• Home
• Now Showing
• Showtimes
• Coming Soon
• Box Office
• Top Rated Movies
• Y! Star Reviewers

Chermin is a horror/suspense thriller about a woman who is haunted by a vengeful spirit trapped in an antique mirror. It centres on Nasrin, whose face has been disfigured from a 'mysterious' car accident. She then finds an antique mirror and starts talking to the mirror's spirit, Mastura. On Nasrin's quest to regain her beauty, she must submit herself to the mirror by satisfying the mirror's need for blood and revenge.

"Chermin" is a tale about revenge. It is not about violent killings, arson and explosions that you may have seen in other Hollywood or Hong Kong movies. Its' cast, Deanna Yusoff (Mastura) and Natasha Hudson (Nasrin), are of the greatgrandmother-and-greatgrandchild relationship. Both of them are looking for revenge and beauty respectively.

In the movie, Nasrin's face has been disfigured from a 'mysterious' car accident on her way home. She is then haunted by a spirit trapped in an antique mirror and finds herself talking to the mirror's spirit, Mastura, who happens to be her late great grandmother. On Nasrin's request to regain her beauty, Mastura demands that Nasrin submits herself to the mirror by satisfying the mirror's need for blood and revenge.

Long ago, Mastura, the woman trapped in the unique mirror, was once the most beautiful woman in the village. She was married to Nasrin's greatgrandfather, Hassan in an arranged marriage. She loved him, but that love was not returned. When Hassan informed her of his plan to take a second wife, Mastura disagreed but later give in for the fear of being divorced.

Mastura used the mirror to perform black magic and also to convince herself that her husband loved her. So deep was Mastura's connection with the mirror that her spirit became trapped inside until Nasrin's mother, Siti (Khatijah Tan) finds it in the store room and falls for the mirror the moment she sees it.

The difference between "Chermin" and the other Asian horror movies is that most of the ghosts used are of the long-haired, white-robed variety. In "Chermin", however, Mastura, the spirit trapped in the mirror, is beautiful.

First-time director Zarina Abdullah uses minimum computer-generated effects to tell her story but she has successfully made Nasrin's fantasy and reality world seem so real. Her ideas of creating a beautiful ghost has made her film different from other horror movies.

Thumbs up for the sound effects as they are well mixed and mastered. There are no screams or chants to tune up the scare factor, just eerie sounds of people whispering - especially in the scenes when Nasrin meets an accident and when she is in the recovering process. The effect of the whispers is effective as it makes chills run up your spine.

If you are looking for something new in a horror movie, "Chermin" will definitely be up your alley.

As described by director, Zarina Abdullah, "Chermin" is a beautiful horror.

It is a fitting come-back for actress Deanna Yusoff who presents us a refreshing new look to the run-of-the-mill long-haired Asian ghost.

"Chermin" is about Mastura (Yusoff), a woman whose love was betrayed by the husband she loved with all her heart. After taking his lover as his second wife and making plans to divorce Mastura, the spurned Mastura goes all out to avenge herself by destroying everything he loves.

Decades later, Nasrin (Natasha Hudson), who happens to be the descendant of Mastura's husband, meets with a freak accident where her face is disfigured. Unable to accept her disfigurement, she pushes everyone away, including her fiance, Yusuf (Farid Kamil). She is later given an antique mirror by her mum (Khatijah Tan), and before anybody realises it, Mastura is released from the mirror and is back to haunt the family. Nasrin, who is very self-conscious about her looks, becomes obsessed with the mirror, and is later possessed by Mastura. Will they be able to save her from Mastura? Or will Nasrin be the substitute for Mastura's vengeful soul?

The film has a smooth flow, starting with the freak accident which disfigures Nasrin where it slowly unfolds to reveal the finding of the mirror. Flashbacks fill in all the blanks of the past laying the path for subsequent incidents to fall into place beautifully. The evil spirit elicits the sympathy of the audience and one winds up not hating her at all.

Deanna, who has been 'missing' from Malaysia's movie scene for 10 years, did a convincing job as Mastura, the vengeful spirit. The vindictive look in her eyes and the wicked laugh both succeed in making your hair stand on end. Playing Mastura before her death, her character is of a woman who became a victim of a forced marriage, where her husband could not find it in himself to love her. Combined with Deanna's effective emoting, the dialogues in the script were effective in eliciting audience sympathy.

First-time actress, Hudson, did an incredibly good performance as Nasrin. The scenes where she was possessed actually left me wondering if she was actually possessed. When she was 'being possessed', her smile, her facial expressions and the way she carried herself actually resembled Mastura's! Zarina made the right choice in casting her for the part.

Kamil, who seems to be the only male cast in the film, put up a good performance too, but maybe, because the movie is about the two female leads, there was not much of character development for him; he was just, well, Nasrin's fiance. Tan, who is a familiar face in local scenes, did well as Nasrin's mother, both as a terrified woman and as the defensive maternal protector of a favourite daughter. Doing what would be expected of any well-meaning mum, she made the audience empathise with her.

The cinematography of the movie can only be described with one word - beautiful. The house, surroundings, and even the mirror, were all part and parcel of a lovely picture. The sound effects were wonderful too; they blended very nicely with the movie.

This is not a horror which will make you jump out of your seat, but one which will give you the creeps long after the credits roll at the end.

And if you let the movie affect you, you might even find yourself turning your mirror towards the wall when you no longer want to look at it; after all, you wouldn't want to find Mastura staring back at you, would you?