The reason for my heading above is self-explanatory. I mean for those of you who are well- versed with many Hollywood movies like THE SIXTH SENSE and WHAT LIES BENEATH, well, this movie is almost the exact replica of what those two movies are. The idea for KHURAFAT was somewhat "copied" from those films.
This film also "borrowed" ideas from Japanese horror flicks like THE RING and JU-ON. So without much explanation, KHURAFAT still maintains the order of horror in place in tuned to the Asian taste for what supernatural horror is. This last remark is in view of the Asian psyche where realms of the unknowns remains not only as a mystery but a mystical fascination in every Asian.
One conspicuous thing that I observed is the similarity between KHURAFAT and JANGAN PANDANG BELAKANG (whose main lead of the latter film, Pierre Andre, was also the writer and director of the film) in that the "entities" looked pretty much the same; the gory make- ups and costumes. Even the premises of both films made use of almost the same Malay folklore of Hantu Pelesit ("Inheritance Demon").
Nevertheless, the brilliance of KHURAFAT is how Syamsul Yusof tweaked the sophistication of those Hollywood movies mentioned above to compel Asian audience particularly the Malays.
For one thing, Malay movies, in general, follow a straightforward storyline without much twists nor requiring the audience's participation to think about how each piece of the movie puzzle comes together. But this Syamsul Yusof's tour-de-force is indeed the first to break that traditional convention and compel the audience to think about the pieces together.
I, for one, am both at a lost but impressed at how Syamsul Yusof managed to construct such wonderful script that comprised an intricate weave of mystery without leaving any clues along the way. The truth could only be known right at the end of the movie...and THAT, I think, is the fresh and original idea - that is, not leaving any breadcrumbs for the audience to pick up any clues whatsoever but instead making them stay riveted to the screen till the end.
KUDOS TO SYAMSUL YUSOF!!!
By the way, with a film that comes attached with warning saying "Expectant mothers and people of poor heart conditions are advised not to see this film" such as this who could resist not watching it. It bounds to make dig deep into the human curiosity.
