Touted as “The First Muslim Lesbian Vampire Movie!” by co-director Amir Muhammad, “Susuk” was indeed an odd-one-out in the Hungry Ghosts segment of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
For starters it didn’t feature any ghosts.
Instead, the film is more a morality tale about the use of black magic, and even wanders a bit into “Monster Movie” territory.
It is a very schizophrenic movie though, both intentional and unintentional. “Susuk” has been cleverly made, looks very glamorous and is mostly successful in entertaining its audience.
Yet it also strives to replicate the trashy exploitative horror films so abundant in South East Asia, which may be nice and funny but hurts any tension the movie tries to build, and ultimately makes it fail as a horror film.
More after the break…...
For starters it didn’t feature any ghosts.
Instead, the film is more a morality tale about the use of black magic, and even wanders a bit into “Monster Movie” territory.
It is a very schizophrenic movie though, both intentional and unintentional. “Susuk” has been cleverly made, looks very glamorous and is mostly successful in entertaining its audience.
Yet it also strives to replicate the trashy exploitative horror films so abundant in South East Asia, which may be nice and funny but hurts any tension the movie tries to build, and ultimately makes it fail as a horror film.
More after the break…...
- 4/30/2009
- by Ard Vijn
- Screen Anarchy
By R. Emmet Sweeney
The Rotterdam Film Festival has had a history of promoting the weird, the obsessive and the cultish in cinema, and there's been little change as this year's edition reaches its close. They've programmed a survey of recent Asian horror films, complete with a "haunted house" installation, and they've maintained their loyalty to unfashionable provocateurs like Aleksei Balabanov, whose acerbic takes on Russian history have always made their way onto screens here. That's without even mentioning the festival's support of debut filmmakers, three of which just received a 15,000 euro ($22,500 U.S.) prize from the Vpro Tiger jury (Ramtin Lavafipour's "Be Calm and Count to Seven," Yang Ik-June's "Breathless" and Mahmut Fazil Coşkun's "Wrong Rosary" took home the loot).
I went into "Susuk," Amir Muhammad's Malaysian black magic boondoggle, with high hopes, not least because of his pre-screening description of the film as "the first Muslim lesbian vampire movie.
The Rotterdam Film Festival has had a history of promoting the weird, the obsessive and the cultish in cinema, and there's been little change as this year's edition reaches its close. They've programmed a survey of recent Asian horror films, complete with a "haunted house" installation, and they've maintained their loyalty to unfashionable provocateurs like Aleksei Balabanov, whose acerbic takes on Russian history have always made their way onto screens here. That's without even mentioning the festival's support of debut filmmakers, three of which just received a 15,000 euro ($22,500 U.S.) prize from the Vpro Tiger jury (Ramtin Lavafipour's "Be Calm and Count to Seven," Yang Ik-June's "Breathless" and Mahmut Fazil Coşkun's "Wrong Rosary" took home the loot).
I went into "Susuk," Amir Muhammad's Malaysian black magic boondoggle, with high hopes, not least because of his pre-screening description of the film as "the first Muslim lesbian vampire movie.
- 2/4/2009
- by R. Emmet Sweeney
- ifc.com
As promised here is some more info on the “Hungry Ghost” segment of coming year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam. And although there are some nice titles playing in this segment, the coolest event might actually not be a film.
As part of “Hungry Ghost”, The Iffr plans to transform the old photography museum into a ghost house of sorts, with each room designed by a different Asian horror director. Described as “neither a carnival ride nor a static picture gallery” this looks to be fun because of the talent involved.
Who, you ask?
Well, people like Wisit Sasanatieng ("Tears of the Black Tiger”, “The Unseeable"), Amir Muhammad ("Susuk"), Lav Diaz ("Death in the Land of the Encantos") , Nguyen Vihn Son ("The Moon at the Bottom of the Well"), Garin Nugroho ("Opera Jawa") and Riri Riza ("Eliana, Eliana").
While most of these directors are not primarily known for horror, they...
As part of “Hungry Ghost”, The Iffr plans to transform the old photography museum into a ghost house of sorts, with each room designed by a different Asian horror director. Described as “neither a carnival ride nor a static picture gallery” this looks to be fun because of the talent involved.
Who, you ask?
Well, people like Wisit Sasanatieng ("Tears of the Black Tiger”, “The Unseeable"), Amir Muhammad ("Susuk"), Lav Diaz ("Death in the Land of the Encantos") , Nguyen Vihn Son ("The Moon at the Bottom of the Well"), Garin Nugroho ("Opera Jawa") and Riri Riza ("Eliana, Eliana").
While most of these directors are not primarily known for horror, they...
- 12/15/2008
- by Ard Vijn
- Screen Anarchy
The winners were announced at the awards ceremony last night, and Mamat Khalid’s Kala Malam Bulan Mengambang walked away as Best Film. Mamat himself picked up the Best Director award.
Best Actor went to Rosyam Nor for his lead performance as the quirky investigative reporter who finds himself in a strange village in Kala Malam. Best Actress was Maya Karin for her role in Osman Ali’s Anak Halal. Despite leading with the most nominations, Anak Halal went home with only two awards - Best Actress and Best Original Story.
Kala Malam and 1957 Hati Malaya were tied at the top with 5 awards each.
Personally, I thought Flower In The Pocket was the best film of the past year. But word has it that it wasn’t submitted for the digital film category.
Meanwhile, independent filmmaker Amir Muhammad, who was on the jury this year, was rather pissed off that...
Best Actor went to Rosyam Nor for his lead performance as the quirky investigative reporter who finds himself in a strange village in Kala Malam. Best Actress was Maya Karin for her role in Osman Ali’s Anak Halal. Despite leading with the most nominations, Anak Halal went home with only two awards - Best Actress and Best Original Story.
Kala Malam and 1957 Hati Malaya were tied at the top with 5 awards each.
Personally, I thought Flower In The Pocket was the best film of the past year. But word has it that it wasn’t submitted for the digital film category.
Meanwhile, independent filmmaker Amir Muhammad, who was on the jury this year, was rather pissed off that...
- 8/10/2008
- by The Visitor
- Screen Anarchy
Why are most mainstream film awards crap? I don’t know; don’t ask me.
The Festival Filem Malaysia (Malaysian film awards) continues to be a baffling, mind-boggling affair year after year. They once snubbed one of the most important Malaysian filmmakers, Yasmin Ahmad, with the excuse that her films continue to show nothing new or different. Like many other awards events, the decisions can sometimes be rather weird. For example, for this year’s awards, probably the worst film released this year, the laughable horror film Congkak, picked up four nominations, including, gulp, Best Director. That itself, is a horror story. It also got one for Best Sound, when the direction for the sound seemed to be to make everything as loud as possible.
But among the jury this year is independent filmmaker Amir Muhammad, whose mainstream film, Susuk, co-directed with Naeim Ghalili, picked up 8 nominations, including Best Cinematography (by Devan R.
The Festival Filem Malaysia (Malaysian film awards) continues to be a baffling, mind-boggling affair year after year. They once snubbed one of the most important Malaysian filmmakers, Yasmin Ahmad, with the excuse that her films continue to show nothing new or different. Like many other awards events, the decisions can sometimes be rather weird. For example, for this year’s awards, probably the worst film released this year, the laughable horror film Congkak, picked up four nominations, including, gulp, Best Director. That itself, is a horror story. It also got one for Best Sound, when the direction for the sound seemed to be to make everything as loud as possible.
But among the jury this year is independent filmmaker Amir Muhammad, whose mainstream film, Susuk, co-directed with Naeim Ghalili, picked up 8 nominations, including Best Cinematography (by Devan R.
- 8/5/2008
- by The Visitor
- Screen Anarchy
My repeated reliance on Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Rouge seminar address “In Search of New Genres and Directions for Asian Cinema” belies not so much laziness on my part as the fact that Hsiao-hsien’s suggestion of the potential values (and pitfalls) of using “local elements … firmly rooted in local culture"—specifically when creating horror genre films—remains not only salient advice for East Asian and Southeast Asian filmmakers but a great handle for understanding genre films emerging from these foreign territories. If said genre films can draw upon the culturally-specific wealth of their respective countries in combination with an expression of national anxieties, then you have the makings of an authentic piece of horror genre that might meet an effective U.S. reception.
This is the precarious challenge successfully endeavored by Malaysian filmmaker Amir Muhammad with his long-awaited “horror musical” Susuk (co-directed with Naeim Ghalili, from an original story...
This is the precarious challenge successfully endeavored by Malaysian filmmaker Amir Muhammad with his long-awaited “horror musical” Susuk (co-directed with Naeim Ghalili, from an original story...
- 7/17/2008
- by Michael Guillen
- Screen Anarchy
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.