Revenge of the Pontianak

I had high expectations for an entertaining, possibly powerful retelling of this classic horror tale by Sifu Glen and Gavin (et al).

However, while I did not come away from the movie feeling that it was a failure , I felt disappointed at the movie's lack of oomph.

To me , it failed to conjure an atmosphere of eeriness and foreboding , and I thought its scenes and momentum lacked in the thrill and horror departments quite a bit .

The acting and script seemed adequate , and I especially enjoyed the artistry/cinematography of the scenes set in Kampong setting/reflecting lifestyle then.

I look forward to a future rendition that will also include that -all too classic , too good to be missed - comic relief scene - the Malay Satay man and his two (Chinese and Indian) friends /customers , all whom come face to face with and flee in terror from the Pontianak!

Good try please keep it up

V

This Malaysian horror film opens at a wedding in 1965. Siti and Khalid are the bride and groom; he has a son from a previous relationship. During the reception a friend things he sees Khalid's ex in the crowd but when he looks again she is gone. As he drives home he brakes his car to avoid hitting a woman in the road. When he gets out he is killed. The next day his body is found hanging, high in a tree, in the village. A village mystic claims that Khalid and his family have brought a curse on the village; if uncleansed the will suffer further tragedy. This curse is in the form of a Pontianak; a woman who died during childbirth and became a vengeful vampiric ghost.

I thought this was a solid little horror film. It wasn't too scary but was a little bit gorier than I expected given that it only had a 'UK-12' rating. It is the first Malaysian film I'd seen and I must admit I hadn't heard of a Pontianak before; she proved to be an interesting 'monster'... more sympathetic than one might expect; especially once we learn how she came into being. While she was described as vampiric she didn't act like a vampire, at least not in the traditional western sense; this made her more interesting as it was something new. The film had a great atmosphere and a good '60s feel. Overall I wouldn't say this was very scary but I'd still recommend it to horror fans looking for something a bit different.

These comments are based on watching the film in Malay with English subtitles.

Low cost production,horrible zombie movie....wait.... it's suppose to be a horror movie isn't it or am I missing something? Great cast but what a letdown with a predictable and lousy plot.Seriously Glen.... I think u can do better.

The only good thing about this film is the technical aspect. The cinematography is top notch, very colourful for horror film. The production design and costume design too deserved a praise.

Apart from that, it's overall a mediocre film. The characters are written shallowly. No single character i feel invested nor i found interesting. The film literally can just finish in less than hour. I felt that story stretched too long that the 2nd act being completely boring and doesn't even added anything.

I found the ending funny too. Suddenly the Pontianak just went mad and wrestle, flying kick all the men. Its like you seeing something from Van Helsing, pretty cool but funny.

The best thing of the movie is its stunning aesthetic: the costumes, the colours, the locations... everything is just stunning. The figure of the Pontianak is also very interesting and has a lot of potential. Sadly, a lot of this gets wasted. The movie has a weird and inconsistent pacing and a lot of scenes feel like fillers. Some things in the script don't even make much sense. But overall I recommend it.