November has arrived…. so winter and all the nasty snow that comes with it can’t be too far away. Along with my usual preparations for the season, I’m still getting my regular shipments of DVD’s from far away parts unknown…. and you all know what that means…. Lots of warm evenings huddled on the couch and time for yet another review!! Yay!!

Our synopsis goes like this: “This comedy/horror movie tells a story of three youths from Kuala Lumpur; Punai, (Mazlan Pet Pet) a petty thief, Asmat (Cat Farish), a car jockey, and Johan (Sam Shaheizy), a salesman.

They each received a letter from the late Pak Sudir (Piee), inviting them to his house. Upon their arrival, they meet up with Pak Sudir’s assistant, Mustika (Lisa Surihani), and they discovered that Pak Sudir was actually their grandfather who happens to be very rich.

The three of them stands a chance to inherit all of his belongings and wealth but under strict circumstances; they would have to stay at his house for three days consecutively without touching anything, especially an old Congkak. On the first night itself, strange and hilarious occurrences begin to happen.”

I catch a lot of Indonesian films, as visitors here at the ol’ Litterbox might have noticed, but Malay ones are a bit harder for me to come across… Don’t know exactly why…. they just are. Maybe somebody will explain the whole situation to me, but I get the impression that they just watch a lot of the same Indonesian produced films in Malaysia that I manage to find as well…..

So…… Is this one gonna be any good? Is it gonna stink really badly….? I’m not at all certain….. and I’m getting a weird vibe from the cover art… but it does come with those nifty English subs I love for a ridiculously tiny price, so I guess there’s really only one way for me to actually find out…. and that’s for me to give it a watch and for you all to “Read On”.

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Another day, and another movie for you, dear readers. Today we take a look at the Malay/ HK co-production “Possessed”, the second film by Malay director Bjarne Wong. By most accounts, Bjarne Wong is not a terribly skilled director, and what I read of this didn’t make it sound that good, but….. the most unusual element of it was the staring roll by Korean transsexual pop star and model Harisu. I must confess that it was more a curiosity about Harisu whom I had heard of but never seen that got me interested in seeing this than anything else I had read. When the Singapore disc popped up, I just had to give it a try.

The synopsis for it reads: “China-born sisters Amber (Chia) and Lisu (Harisu) come to Malaysia seeking greater opportunities in their modeling and singing careers, respectively. But things go wrong when Amber falls into a coma and Lisu goes missing.

Amber is sent back to China for treatment. When she wakes up five months later, she has no recollection of her past, not even boyfriend Dino (Alan Yun). Dino decides to bring Amber back to Malaysia, hoping it will help jog her memory.

Back in Malaysia, Amber starts having nightmares. When she stumbles upon a photograph and video of Lisu and her, she decides to search for her missing sister. During her search, she meets William (Steve Yap), who claims to be Lisu’s ex-flame. Soon strange things begin to happen. Amber begins having visions of Lisu’s spirit and her nightmares become more frequent and violent.”

So….. is it a good lil’ long haired ghost movie? Or did it really need the notoriety of Harisu to sell it? Let’s find out, shall we……

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We have for you today a review of “Congkak”, an honest to goodness Malaysian horror film… Neko hasn’t seen one of these since “Chermin”, and that was waaaay last year. The Malaysians don’t seem to release very many of these, seeming content to watch the avalanche of Indonesian horror that gets imported there. At least Neko doesn’t find too many of them…..(and I look really, really hard!)

The synopsis for it reads:“Kazman is a dedicated husband who, despite his wife Sufiah’s protests, decided to buy a bungalow for their family near a lake as a family getaway. Anxious in the new house, Sufiah feels as if someone is watching her. Her daughter Lisa, who would always go downstairs at night to play congkak with someone whom she could only see, compounds her uneasiness. Sufiah throws the congkak in the lake, but is awakened the next night by the sound of the congkak being played again and upon investigation, she sees an old lady playing it. When her daughter disappears, the oldest resident in that area, Pak Man, comes to the family’s rescue and helps in locating the missing family members.”

Haunted house… check. Weird goings on and cute kids in danger… check. Evil spirit possessed game… check. Loving wife ignored by her idiot husband until it’s too late… check. Sounds like it’s all here. But does it all work? Let’s find out…….

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My “Halloween Review Series” starts with this brand spanking new Malaysian Horror offering from new writer/ director Zarina Abdullah. Zarina trained as a civil engineer, but studied filmmaking at the New York Film Academy in London.It took nine months to develop the script, and shooting the film took only 37 days. Special effects were done by Oriental Post, a Thai company that had previously worked on the Stephen Chow’s feature, “Kung Fu Hustle”. It stars Deanna Yusoff, Khatijah Tan, Farid Kamil, Dato Mustafa Maarof, M. Rajoli, Fauziah Nawi…..but my favorite has to be the heroine played by Natasha Hudson.

The basic story goes like this…..“Chermin is a horror/suspense thriller about a woman who is haunted by a vengeful spirit trapped in an antique mirror. The plot centers on Nasrin (Natasha Hudson), whose face has been disfigured from a ‘mysterious’ car accident. When her mother Kak Siti (Khatijah Tan) discovers an antique mirror hidden amongst old family heirlooms, Nasrin finds herself strangely drawn to it. Nasrin’s fascination with the mirror turns into obsession and she starts taking on the persona of the mirror spirit, Mastura (Deanna Yusoff). On her quest to regain her past beauty, Nasrin submits herself to the mirror spirit by satisfying the mirror’s need for blood and revenge. Will she able to sacrifice love for vanity? Is she able to look inside herself and see the beauty within? Or is what is reflected in her heart a shadow of the mirror?” Sounds good doesn’t it? Let’s find out…..

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