Dukun

One of the few horror flicks that have come out of Malaysia I can say I actually enjoyed. Though the movie feels a little choppy and disjointed at first, everything eventually fleshens out to an eerie, unforgettable finale. The film has a distinct David Lynch feel throughout, especially in the scenes involving Diana Dahlan's nightclub which just screams of Twin Peaks and the Black Lodge. It also has the awkward, unintentionally comedic dialogue that has become central to Lynch's style. However, I feel like the director has cut the movie way too short. Many of the characters and elements of the story have been left undeveloped and leaves the viewers with more questions than answers. I know many movies purposely do this to inspire discussion and dread within the audience, but somehow it did not work for me in this particular movie.

Overall, a firm 8/10 with strong leads from Umie Aida, Faizal Hussein, Ramli Hassan and Elyana.

When I heard about the movie which is based from the true story that involves witchcraft, I was so excited and perhaps putting too much expectation. Old movie quality aside, there's too many gap to be filled. The main focus the movie is trying to show is how the continuation will be (if they're planning for Dukun 2). Some of the characters are just redundant, perhaps just to lengthen the screen time. It's more "gross" instead of "scary", which is very disappointing..

After a long wait, 12 years to be exact, Dain Said's first feature movie "Dukun" is finally showing in Malaysian cinemas. "Dukun" centers on Karim (Faizal Hussein), a lawyer who is in a desperate search for his lost daughter who went missing after an argument. While searching, he is assigned to defend an alleged murderer, the seductive yet sinister Diana Dahlan (Umie Aida), in court. As the two meet to discuss about Diana's trial, she reveals that she practices black magic and offers a deal to help search for Karim's daughter using illegal mystical methods.

Umie Aida, who plays the titular role of "Dukun", which means shaman, stole the show completely with her outstanding performance. She perfectly balances Diana's bipolar characteristics, switching from being seductive to lure her victims, to showing her evil possessed-like manner when she holds her ritual. Every scene involving Umie Aida is fun to watch because of her character's unexpected personality.

Not forgetting Faizal Hussein who also did a great job in portraying two different personas, one as a desperate father seeking for help to find his daughter, the other as a confident lawyer who shows no mercy when in the middle of a court battle. It is easy to sympathise with his character, knowing that his confident pose is just a façade hiding his despair.

Knowing that "Dukun" is essentially a 2006 movie, one must praise Dain Said's efforts in creating something different for the local movie industry, by making a movie with such a challenging concept that not only has an excellent social commentary but also separates itself from the typical Malaysian genre, which is primarily comedy and horror. He also purposely tells "Dukun" in a non-linear way, keeping the audiences on their toes so that they do not miss out on any important details. The director successfully captured the underground world of black magic and portrayed it in a form that is easy to understand and accessible to the audience.

Overall, "Dukun" is worth -to-not-worth the 12-year wait solely for Umie Aida's fantastic performance. Even if some dialogues seem outdated at times, you can't really blame the movie because it was made more than a decade ago. But with all the troubles "Dukun" faced, this is one movie that is sure to become the talk of Malaysians for years to come, whether it is about the movie itself or the making of it.

Awaiting trial for murder, a woman accused of ritualistic acts is defended by a skeptical lawyer who tries to help showcase her powers in order to help him find his long-lost daughter, but as the trial continues and her true intentions become known he questions his judgment in taking the case.

Taken solely as a straightforward film, this has some rather enjoyable elements. One of the more worthwhile elements to this one is when the film focuses on horror which happens enough to be quite chilling at times. Starting off with the discovery of the dismembered body found in the ritualistic condition and manners offers a strong entry point that is greatly enhanced by the rather chilling sequences in the prison. Forcing the inmates in the cell with her to act in mannerisms strongly suggesting possession, from contortion and speaking in tongues to licking the cell-wall and attacking those sent in to calm them down, all of which makes for a great setup into the later half where the film provides plenty of dark rituals shown in great detail. Featuring animal sacrifice, blood rituals and dismemberment alongside tribal dancing customs and various other practices, these scenes carry quite a fine sense of darkness playing off the ritualistic actions being presented as well as offering up the quantity being showcased. The most chilling scenes that take place here are the further outbursts the possessed undergoes in her cell, shown to be visibly scratching her body and writing messages in blood which look brutal and quite graphic overall. While these help raise the film, there are a few problems. The biggest drawback is the way it plays its storyline out, since this is primarily told as a courtroom-based drama it really doesn't offer much interest for most of its running time. Sitting around listening to the two people go through the case doesn't make for a compelling watch, as not only is the technical jargon with all the different formalities and legal-speak that goes on in a trial rather boring to get through and mostly consists of watching people sitting in chairs recounting memories, a process which isn't that exciting. It's a common trope of films set in courtrooms which manages to be highlighted once again here by this one going through those motions for the majority of it's running time. That makes the flashbacks to the interactions of the witchdoctor and how she performed her rituals to feel rather disorienting and chaotic so the pacing is quite disjointed. That is what mainly holds this one back.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.

Not as expected. very boring rhe first 30 minutes i closed thw movie