Puaka Balai Gombak : Movie Review

Guest Review by Mehmed Hossein

An unexpected surprise of a malay horror film

My expectations were low. To me its a cheap going in the trend kind of horror movie, such as Villa Nabila, then we have Puaka Balai Gombak. I enter the cinema with extreme distaste and biasness, and boy I was wrong.

The film caught me in the first 30 minutes, its suspenseful, thrilling, edgy, an interesting premise with an absolute NATURAL acting I've ever seen in a Malay movie.

The premise sets of a group known as Puaka X which does ghost hunting at supposedly abandoned places. It also sets a culture, which in this country we have a lot of paranormal ghost hunting team that eagers to explore abandoned places, and its competitive. Following the likes of nightcrawler I should say, it introduces a certain culture more than just a plain documentary film. Puaka X goes to various abandoned places until they receive an anonymous email inviting them to Balai Polis Gombak, and its there where it all goes wrong. The story is cliche but execution wise is good, forgivable.

The acting was superb, I got caught in seeing this movie it feels like a real documentary because it feels real, this was the one thing that made me latching throughout the film because it is convincing. The actors, unknown at the time, gave a good performance as a film crew with energetic dialogues.

The creepy factor was well done, its not exactly in your face jump scares, but they rely more on creepy subtle appearances. The subtlety gives a nice touch for the film that knows what its doing, its just right and not too forced.

The low point of this movie is only around the climax and end, where the crew are being attacked by real ghosts. You know where this is going, its like the blair witch project scenario that in the end the crew never survive. Whatsmore the CGI takes away the realism of the mockumentary. At this point, I forgive it because it has effort.

I applaud this film for giving a change of perspective of local films. This was my first in 2015. I never thought it was a mockumentary until I saw the actors alive and well. Give it a go, its worth it.

I rate this movie: 8/10

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