Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam

just watched the movie with my wife, lauded by local critics as one of the best malaysian movies ever, is actually a pretentious little film that showcases disjointed storyline at best.

to provide some insight into a crapfest of a film called 'pontianak harum sundal malam':

it tries too hard to follow the tradition of local superstitious horror element made famous by the genre defining japs and koreans. however, the timeline continuity and makeup are laughable and outright absurd (you have to watch to believe!), the director also tries to provide not one but two retar*ds as supporting characters for comic relief which turned out to be highly irritating personalization of Leo DiCaprio character from "What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)!(that's you, ida nerina & rosyam noor!). but for some reason, he (amateurishly portrayed by rosyam) became normal halfway thru the story, while the other retar*d (ida) died early on, good riddance!

the script is bad enough but the more obvious disaster is the direction by shuhaimi baba, a highly respected film director that shows none of her vast experience in the malaysian film industry. the editing is also one of the worst i have seen for quite some time. it's an ordeal for me and my wife to watch the movie as a whole. it's a waste of $18 for a piece of cliché infested (done without the charm) film. i should have bought the pirated copy instead!

to summarize all the hoopla surrounding this film - it sucked big time!

As title, when I watched this Movie as kid, it does scare me to my bones. Even that time I have no idea what or how the movie works. Then coming back to watch it and found out the movie did really terrible job on editing. Multiple scenes have been cut and inserted in the movie not in order. It felt like movie has been rushed for finishing for some reason. It jumps to Scene A to Scene D and left out Scene B and C completely. Those are going to watch for the first time will get super confusing at middle part of movie.

Acting.

Maya Karin - She did really good job portraying Meriam and Maria. She was Primadona on her time. The CGI kind of lame it's better put full makeup.

Azri Iskandar - As Datuk Marsani did quite good job as Villains in the movie. But his true intentions really do not make any senses at all.

Rosyam Nor - Win as award for best supporting role, but for me his acting never been doubt is better than all supporting cast. He should be given more screen time + good script.

Overall = This movie like a sinking ship but never want to sink. If you want to get super confused, I recommended to watch this movie. I really hope they release full Director Cut of this movie and properly put the scene.

I for one doesn't like to criticize another person's film even though I am in the industry. My review of the film are:-

1. Acting - 6/10 (over acting by 'comedians' of the show) 2. Makeup - 3/10 (pleezz use visual effects!) 3. Editing - 5/10 (a bit confusing in the middle of the show) 4. Storyline - 6/10 (local legend) 5. Technical Production - 8/10 (nice colors - for a change for malaysian movie) 6. Music - 7/10 (good selection)

This is the first malaysian movie I have watched since P. Ramlee's movies. I was surprised to find out Shuhaimi Baba is a She and not a He!!!?? Sorry la ... I am not familiar with Malaysian film industry.

Good attempt and good luck for your future productions.

'Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam'...yuk!

The first time i heard that title made me laugh so hard! Anyway, i start with the pros:

I-) The production looks good for a malay movie ( Maya Karin looks awesome)

II-) The music is superbly memorable

III-) There are SOME few frightening moments

Now to the cons....

I-) What the hell was that movie about?! It looks like a rush job.

II-) The editing are horrible ( make me confuse!)

III-) Rosyam Noor's horrible acting (He is a good actor! Deserve a better script)

IV-) The ending....ah! lame!

I think there's more but overall.. ** out of ****

the film is without a doubt, one of the worst movies ever. period. it tries hard to be a serious film but failed miserably on every level. the makeup doesn't show the characters' true age. (check out rosyam noor, he's suppose to be in his 50's but the makeup just put a few white strands on his hair and expected us to believe that he's old!), he even acted like a teenage retard in the beginning but gradually became normal halfway thru the story. what about the primadona's husband? how come a guy who went away in the beginning simply turned into an avenging ghost at the end of the film? when did he die? the comic relief is provided by ida nerina which is highly irritating! there were so many bad scenes that i almost gave up watching but for the sake of spending almost $20 on the vcd, i finished it although it's an ordeal. i think 'jutawan fakir' is more watchable because i was mentally prepared for a crap comedy, but this one really caught me by surprise! pls do not watch this film. if u still insist on watching this, get a pirate copy instead!