Jangan Pandang Belakang

A man investigates the mysterious death of his fiancee and discover more than he bargained for.

Rose commit suicide and her boyfriend Darma as well as her twin sister Seri never believe for one second that Rose will take the easy way out. After tracing back what actually happened to Rose, they find evidences that suggest supernatural intervention.

I think I am not the only one who is sick with horror movies from the west. It is either a slasher flick or some mystery that cheats the audience in the end. Asians have loads of creepy tales that send chills down the spine, just verbally. Can you imagine how scary it can be with visual aids?

After reading mixed reviews of this movie, I guess it was worth to check it out even though I can almost immediately expect the worse. I was not wrong

This movie is way overrated, way too much. It's bad in many ways. The sequence is bad; some scenes were simply redundant or non coherent; storyline is pretty much loose and non-contiguous; bad acting. I can go on. To its credit, there are two scenes which I feel were genuinely scary. But when compiled as a whole, even that cannot save the movie.

I understand that it is not easy especially for our Malay film industry to embark on a new genre like this. With pretty much minimal expertise in the area iof special effects, it is even harder. But like I said earlier, if ghost stories from this region can scare the crap out of you just verbally, why the need for elaborate visual effects?

I feel that there are many ways this movie can be improved.

First of all, better actors please.

Next, clean up the storyline. If it is meant to be simple, then make it as it should be. Why the need for the security guard to have so many lines and giving impression of importance when in the end he was not even necessary. Why have cartoonish characters like the bus driver?

Camera angle in my opinion can and should be exploited further particularly for horror films. The thing about ghost is the fact that it scares us with thoughts of how it looks like. When shown too much of it, especially with poor makeup, it then become an object of amusement rather than one that instills fear. With the right camera angle, viewers know it's there but with just glimpse of it, the rest is left to our wild imagination.

My dissapointment stems not only from viewers who can't tell horror from comedy and gave unrealistic ratings, but more from the fact that older Malay movies were of much better quality than this. Take for example Rahsia starring Noor Kumalasari. It a freaky show and it's stamped in my mind that I can still remember it till today, even after 20 years. Then there's Pengabdi Setan and Arwah Penasaran, both Indonesian films. Those two scared the crap out of me way back then.

If it can't beat those 3 films I mentioned, especially in this day of age, with more technology at movie makers' disposal, than Jangan Pandang Belakang don't a deserve a mention, other than it was released with smart promotions.

Horror movie lovers should just forget about this movie. Like the title suggest, jangan pandang belakang. There is nothing to regret about missing it.

Payback

Would you risk your life for 70k?

Porter nearly got killed by his wife, a doing of his friend who wanted to screw him off his 70K share of a heist, by showing a photo of him with a hooker. A jealous wife can do anything, remember that. Badly injured, he sets himself to get back the money he rightfully earned, so to speak, and along the way, he meets all sorts of thugs, corrupted cops, all those people a guy like him would normally avoid.

This is a simple mindless action/revenge/violent movie so don't expect an award winning storyline. So is it worth watching then? Trust me, it is

Acting, surprisingly, is good, really. Porter bleeds, limps, slurs and everything a beaten-up man would, making it realistic and not like he is some superman. While this is a mafia kind of movie with all the violence in its glory, humor is planted everywhere, which makes it, sadistically, a fun movie. All the camera angles, slow motion scenes as well as the cinematography are just perfect for a movie like this. From a film-making perspective, there is nothing bad about this movie at all, other than the plot. Although trying to get oneself seriously hurt and courting death for 70K may sound a little too stupid, that is exactly what makes it fun to watch, with Porter repeating countlessly that he IS asking for only his 70K back and nothing more.

While this is not a movie to stimulate the mind, I would not mind popping it into my DVD player and enjoy watching it again.

Machinist

What if you really lack sleep? Can you still stay focused or would you most probably turn delusional?

Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) is a machinist (no surprise here) who has not slept for a year, causing him to continuously lose weight by the day, practically turning him to bones. His inability to sleep leads him to two women, Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) a prostitute and Marie (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón), a waitress he visits every night at the airport cafe.

Most of his co-workers were sceptical when he denies he is on drugs. They tried to get him to seek help but he refuse to admit his deteriorating condition. One day at work, blamed for his inability to stay focused, he caused an accident involving his co-worker Miller (Michael Ironside). Attributing his lost of attention to Ivan (John Sharian), a new co-worker that no one knew existed, everyone around him turned into a nervous lot, treating him as a liability. When he is caught in a situation where he almost got himself injured, he accused his co-workers of conspiring to purge him out, using Ivan to torment him. Not only that, even his most trusted, Stevie and Maria, seems to be part it as well. Hell, even his landlord was not spared, as he suspected her of placing mysterious stick-up notes in his apartment. Is he really starting to turn delusional, or are the people around him turning him crazy?

Christian Bale lost a lot of weight just for this role that you practically see his skeletal frame. It gets really excruciating at times seeing him in that state. Some people think it was a sick attempt to attract movie goers. Whatever the reason Bale decided to do it for, it made no difference to me. His acting was top notch regardless. Bale play Trevor, a man full of dark secrets that he keeps to himself, perfectly. If the Oscars is not political, he would have won easily.

This movie delve in the realm of what is real and what is not. Many questions were laid on the table. Why can't he sleep, who places the notes in his apartment, who is Ivan? Pace is slow at times but it was quite intended as it is not an action movie. The tension builds up as it reach the peak where all answers are answered. Most importantly, the revelation don't make you feel cheated, unlike most movies of the same genre

This movie is definitely not for those with short attention span. Even if you are not, watch this only when you are in the mood for a real drama.