Review of “Al-Hijab” film (dual-language)

I was watching “Selamat Pagi Malaysia” (Good Morning Malaysia) on TV1 yesterday morning, where they featured an interview with the cast of the new Malay film “Al Hijab” (well, only Pierre Andre and Maimon Mutalib were there). They’re doing a promotion run of the film, with tell-tale stories of behind the scenes of making the film, the eerie location of the shooting, and the ghosts they encountered.

Al-Hijab

As the movie opens at cinemas yesterday (6th October), I thought it might be fun to go and watch the movie. How wrong was I.

Synopsis : Rafael (Pierre Andre) is an actor who doesn’t believe in ghosts. One day, he’s offered the lead role in a horror movie and is very excited to carry it but fails to get into the groove due to his beliefs. He travels to many apparently haunted places but sees nothing that will help him act the part. His girlfriend Qiss (Fathia) tells her mother about Rafael’s plight and finally she reveals to him what “hijab” is. It is said that Rafael will finally “see”, if his “hijab” is open.

I was expecting a lot from Pierre actually. Coming from the successful “Jangan Pandang Belakang” movie, it shows that Pierre can ready writes about horror story, and telling it from a different point of view, slightly unconventional I might say.

That said, after 4 years of making that movie, one will expect that Pierre will come up with an even more scary movie, or more than less, a sequel of the “Jangan Pandang Belakang” film. But I was left disappointed.

For the “Al-Hijab”, Pierre took the helm as the director, screenwriter and lead actor. This is a bold move for Pierre, for the fact that he’s considered new in the business (just like Syamsul Yusof).

Note: The following entry will be in Bahasa Malaysia (Malay language)

Lepas 30 minit filem dah bermain, teman dah boleh agak arah tuju filem ini (sama seperti filem2 Melayu yang lain). Oleh itu, selepas 90 minit berlangsung, teman hanya boleh komen yang berikut:

• Pierre Andre nih patut pilih salah satu, samada nak berlakon atau mengarah. Nampak gayanya dia tak boleh nak buat dua2 (macam Syamsul Yusof gak la…tengok ajer la citer dia dalam Khurafat tuh). Adalah disarankan agar Pierre Andre memilih salah satu profession dalam satu masa, bagi memudahkan konsentrasi;
• Idea untuk filem ini memang bagus, dan hampir2 ‘original‘ jalan citernya. Tapi, kupasan jalan cerita lemah, macam takde idea nak buat macamana. Memang rugi;
• Opening gambit dipermulaan filem sepatutnya dibuat dengan lebih impact. Teman tengok executionnya lemah dan tidak mendatangkan minat untuk menonton seterusnya;
• Kenapa skripnya begitu lemah? Langsung takde kreativiti dalam dialog;
• Hantu2 yang dipaparkan langsung tidak mengerikan/menakutkan. Dan kekadang masa tengok filem nih, teman terfikir, kenapa Pierre Andre buat hantu simple sangat? Takut kena censored ker?;
• Menampilan khas Bell Ngasri & Munir di tengah2 filem ini adalah sangat2 menghiburkan, walaupun hanya sekejap. Munir memang serasi dengan jenaka selamba. Agaknya kalau takde scene diorang, apa jadi filem ini?;
• Ini filem ker, atau drama? Macam produksi drama ajer!;
• Pierre dan Nur Fathia takde chemistry langsung, macamana nak berlakon jadi pasangan kekasih? Tapi Nur Fathia sangatlah sluurrpppp! Loves her in her Sunsilk ad!
• Spoiler alert! Pada hujung filem ini, jalan ceritanya seakan2 tergantung. Mungkin kah ada sequel? Kalau ada, memang bagus sangat lah. Semoga dalam part 2 atau part 3 nanti, lebih dasyat special effect hantu2nya. Kalau guna CGI pun takpe, janji menakutkan. Tapi kalau takde sequal, apahei cerita macam tak habis, yop?
• Another Spoiler alert! Sepatutnya, lepas hijab dibukak, bukan ke patutnya seseorang tuh akan nampak hantu disekeliling dia, dan bukannya secara selektif? Ya la, hantu (iaitu syaitan) ada di mana2, so patutnya kalu udah nampak hantu, pandang kiri kanan pun boleh nampak. Ini tak, kekadang ajer nampaknya, tapi cuma hantu yang tak menakutkan plak.

Akhir kata teman, kalau kome2 nak lapangkan kepala sambil berehat2, pegi la tengok filem ini. Tapi jangan letak harapan yang tinggi, sebab kome takkan jumpa apa yang kome cari.

Kalau tanya teman, teman memang tak puas hati bila tengok filem ini. Terpaksa teman buat marathon tengok citer lain plak, citer orang puteh plak tuh. Bila masa keluor aje panggung, teman rasa macam tercari2 dan tertanya2, citer apa yang teman tengok tadi? Oleh itu, teman bagi filem ini: dua bintang (**) dari lima. Kalu dikenang2kan, sampai bila filem kita nih nak jadi macam ini, asyik setengah masak ajer. Walaupun kutipan kat panggung dapat juta2, tapi kualiti takde. Jangan sampai penonton tertipu, sudah la yop!

Check out the trailer below: