are the go-to movies if you wanna make a nice profit for your production house... right? Not that I am complaining coz I get to watch plenty of horror movies... just hope they actually make it good and not just making it for the sake of getting millions...

Anyway, the first movie out this month was Dilarang Masuk... starring Syikin Kamal (Legenda Budak Setan) and Isma Yusoof (Setem)...

My review - http://moviewritings.blogspot.com/2011/04/review-dilarang-masuk.html

http://www.sinemamalaysia.com.my/film/info/?id=Dilarang_Masuk_1036

This week, it's Senjakala starring Liyana Jasmay (Khurafat) and Zahiril Adzim (Kami the Movie)

http://www.sinemamalaysia.com.my/film/info/?id=Senjakala_1034

On the 21st, Penunggu Istana... starring unknown actors... ala The Blair Witch Project, which kinda worries me a bit... if the execution is good, then the movie will be good...

http://www.sinemamalaysia.com.my/film/info/?id=Penunggu_Istana_1041

On the 28th, Seru will be released... starring mostly newbies... and directed by Pierre Andre...

http://www.sinemamalaysia.com.my/film/info/?id=Seru_1043


There are plenty others coming along in the months to come... like...

Momok: Jangan Panggil Aku

Karak: Laluan Puaka

Misteri Dendam Balan

CCTV

Misteri Jalan Lama

Rasuk

Gentayangan

Syirik

Eee...Hantu!!!!!

Review - Dilarang Masuk

"Ayu Roslan berlakon dalam movie ni ker? Dia tak cakap pun..."

The same speech was uttered when watching Legenda Budak Setan. Syikin Kamal looks exactly like Ayu, my ex colleague. Well, except maybe Syikin's face is a bit more oval. Maybe they can be sisters. :)

So this is the first horror movie to hit us in April. Dilarang Masuk. The first time I saw the title, I thought it was a movie about crossing the border illegally into a country. Did not registered at all it was a horror movie. Then I asked my colleague and he said it was horror. Great!

I got the tickets to watch it on Sunday with a friend. It's always better with a friend. So that you won't get shocked and suffer a heart attack and die alone. Hahhaha...

Went to Midvalley to watch this one. The hall was huge and it was not really a full house but it was not bare either. It's understandable because this movie came up against Hollywood giants like Rio and Source Code. I have seen both on Thursday and then Saturday so I am patriotically doing my duty in support of the local cinema on Sunday.

Dilarang Masuk tells the story of four friends who went on a hiking trip but got lost somewhere in the woods. Suddenly, they stumble upon an abandoned house where they stumbled upon two dead bodies and a loaded gun. One of them, Fatia, kept on seeing things and experiencing visions of what had happened in the house. Things took a turn for the worse when they found a stash of money in the house. Their friendship is tested between doing the right thing or taking the money for themselves. All the while, someone or something appears to be stalking them.

First of all, Dilarang Masuk is not a horror movie. It's a suspenseful movie, with horror elements incorporated into the storylines but it ain't horror for sure. Don't get me wrong. Dilarang Masuk is a fine movie. Quite enjoyable. As a thriller or a drama. But just don't clump it in the horror category.

Seriously, going in thinking it's a horror will screw up your view of the movie and you kept waiting for the ghost to pop up in the frame but none will come.

I have a few issues with the script... the dialogue is nice and all but sometimes it felt a bit stilted, like it was not real. Like no one in the real world would be speaking like that. But only in a few instances, nothing too distracting.

However, I do think that some of the dialogues are unnecessary... like for example... they have discovered the dead bodies and the gun and Fatia had been spooked by things that go bump in the evening... and yet she told them that she felt something bad had happened in the house... I know she was referring to something else, but it's kinda like a 'DUH' moment coz, dead bodies? Automatically equals Bad in my book...

The acting was not too bad here... Syikin Kamal's improved tremendously from her stint in Legenda Budak Setan where she was a bit wooden, but then again, she was required to play Lisa Surihani playing a character... which was no easy feat... and also perhaps that was her first big gig as an actress...

Isma Yusoof, who plays Ronnie, her boyfriend... had this one look permanently etched on his face the whole movie... annoyance I think it was... only softening once in a while in an attempt to display some sort of emotion... but I guess his character was written that way... not to say he was awful, but he was better in Setem...

The other two supporting characters were well done as well... Muniff Isa had nothing much to do but lust/look after Fatia... although I do think Isma Hanum's Juli was given the most layer and personality... at first she was just a meek girl, who was just Fatia's best friend, then it turned out Juli was having an affair with Ronnie... but then she was feeling guilty and tried to apologize... and then towards the end, she did a complete 180 and turned into a remorseless/guiltless person...

Hmm, speaking of which, the role reversal here do seem a bit forced... Ronnie was the jerk and he ended up a nice guy and Juli from a meek mousy girl and turning into a dominatrix... not really, but you get the point...

Somewhere towards the end, there was a scene where it seemed like everything was a dream or a hallucination... but it ended up different... which got me scratching my head till now to understand... but it would not distract from the movie... definitely a good thriller, but not a horror...

http://www.sinemamalaysia.com.my/film/info/?id=Dilarang_Masuk_1036

Trailer - Seru

A Malay horror movie... from Pierre Andre and Ming Jin... Pierre Andre's pedigree in horror movie is unquestionable, with his Jangan Pandang Belakang, IMO, really kicking off the horror genre back to life... and Tayangan Unggul has produced quite a number of good movies...

So pretty interesting to see what they come up with... but from the trailer itself, it's kinda clear that the movie is a cross between The Blair Witch Project and... well, guess The Blair Witch Project only then... but it's kinda creepy, especially the noise that keeps popping up in the trailer...

The trailer dicilok from http://irafazir.blogspot.com/, hehehe... more info about the movie http://www.sinemamalaysia.com.my/film/info/?id=Seru_1043

Comes out 28 April... apparently, this Thursday is its premiere showing... jom gi tengok nak? :)

Interview - Scream 4

The newest addition to the Scream franchise speaks about the movie experience...

If you haven't already figured it out yet, I am a big fan of horror and Scream!!

Scream 4

Billboard for Scream 4?? 15th April?? *screams*

Hope it's not mutilated too much though... huhu

Review - Khurafat

The first Malay horror movie of 2011. The first one I watched anyway. Wait, it is the first Malay horror movie. In fact, it is the first Malay movie of 2011. Damping Malam and Janin both came out end December last year.

One of the reasons why I wanted to catch this movie, other than the fact that I am a horror movie buff... is Liyana Jasmay... something about her... I very much like... her and Lisa Surihani are the two actresses that I would go see in the cinema... Liyana Jasmay was in Histeria, a very good Malay horror movie... and of course I was kinda intrigued with Shamsul Yusuf after his directing win at the last FFM...

So the story goes like this... Johan (Shamsul Yusuf) and Aishah (Liyana Jasmay) came back to Johan's hometown to visit his sick mother. During which, one villager died due to his usage of the black arts, which Johan witnessed. The death itself. The night before they left for KL, both of them got haunted.

Meanwhile, back in KL, Johan's ex-girlfriend Anna, who can't get over Johan marrying someone else and is hell bent on getting Johan back, one way or another.

Once the newly-weds are in KL, the haunting started to escalate...

Pretty nifty story here. There are a couple of red herrings in the plot. Actually three. Which served to mislead us until the final revelation. I could not figure out, for the life of me, what the twist was. Actually, I knew there was a twist somewhere and that one of the misleading subplots is in fact misleading. So I guess this movie manages to keep the red herrings intact and distract me from figuring out the movie until after the revelation occurred.

So good job to Syamsul Yusuf for weaving an intricate and kinda complex storylines together. Using the makcik for expositionary purposes? Quite nice. I'd expected him to go to the Imam.

The dialogue was not bad. It's quite natural and real, like us normal folks talking, especially the scenes between Johan and his friend from the hospital.

Acting-wise, the movie's pretty solid. Liyana Jasmay, FFM Best Actress for Papadom, sleepwalks through the movie as her role is not exactly a challenge. Syamsul Yusuf was not bad, although at times, he may seem a bit wooden and stoic but that maybe how the character was written. His crying scenes were pretty good. Sabrina Ali, playing the crazy ex Anna, is also pretty good but I wish she (and indirectly Syamsul as the director) would make Anna out to be a little more subtle. Subtle crazy is far scarier than freaky crazy.

Other than that, it was an enjoyable horror movie. Oh wait, scratch that horror part. It was an enjoyable movie. The usage of loud music to shock us was minimal. There are several scenes where the ghost would show up but there was no music to set the mood. It was silence and then, bam! Girly Ghost in your face! Hahha...

Looking forward to the next horror movie from him... if he is doing another horror...

Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah Ngangkung

Two horror comedies almost back to back released? Coincidence? Hmmm... and now there are at least three horror movies coming out soon... horror phase now?

Anyway, one's from the director of Zombi Kampung Pisang and the other's from David Teo...

Kak Limah tells the story of the same people from the movie Zombi Kampung Pisang... but this time they're dealing with the death and subsequent haunting of said Kak Limah... while Ngangkung tells the story of three guys who uses the supernatural to get a winning lotto number, with some consequences of course...

I saw Ngangkung first... to be honest, it does nothing for me... nothing much anyways... it's a pretty decent movie, a little laughing here and there... Shaheizy Sam's charms were kinda muted in this one... seems like a vehicle for Azad Jazmin...

Hantu Kak Limah on the other hand... very entertaining... and there were plenty of scary situations but interspersed with comedic moments and there were many scenes that would make you burst out laughing...

Although I don't like the part where Mamat Khalid tricks us at the end... it's the same like Zombi Kampung Pisang... they had to die in order to turn into zombies so how could you just inject a serum and have them all miraculously get back to being alive? Sigh...

And this revelation... about Kak Limah... cheated us out of the whole movie experience... a lot of the scenes doesn't make sense anymore... It's not a good practice to do that... you made something out to be one thing and then at the end, you say it's actually something else, so many scenes have been rendered useless and irrelevant now... sigh...

In this case, Ngangkung won because it did not do a 180 and declare it was just a dream...

Review - My Soul To Take

Wes Craven is definitely the king of horror. Wait, maybe it's Stephen King... but anyway, I kinda did not know this was Wes Craven's work.

I first saw the trailer on Trailer Addict and was instantly captivated by it. So I was looking forward to catching it when it comes out. Yes, yes, I am a horror/slasher movie junkie. One of my favorite movies is Scream (which is incidentally Wes Craven's handiwork as well).

And just like Scream, this movie started out with an intense scene, very bloody and kinda scary.

My Soul To Keep, the phrase, is a part of a classic children's prayer... also because the movie is all about souls... :)

The movie tells of a person with many souls in them... like multiple personalities... and that once the person dies, the souls linger on... the night the Riverton Ripper was finally killed, seven babies were born... and in each of them, the parts of the souls of the murderer lies in wait...

But only one of them got the evil soul... every year, on their birthday, the Riverton Seven does a ritual in which they defeat the 'Ripper' so that the Ripper would not be able to come after them in real life...

This year, they were interrupted... and the Ripper appears and offed them one by one until he gets to the one he wants... his own son...

The plot sounds great to me... hehehe... and so was the execution... unfortunately, the killings were a bit sudden and abrupt... like there was no milking of the tension and suspense of a cat-and-mouse scene between the slasher and the victim...

For example, one girl's throat was slashed immediately upon encountering the evil guy... not even allowed a scream or running away...

But I think all these quickie murders are setting up for the final showdown, which was quite a long one... So guess it works... :)

Acting-wise, everybody was not too bad considering they're a bunch of unknowns... except for the mother, who was Susan (Ross' ex, Carol's life partner) on FRIENDS.

All in all, it was a nice outing for me... I enjoyed the movie very much... being the horror/slasher junkie that I am...

Have a good weekend guys! Tonite is Hantu Mak Limah Balik Rumah at Midvalley...

Trailer - Scream 4

Scream 4's trailer is up... can't wait for this movie... *drools*

Review - Devil

M Night Shyamalan has been getting a lot of flak lately, especially for that blunder that is The Last Airbender.



He first exploded onto the scene with the kick-ass The Sixth Sense, even though he had made a couple of movies before that. And he was always wearing at least two hats: Writer and Director. Sometimes Producer as well...



Unfortunately for him, his movies are not as good as The Sixth Sense but not that bad either. Unbreakable. Signs. The Village. But then again, the quality seemed to have been dropping since Unbreakable. Either he peaked too soon or The Sixth Sense was just a fluke.



We kept hoping his next movie would be half as good as The Sixth Sense but he had never been able to deliver. Lady in the Water clearly showed that he had lost his touch, although the movie had a pretty decent storyline. The Happening was just too weird and/or not really able to be made sense of...



Then he decided to tackle The Last Airbender. Hmm, maybe it'd work out well since the material has already been laid out in front of him. But noooo, he had to poo-poo all over that. Yup, I am an avid Avatar fan. He got a lot of it wrong and he took the life, soul and fun out of everything we hold dear about Team Avatar.



MNS really should stick to just writing and not direct. That way he could concentrate on making the script kick-ass instead of having his attention diverted into a million different ways.



But I am not a M Night Shyamalan hater. I am just disappointed. He had a lot of talent and potential to pull off The Sixth Sense. Of course, I also know that he is not the only one to be blamed for all those lacking movies coz there are other producers in charge and the studio execs... they could have easily forced him to make something better... or not... I guess we'd never know...



Anyway, with Devil... once I saw his name is on it... I was simultaneously excited and nervous. Rolling my eyes and clapping giddily.



MNS is back to The Sixth Sense territory. And he's only writing the script. So he won't be helming it lazily like he did The Last Airbender.



Watching the trailer, Devil does seem pretty interesting. And it totally was. As I have said many times before... what you don't see is genuinely scarier than something you can see on screen... it's like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity... scary shit right there... Devil also employs the same technique and it's all done within that one elevator car...



The tension and suspense... wow... the acting was also pretty good, featuring mostly unknown actors...



And the writing was excellent... I normally would have caught the red herring a mile away but this time, I did not see it until the pivotal moments before the unveiling of the red herring... MNS did such an amazing job tying everything together... kudos... hopefully, he'll stick to what he does best from now on... not directing, not acting... just writing scary movies...



Although I did find some storylines unnecessary but I guess it was a bit to throw us off the scent of the real killer behind it... excellent horror movie! :)

Lazy

I am not sure why but I am pretty lazy when it comes to reviewing actual movies these days.

Maybe coz I know I am not as good as the rest of the other blogger/reviewer... particularly this guy... so I figured I might as well not try... plus my work keeps me plenty busy so to have an original thought and idea and write it down, well... work's getting the brunt of that...

Unless of course there's a movie that I really feel strongly about... I have seen almost all of the movies released... almost being the key word here...

Anyway, last Sunday I saw Mantra. It did not do much for me. Not really scary and everybody's scowling like they have something up their butts...

In any event, I am gonna go see Salt tomorrow at Midvalley. Hopefully will be inspired to write something about the movie...

A Nightmare On Elm Street

Yesterday, a colleague and me went to see this movie...

Yup, the infamous Freddy Krueger in a modern retelling of the slasher flick, brought to us by Advertlets...

Held at GSC Midvalley (along with other media (Cinema Online, The Star etc) screenings)

We got there quite early. We left the office at about 7.15. We got to Midvalley at 7.30. Nice eh?

So we went straight to GSC to check out the thingy. There was already a long line but when investigated upon, it turned out to be the lines for Cinema Online. So I looked around and saw the Advertlets booth, closer to the concession stand. Unfortunately, it was empty. We're early. So we decided to go for dinner first.

Aren't these salmon scrumptious? *drools*

So close to 8 o'clock, I made a dash to GSC, leaving my colleague still scarfing down sushi... *envious*

Finally, there are people there... I had thought that maybe we missed the ticket redemption time... *phew*

There were only a few people in front of me but the waiting took almost forever. Come on people! Move it! The sushi ain't gonna wait for me! Sigh...

When I get closer to the front, I found out what the delay was... some people were negotiating to sit together with their other friends while some of them were negotiating about tickets? I did not really get the gist of that conversation coz I was fuming mad (and hungry). One more minute of waiting and I'd throw a hissy fit right there and then. Luckily, I did not have to wait another minute. I told the Advertlets guys my name and they said my blog name, even without looking at the list. Wow! That was a nice feeling. So I was not mad anymore. Hehhehe...

Then she (didn't catch her name) told me I'd won a t-shirt! Yay! But they said they'd give it to me in the screening hall... okay I guess... so the other guy (also did not get his name) asked me if I wanted A or B... woah, that's like the back of the hall... cool beans... I asked for A... of course...

Then I rushed back to Sushi King, where my colleague has eaten half of the Kaiten Belt... but I was too excited/nervous/giddy from finding out I won something and that people knows of me/my blog and that I got nice seats so I only ate a couple of plates more and we were gone...

Our seats in the back

Our vantage point... nice eh? Complete with Angels in the air, probably to protect us from Freddy...

Wow, this post is getting to be long... maybe I should keep the review short...

Freddy Krueger was a childhood nightmare, so to speak... this new Freddy isn't as scary or creepy as the original Freddy but the new Freddy has a malevolent aura that the old Freddy doesn't... this one made Robert Englund's Freddy looked a bit campy... huhuhu...

Not much to say about the storylines... ya know, kids sleep, meet Freddy, scream lungs out, slashing, dead... the usual...

But I gotta say the movie is creepy and quite suspenseful... not really scary as we've seen the movie/villain before but nice nonetheless...

Now, I don't exactly remember the original movie since it was years ago since I last saw it and I'd imagine there were a few tweaks here and there that are a bit different... I think...

And of course, the movie had to end on a cliffhanger... which we knew was coming but overall, I'd say good effort indeed :)

Thanks Advertlets! I am glad I participated in the contest...

P/S - I never got that prize... dunno what happened... maybe we came in too late to the screening hall and missed the prize giving ceremony... :(

Niyang Rapik

Yet another horror/ghost story blasting into the cinemas. But with this one, I was a bit excited to see it because I saw the trailer and it was interesting. First of, most horror movies have female leads, except maybe Jangan Pandang Belakang... Intan Ladyana was more a supporting character for Pierre Andre's lead.

Niyang Rapik showcases four male co-leads and Liyana Jasmay (and Fizz Fairuz) is more of a supporting characters. Something different... :)

So... when my colleague mentioned the preview, I was excited to go. It was held the same day as Lu Pikirlah Sendiri... two birds, one stone...

For the synopsis, go to http://thewanonly.blogspot.com/...

THE GOOD:

1) It satisfies the horror fan within me. Okay, so it's not really a horror movie... it's a movie with a supernatural theme... actually more like a vengeance movie but has enough thrill/suspenseful moments to warrant 'horror'

2) Some of the acting is quite good... Zed Zaidi, Kamal Adli and Awal Ashaari handled their roles quite well while it was just a walk in the park for Liyana Jasmay...

3) The music helped created the horror ambience... nice touch...

4) Little usage of the loud noise effects to signal the ghost's arrival... we can see the damn thing show up on screen already, do we need to be shocked by the effects? Getting shocked by the ghost itself is enough...

5) The storylines pretty good and the narrative... the flashbacks... the slow peeling of the mystery...

THE BAD:

1) First of... what were they thinking when they made the poster? Totally giving away the red herring and the surprise twist... sigh...

2) The dubbing... some of the voiceover work doesn't really tally with what's going on onscreen... crying sound comes on but the character's not really crying... screaming voice comes on but character's just talking... a lot of those going on... kinda annoying after a while... btw, who's in charge of the dubbing and the laying of the tracks on to the movie? Coz I dun really know whose fault this is? The producer? The director? Sound guy?

3) Some of the acting and/or voice acting really weird and overly done...

4) The ending...

Not that I am saying Niyang Rapik is unflawed, because it is... but looking at it overall, it was a decent effort... I came out from the hall feeling satisfied, rather than discontented... although some of the things that happened to them is rather bizarre and some was not really thought through to the end... in any event, I'd pay money to go see this... :)

Review: Santau

Santau follows in the footsteps of Jangan Tegur, Skrip 7077, Rasukan Ablasa, Momok the Movie dan Sifu & Tongga as the latest entry in the Malay horror film genre. Okay, Sifu & Tongga is not a horror movie but it was pretty horrifying. Hahaha.

But I digress...

Santau is about a well-to-do family who is unlucky enough to catch the ire and jealousy of someone who would resort to the black arts to ensure that the lucky family will be torn apart by tragedy and such.

Right at the beginning, the antagonists were set up for us to figure out. So we don't really know which one is the culprit... actually, I knew... straight away from that scene...

I don't know, maybe it's the writer in me or maybe the trailer has spoiled it for me... but I figured out the red herring early on... also, sometimes the casting can also reveal the storylines...

The entities in this film are not too scary. One of them... we can totally see through the makeup and recognize her as legendary actress, Mariani... the other one is a bit heavily made up so guess that one passes for an entity...

Which would bring me to the scare factor... the ambience of the movie was effective and the location chosen played a role in upping the scary levels... but as I said, one ghost was not scary enough... but this movie brings more of the yuck factor with the maggots and stuff in the food... *blerg*

Story-wise, it's not really new territory as Jangan Tegur has explored the realm of 'santau' also... and there were some bits in the movie that did not exactly gel... or needed...

Acting-wise... some parts were kinda horrible... like in the beginning of the movie, some of the dubbing was quite bad and some of the acting is kinda wooden... but towards the middle and the end, it got better...

So, how did Santau fare against the other horror movies? It's decent enough... but nothing to shout about or recommend to friends... just passable entertainment...

On a side note... why does most Malay horror films out this year (and last year) basically have the same formula? Take one family, put them a situation where an entity would haunt them, and then have them go to a bomoh/imam and the entity will be exorcised and they'd live happily ever after...

Histeria did not follow this formula... and it was still a decent horror movie... good even... I really enjoyed that one... hmm, Skrip 7077 is also one that did not follow the norm... but that movie was not exactly that scary... guess Rasukan Ablasa doesn't look like a copy of Jangan Pandang Belakang as well... Rasukan Ablasa is genuinely scary because it was really bad... all the screaming, good God, make it stop... hmm, Skrip 7077 and Rasukan Ablasa came from the same moviemaker yes?

Please someone make an 'out of the box' horror movie for next year...


P/S - Niyang Rapek looks set to be kinda awesome and scary...