OCT 31 — In the last few months, I’ve been mentioning a fascinating new development in Malaysian cinemas as more and more small new players enter the film distribution industry, resulting in an increasing variety of films fighting for space on Malaysian cinema screens. 

What this variety means for a film geek like me is that I finally get to see all sorts of unlikely films turn up at Malaysian cinemas, from indie films to arthouse films, from B movies to even lower down the scale and beyond.

Nowhere is this more evident than the unbelievable amount of choices we have this week as FIVE new horror films are opening simultaneously here just in time for Halloween. And if you include Last Shift which opened last week and the Thai horror flick Under The Mask, that’s seven horror flicks for you to choose from! To help you choose the tricks from the treats, here’s the lowdown on the five new ones that opened this week.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

Say what you want about the Paranormal Activity franchise, but I’ve always had a soft spot for it and have always looked forward to every single installment, and my level of anticipation for this one is no different, especially since it’s being touted as the franchise’s closing chapter. 

Another story about yet another new family with a kid having an imaginary friend named Toby, this has all the requisite tension and jump scares that would make it a perfectly decent Paranormal Activity film, if it’s not the final chapter, that is. 

As a final chapter though, this one’s a totally missed opportunity as all the mythology that was built up in the previous films was barely even touched on, leaving so many lingering questions unanswered. But there’s still one major reason to see this – its use of 3D, even when it’s a lo-fi found footage flick, is quite ravishingly beautiful.

Howl

With Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension being the only Hollywood studio film in the whole pack, the rest are being made up of indies and B movies and Howl, a UK indie about werewolves attacking a small group of passengers on a train stranded in the middle of the forest, has turned out to be a surprisingly thrilling and action packed werewolf flick.

Cleverly maximising its low budget by setting most of the film inside one location, which is the train, even the werewolf make-up and effects look pretty good, so if werewolves are your thing, then you’ll know what to catch this Halloween weekend!

The Sand

A certified low budget B movie from the US, right from its mostly unknown cast (except for the lead actress, whom genre fans might remember from All Cheerleaders Die) down to the single location storyline and cheerfully cheap-looking CGI, The Sand scores decent enough points for being able to sustain its flimsy plot reasonably well. 

Genre fans will instantly recall the 80s classic Blood Beach and The Raft segment in Creepshow 2 as The Sand cooks up a plot involving a small group of friends who wake up from a night of partying at the beach to find out that there’s something in the sand around them that will pull them in and kill them if any part of their body touches the ground. 

The acting is shaky a lot of the time, the directing and editing no better, but if you’re up for a round of watching pretty young people in skimpy outfits getting knocked off one by one, this will probably do.

Purgatory

What is it with Spanish horror films and their ability to blend suspense, frights and deeply felt emotions that makes the trick never seem old? Purgatory may be on a much lower end of the budget scale, but it’s hands down the best film on this list and it joins the illustrious likes of The Devil’s Backbone, The Orphanage, The Others and quite a few more as outstanding Spanish-made horror films that will touch and even break your heart. 

Again mostly set in a single location, in this case a new apartment which the lead character Marta, who’s still grieving after losing her child, has just moved into. A neighbour drops in and asks Marta to help look after her son while she goes to the hospital, and strange things start to happen around her and the neighbor’s son, all seemingly connected to her dead child. To divulge more would spoil the film’s pleasures, but please do yourself a favour and go see this efficient and simple little heartbreaker.

Tales Of Halloween

If Purgatory is the best film on this list, then this anthology film, involving 10 segments and 11 directors, is without a doubt the most entertaining one. With so many segments and so many creative minds involved, we get a little bit of everything here, from straight up frights in segments like “Sweet Tooth” and “Trick” to the more delightfully comic tone of segments like “The Night Billy Raised Hell” and “The Ransom Of Rusty Rex.”

While Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent), Lucky McKee (May, The Woman) and Darren Lynn Bousman (Mother’s Day, Repo! The Genetic Opera) are the most recognizable directors here, the absolute highlight for me is the segment by Mike Mendez (The Gravedancers, Big Ass Spider!), titled “Friday The 31^st”in which what began as your typical backwoods slasher story evolves (or maybe devolves?) into a wonderful piece of demented nonsense involving aliens, physically deformed hillbillies/rednecks and loads of cheerful carnage.

An absolute hoot, this will cheer up any Halloween party!

*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.