Harum Malam

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.

I am a fan of Malaysian horror and this was right on brand with what I'm familiar with. Many of them tend to lean towards folk horror and this one was in that same vain.

The story was spooky and intriguing but I don't think it needed to be quite as long as it was... although it didn't really drag much surprisingly. It did have a light sense of maybe being geared towards a younger audience but also had some pretty dark and gruesome subject matter.

The special effects and gore were actually pretty cool and gnarly, while the actual monster looked a bit silly most of the time and the flowers looked like play-doh. The acting also appeared to come across quite well to an English speaker at least.

All in all this was a good bit better than I was expecting it to be, while still delivering what I have come to expect from Malaysian horror. Would recommend.

Seen this on Disney Hotstar and i can confirm that this film sucks. The lack of effort is in the script is so glaring. The film had me excited going as i thought it was made by Skop Production and i thought one of the Haslam kid was directing the movie turns out its Dan Said. Some of the scene was a bit stuck and the script was confusing at times. The actors were fine but since the script was horrible it didn't help the overall score with this horror flick. I end up pissed a bit because the ending was not satisfactory for me. Bront Palarae has a knack in movies with horrible ending. Please do better.

Blood Flower is a simple tale of possession, and coming of age film. It's housed in a structure that speaks largely of morality, both good versus evil but also taking responsibilities for one's actions.

Iqbal is an adolescent with supernatural powers, as does his mother. She with the father act as exorcist in Malaysia, and are Muslim. (I mention this only to separate this film from the American assumption of Catholicism/Christianity as the religion for possession films.) It opens with them starting to train Iqbal to become an exorcist as well. But, not all goes well.

The rest of the film is various examples of good versus evil across a spectrum of dimensions of people residing in a large apartment complex, asaumed for lower income families. This tale has many storylines that all intertwine based upon the characters' close proximity. All are simple stories based on that good-bad characteristic and the choices that are made.

Engaging simple story is watchable and overall I was entertained. It was well made, but it's not a complicated film.