Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa [2011]

For a Malay movie, this action movie is quite decent as it has almost everything, action, gore and romance.  I believe this movie is a start to greater things for the Malaysian movie industry, and I hope to see more coming which are on par with those ancient movies done by China ad Hong Kong at least.  The movie which revolves about historical figure Merong Mahawangsa starts off promisingly and it does ends well.  The plot itself is a little shaky and the movie itself does get the usual 'Malaysian movie syndrome' which is the feeling that everything is scripted and lacks passion.

On that note, I felt that the casting director could have done a better job for the heroes/good guys because they lacked 'stature'.  However, the 'bad side' aka Garuda was brilliant.  I personally didn't like the Malay language used in the movie as it was too 'antique' for me. As for the advance CGI boasted by the producers, well.. it's not far to be as good as Hollywood.  Overall, a good movie worth watching.

Lagenda Budak Setan Pt 1 (2010)

The story of Lagenda Budak Setan (in English: Lagend of The Devil's Son) is a little bit like A Walk to Remember in many ways in terms of plot.  While A Walk to Remember does display a more realistic approach, the plots found in Lagenda Budak Setan seems a little to good to be true.  Anyway, while I can dwell over the bad or unreal side of the movie, I must commend the plot of the movie which kept me guessing over what actually happened to Ayu, the girl  Kasyaf loves to death that he remains loyal.  To be honest, the minute Ayu got married with Azmi, the movie turned from boring to interesting due to the huge turn of plots, and I find myself intrigued to know what will happen in part to of this movie.

Congkak (2008) - Malay

Congkak actually starts decently by playing on the better side of the Asian supernatural side. However, as the movie goes on to the end, it changed from a horror movie to some what a comedy with huge elements of 'Goku' and illogical scenes.

The effort put in Congkak is indeed decent, but I felt it was rather sad that the plot was loose. Altough I do not know much about the Malay culture, but it does seem rather surreal that it only needs a single man to do exorcism, and to defeat 'bad spirits'. Even more interesting is that the movie fails do actually picture a realistic Malaysian background, hence indirectly bringing up the 'fake' feel in the movie.

The acting wasn't that great either with lack of expression found on all the actors, which immediately killing the 'feel' of the movie. I have to say, Jangan Tegur would be a much better choice to this movie.

Jangan Tegur (Malay)

Caught it @ METROWEALTH CINEPLEX, KUCHING
Its 1 HOUR & 26 MINUTES of THE SUPERNATURAL!!
You should catch it because you WANT TO GET A HEART ATTACK.
You should not watch this movie if you DON'T HAVE MONEY TO SPARE.

Jangan tegur is one of the best Malay horror movies made in Malaysia. This is my personal opinion. Although there isn't much to say about the typical plot, but I love the way the director and the movie line which gives you the ultimate creeps.

In fact, the detail in every aspect of the movie pleases me although I did think that some parts of the movie are kind of ridiculous. For instance, the wife (Natasha) tried to wake her husband up from sleep with little attempt, knowing she is scared and having dreams of the ghostly Baizura. There are similar plots, but I think, I'd prefer not to give up spoilers here.

On a positive note, the movie highlights well the power of Islamic prayer, and the fact that evil can be defeated by good. There is also a little exorcism scenes in the movie, some looking similar to the movie "The Exorcism of Emily Rose". I was hugely disappointed that the exorcism seemed to simple and way too easy, and hoped for more temptation like other exorcism stories.

Nonetheless, this is a very good attempt, and I have no regrets watching this movie. A 5 out of 5 for a Malay movie.

Susuk

Where I watched it: Metrowealth Cineplex, Kuching
Duration: 1 Hour 55 mins
Description: Weird & Confusing
Should you watch this? : Skip this one. Save your money

I actually caught this movie because of how good of a ratings it had on one of the online movie sites gave. SUSUK is a Malaysian horror movie which revolves on voodoo, and spells to gain fame and glory. Nonetheless, despite having top actors like Ida Narina and Soffea Jane, i have to say that this is not a movie you should spend you money on. I doubt you'd end up understanding the plot, and despite the convincing acting shown, the plot of the movie is the main failure.

The main cause of disappointment towards to movie is the lack of explanation, and the huge derailment of the plot. I walked into the cineplex hoping for a lot of voodoo, and action.. but what I got was slow action, little voodoo... and a huge wondering on what actually happened in the movie. At the end of the day, I could figure out the movie, but still.... I felt there is so many untold tales, making this movie a NO-GO from my perspective.