Blood Flower - Die Austreibung

Despite the limitations of using English subtitles to understand what was going on, I think this film could have been better. It seems like the main goal was a gorefest, but a more interesting (and less derivative) tale could certainly have been told -- if anyone involved cared (but they didn't). The pacing was not great; the film often dragged.

The first act is the most interesting, as we're trying to figure out what's going on. The rest of the film slowly devolves into supernatural horror (possession and murder). I didn't like many of the characters, and it's hard to feel sympathy for people who aren't behaving or communicating well (even when lives depend on following rules and sharing information).

The cultural differences were mildly interesting -- at first -- but when the film got into gory-exorcism mode the disgusting happenings dominated (but not in a good way). I also found the use of seemingly generic prayers (by exorcists) to accomplish very specific goals quite unconvincing. Not sure if this was to avoid offending certain people.

I don't recommend this unless you specifically like Malaysian horror. I give it 3.5 stars, with half-star penalties for excessive gore, missed opportunities, and poor pacing. That's two (2) stars total.

I understand the hate. Most people really hate the plot but I really think it's interesting. Let's say, if you love gore and "The Sixth Sense". But the plot is very messy, but still easy to keep on track. Next is acting. Bront Palarae did a great job at playing this role. Understandable since he got the same role in "Pengabdi Setan". But I got mixed feelings on Idan Aedan, its feels like going down a rollercoaster. Sometimes, Kayu and sometimes good and sometimes okay. But the other cast did a great job. Jumpscare are fine, I'm not complaining. Let's say, if bored and don't know what to watch on Disney+ Hotstar, watch Harum Malam. There's a 50% chance you might hate it, and there's 50% you might like it. Overall 7/10.

This film had potential but I can't believe they messed it up. The protagonist was so wimpy and girly that it was cringy to see him constantly curled up in fear. He also look as smart as a jar of molasses. Why do they do that to a character they're trying to endear and get the audience to relate to and sympathize with. You don't want to hate the protagonist like you do here. I just think it was poorly written and it looks like it could have been good even with the small budget. The story just looks like it was written on the Fly. So many things happen when it didn't need to, and things didn't happen when it should have. It's hard to explain where this keeps missing and it just looks like it was made by two different groups that did not communicate with one another.

When 95% of the characters are annoying and unsympathetic it makes it hard to root for them to win. When people make decisions that make no sense or have any rational basis you have to provide a reason or ulterior motive for th audience to understand. Whe people die horribly and everyone around just blithely goes on like nothing has happened or like death is a daily boring thing with no explanation it makes it impossible to sympathize. Also when local customs won't be easily understood by a wide audience they need to provide dialogue or exposition that can enlighten the viewer to understand what is going on. The characters were so unlikable we cheered at their demise.

The film started with high expectation with the visuals and score, however, it went downhill really fast. No clear plot, a lot of the scenes have loop holes. Even the conclusion of the movie doesn't make sense. Just make you awe at something that is so terrible. The characters are mostly unlikeable and no good development or growth, quite bland. Really dislike them, and their relationship with others is no where to be found. Iqbal and Norman look like they're not in character. The supporting characters are more interesting. The props and CGs overall is okay, but some parts of the film are quite bad.