Asian Horror Movies

Kuntilanak (2006) Review

August 29, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: A young college student moves to a new boarding house in a very haunted area. Rumours had it that a Kuntilanak (the she-demon) lived up in a hundreds of years old tree near the house. Soon, people around her died one by one tragically….

My Quick Review: Kuntilanak, based on a local urban legend, is a very popular horror franchise in Indonesia. The always gorgeous Julie Estelle (Macabre) stars as Sam, the young college student with a “gift” for the occult, and Rizal Mantovani directs, as he will for all subsequent sequel.

Kuntilanak is a very creepy movie with quite a few “jump out of your seat” moments. Each and every appearance by the Kuntilanak has managed to raise some hair on the back of my skin. It’s interesting that I did watch The Conjuring the night before at the theatre and was not as easily scared as I was when watching this film (The Conjuring is definitively the better movie but not the scarier).

The whole visual art of the movie adds to the spooky feeling and the haunted boardhouse is nicely shot as well. The acting, while not stellar is above average and there is plenty of eye candy from the cast (Julie Estelle and Ratu Felisha in particular). The gore is low key and while not entirely original, Kuntilanak is one of the Best Indonesian Horror movie I’ve seen so far.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Director: Rizal Mantovani

Origin: Indonesia

The Forbidden Door (2009) Review

August 25, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Original Name: Pintu Terlarang

Synopsis: The life of a successful sculptor is turned upside down when he begins receiving mysterious messages from someone who asks for his help.

My Quick Review: My first Anwar’s movie experience was recently with Modus Anomali, a very intense Thriller with a twist. I was already seduced. But this Lynchian experience that is The Forbidden Door has cemented my initial feelings.

With Pintu Terlarang, Joko Anwar definitively proves indeed, that he is a master storyteller and cinematographer and a director/writer to keep following in years to come.

The movie’s visual clues, the shocking bursts of violence (some child abuse scenes are especially hard to stomach) and the excellent acting across the board (special mention to Fachry Albar in the main role) all add to the eeriness of Pintu Terlarang and will keep you guessing till the end.

The Forbidden Door is a movie that truly deserves multiple viewings to be better appreciated and understood. It is far from being perfect (some plot points drag a bit too long and the editing has a few problems as well) but I, for one, cant wait to see what’s next for Joko Anwar.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Director: Joko Anwar

Origin: Indonesia

Apartment 1303 (2007) Review

August 22, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: (from IMDb) A modern ghost story which turns a love hate relationship between mother and daughter into a tale of horror.

My Quick Review: I can’t believe that they actually made a remake from Apartment 1303, a subpar entry into the Japanese Horror Movie genre.

There is nothing fresh about this haunted apartment ghost story and the usual tricks are being deployed, this time with poor camera work and atrocious acting.

Except for the main actress, Noriko Nakagoshi, everybody’s acting is extremely laughable, especially in the first 15mn of the film. As for the “scares” I was unimpressed and the ending is just plain silly.

Apartment 1303 is a pale copy of far superior movies such as Ju-On and Dark Water, and it seems that the recent american remake is even worse. Bravo!

My Rating: 4/10

Director: Ataru Oikawa

Origin: Japan

Art of the Devil 3 (2008) Review

August 21, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Original Title: Long Khong 2

Synopsis: The youngster Ta returns to his hometown. He misses his mother Daun, who was poisoned by his father Prawase, and soon he learns that his family will use black magic to bring her back. However, Ta’s family will quickly discover the price of the black magic.

My Quick Review: I was a bit confused while watching Long Khong 2 until I realized this was actually a prequel to the first Long Khong (Art of the Devil 2).

The problem with a movie like Art of the devil 3 is that it actually deserved to be called a Torture Porn movie since we can actually fast forward through most of the movie just to watch the good stuff. With no characters to relate to or empathize with, and a messy script, Art of the Devil 3 only exists for its Black Magic scenes. And then again there is nothing we haven’t seen in Art of the Devil 2, and usually not as impressive or gruesome.

My Rating 4.5/10

Countdown (2012) Review

August 18, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

Synopsis: (from IMDb) Three Thai teens in New York City are planning the New Year’s Party of their lives. They called Jesus, a drug dealer, to drop off some stuff at their apartment so they can celebrate and countdown the end of the year in style. Little did they know that Jesus’ visit that night will change their lives forever

My Quick Review: I stumbled upon this movie on dvd without any kind of expectation. I was just looking forward another Thai Horror entry by GTH, the production company behind most of the biggest Thai hits.

Right off the bat, I liked the idea to base the action in New York but the movie never really takes advantage of this if not for what is supposed to be some kind of surprise twist.

The whole movie relies on David Asavanond’s performance as Jesus the drug dealer and, while not bad, his effort is slightly unconvincing. He is also not being helped by the other actors who are not given much and just represent stereotypical rich kids living abroad.

I did like the pitch and there are a couple of scenes with real tension, but as a whole Countdown is a bust that drags for too long (especially during the introductory scenes) and relies too much on the (average) performance of its actors.

My Rating: 5/10

Director: Nattawut Poonpiriya

Origin: Thailand