First of all, I must state: if it weren't for a certain somebody acting in this movie, I would have never continued watching it in its entirety. I was spellbound, pun perhaps intended, the moment I saw the heroine (you-know-who). That is, before she became capable of putting people under her spell in an evil way.
But yeah, back to the point of this post. Sometimes, and definitely in this case, sequels throw away all the good work done in the first issue. Especially when it comes to horror flicks. One cringes at the list of shame - Blair Witch Project 2, Ghostbusters 2 onwards, The Ring 2, Hannibal, Halloween 2, The Hills Have Eyes 2; get the idea? Let the dead rest, and let the undead fade into the night, I say. I'll explain why, with regards to ponty baby, in my review of the sequel in the very near future.
Back to the Banshee, Scent of the Tuberose, or so I'm led to understand.
So, what's there to like about this movie, you may ask. Well, quite a bit, I say. Firstly, Maya Karin. Then there's the Ponty who's, wait a minute, Maya Karin as well. Okay, there's more. The plot, while not exactly original, is simple and not confusing (for now). Woman is wronged, woman seeks revenge, woman is avenged. However, along the story, the Ponty does elicit genuine sympathy for her plight; after all, when human, she had everything going for her, until some moron decided to trip her.
The setting, circa 1958, is quite plausible since most people were still living in kampungs and riding bicycles back then. Personally, the timeline shouldn't have jumped several decades at the latter stages. Modernity robs the storyline of its rustic eeriness. Yet, trust the movie makers to compensate by ridding the present of handphones, laptops, civilisation and the fact that there are 24 hour eateries littered across the country these days. Yeah, I know it's still Kampung Paku Laris (literally Hot-selling Nails Village), but come on lah.
Where were we? Ah, yes, PHSM suffers from a common malaise that plagues almost every big budget fare made in Bolehland. The abuse of special effects. Think Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon stunts, executed with lesser perfection. It becomes so obvious FX and CGI (see, I do have some tech sense) form an integral part of the haunting, as do wiring and harnesses. A pity, cause a pontianak walking along a path or perched up a tree creates enough fear by herself, without the need for a shimmering silhouette, and blood-red eyes. And the wailing is atrocious.
Okay, the positives. Like I said briefly earlier, the kampung setting adds to the atmosphere, a village ripe for the taking. I would have knocked back several more years off the timeline, but I guess nobody wanted to see the vestiges of Japanese rule. The display of culture and dance is to be commended, though over-emphasised at times. The acting from some of the established stars is good, but the others fail to ignite even the slightest reason to suggest they can act. Oh, a massive plus point for PHSM is the theme song; I simply had to have it on my playlist. The lyrics spell clearly the relationship between the primadonna-ponty and the villain of the piece; it's not as one-dimensional as it is on-screen.
To be fair, the respective characters of both protagonists are well developed. There's the woman in love, the wronged woman, the vengeful woman, the spurned suitor, the obsessive stalker, the jealous rival and the repentant villain. Quite a tapestry of emotions, well acted out.
All in all, I'd give PHSM a Rotten Rambutans rating of 5/10. Not quite the ultimate horror scare of the decade but highly watchable and more than slightly intriguing. Oh, and because you-know-who's in it (which should be worth at least 10 points).
