What I loved most: The first few scenes

What I really hated: Unecessarily loud sound effects

I've heard gripes about the jarring sound effects so I come prepared. I wore headphones to protect my sensitive ears. Despite that, it still hurts. That bad, I know. If the director think that sound effects are what bring out the fear-factor in a horror movie, he ain't even half-right. It's more of those one off stillness and silence that hangs in the air, leading the the scary parts that brings out the fright, if you ask me. The start of the movie was promising enough. The rest was pretty much dismal, if not predictable. It's supposed to be a drama movie with horror or a horror movie with drama but it's neither. Most definitely left the theatre unsatisfied. Especially with such a campy ending, where the twist was already discovered midway. It seems like the director or writer had underestimated the audiences' intelligence.

What I loved most: Initial 5 to 10 minutes of the opening

What I really hated: jarring loud sound

The movie depends too much on loud jarring sound rather than balancing silence and loud sounds to provide eery atmosphere. Thus, the movie lost its magical horror moment when the unexpected parts of the scenes happened. The story is typical of a malay setting where a family is easily influenced by the supernatural forces. The actor / actress reactions are not seen as natural when they are thrust into something that test their beliefs in supernatural forces. There seem to be a combination of western spooky elements and asia ones whereas asian spooky elements are very strong enough to shock someone from his seat and sent a chill down their spine. Furthermore, asian spooky elements are not portrayed strongly in the movie. In fact, the director did not put in strong belief that asian spooky elements are good enough for the audience to feel the horror parts of the movie. I felt that the director copied some acts from other movies at times. For example, Sufiah did not believe her daughter when Lisa mentioned about her new friend. That can be found in any English horror movies. Classic malay, japanese and some thailand horror movies as well as Indonesian ones do show these unique horror elements, aren't they?

What I loved most: The first few minutes of the film

What I really hated: The rest of the film

The team behind Jangan Pandang Belakang is back with a film about a haunted traditional game - Congkak. This film is a cross between Rahsia (about a family holiday turn awry) and Jumanji (haunted board game) but unfortunately it is not as good as the two. The film start off promisingly with a narration about the origin of the game congkak - said to be a game made in another dimension that represent both heaven and hell. We were then introduced to Kazman (RIEZMAN KHUZAIMI) and his family - wife Sufiah (NANU BAHARUDDIN), eldest daughter Ely (NURAINA MALEK) and youngest daughter Lisa (ERYNNE ERYNNA). Despite Sufiah and Ely objection, Kazman is determined to spend their family holiday at a secluded kampung house away from the city. By the time they reached the house, scarry (and silly) things started to happen and I personaly feels that the film turns from scarry into comedy. The way the film is being helmed left much to be desired as there are few plot holes and weakneses in this film and some questions left unanswered. For instance, who is that mystery lady at the hut in the beginning of the film? Where does that al-fresco style Tok Bomoh come from? What is the old man Pak Tua (M RAJOLI) hiding about from Kazman and family? Who is opah and what is her relation to the house and the congkak? Even Kazman's gesture when his wife and kids were possesed ("isteri saya dah terapung!") made me laughed rather then feel sorry for him. Despite being left for 20 years, the house looks well maintained and contemporary, not to mention its great accoustic element that could even awaken Sufiah in the middle of the night when the oh-so-brand-new congkak is being played by Lisa and her imiginary opah. All these weaknesses and plot holes are not being properly addressed by the film makers. If you think Jangan Pandang Belakang is bad, Congkak is even worst. Watch it if you want to scare yourself silly.