SERU

It is a well-known fact that the horror genre is the main attraction that entices the Malaysian public to attend local film theatres and consequently it is also the biggest source of profit for Kuala Lumpur’s producers. Whereas in countries in which the climate is more temperate, such as Korea and Japan, the horror season is obviously the summer, in an equatorial territory such as Malaysia the production line that makes horror films remains active 365 days a year.

It should be no surprise then that the famous local digital new wave directors, applauded by international critics in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Rotterdam and Busan, when they try to ‘ask for money’ to finance new independent productions – or simply to make the necessary amount to get by, seeing that digital films which are successful overseas are rarely shown in Malaysian theatres - , often venture into making horror films, a genre which seems to have no connection with their previous works.

Then again, even in the sector of independent digital productions, the biggest box office success was the film in episodes Visits: Hungry Ghosts Anthology (2004) signed by two new wave pioneers,  Ho Yuhang and James Lee and by Low Ngai Yuen and Ng Tian Hann. In 2008, Amir Muhammad, author of numerous documentary pamphlets which caused great controversy in Malaysia – as well as the censored The Last Communist (2006), enjoyed great commercial success with Susuk (in actual fact completed by Naeim Ghalili following complicated production issues). Following Visits, James Lee embarked on a mainstream production with Histeria (2008) and in recent months he has determinedly become a prolific instigator of both Malaysian-language horror films with Sini Ada Hantu (2011) and Chinese-language films, with the interesting Claypot Curry Killers (2011).

It is in this context that we can understand why Woo Ming Jin, the first Malaysian director invited to the three major European festivals (Cannes, Venice and Berlin), but whose most recent films, the marvellous Woman on Fire Looks for Water (Venice 2009) and Tiger Factory (Cannes 2010) were not released in Malaysian film theatres, was also unable to resist to the temptation of horror..

Seru is in actual fact a project that Malaysia’s Chinese Woo developed with his friend and colleague Pierre André, a popular Malaysian actor and director, who Woo directed in his not very well-known second feature-length film – and his fist incursion in commercial films - Salon (2005) and who as a director, experienced his greatest success with the horror film,  Jangan Tegur (2009).

The co-authors had the bright idea of importing the successful model of The Blair Witch Project to Malaysia – and more recently, Paranormal Activity - , namely a video documentary which follows the progressive evolution of a threatening and uncontrollable phenomenon that leads to the inevitable elimination of the protagonists. The revelation that Seru remains true to the formula is certainly no spoiler. Less obvious are the details of the plot that in this case it is best not to reveal. It is enough to know that a film crew with the objective of shooting a horror film in the Malaysian rain forest finds itself facing devastating cases of possession and that the vehicles of the story become the video-cameras that were supposed to record the “making of” of the film itself.

It is a successful abyssal production, supported by a noticeably more professional and stylistically bolder realization than any other Malaysian horror film of the last decade. Inevitably, in fact, the film is built on the construction of long sequence shots that show a strength of acting, photography and sound which is superior to that which usually characterizes local productions. It may not be a revolutionary horror film on a global level, but fortunately Seru finally brings a complete dimension of professionalism and accuracy to Malaysian genre productions. A step forward which truly deserves to be supported.