COMEDY
Comedy comes in all shapes and sizes. Both are connected in a way, structurally at least, which is why we’ll find there are many comedic horror stories out there. The set-up, the punchline/reveal, and the exaggeration/turn—the same three things for both genres. One can set-up as horror then punchline as comedy as in SATU SUKU (John Hafiz), DON’T STAY UP LATE (Its Zeeha), SIAPA? (Jude Jerry), TOYOL MAK KIAH REMBAT (Ajieh Tahir), ADA MAKHLUK DI SITU (Yusof Sadjirin), SEBELUM HANTU KOBIT DUDUK RUMAH KAU (Wou Media), GET OUT (Winghong Phoon), and SERAM KUARINTIN (SYOKKK SENDIRI CHANNEL).
The dark comedy variation, where we’ll find the winner VIRUS MAIRUS (Gogularaajan Rajendran), and HUTANG (Jofwiel Jubir). The unintentional comedy, or the type of humour that’s only funny when you think about it, such as THE GUITAR (Arif Aiman Ahmad) and AINEDRAG (mekyorke). The absurdist comedy horror, SANTAN MENYOROK (Blindwood Studio), which I had to use VPN to watch it, and for all its troubles, it was quite good. Finally, there’s one unique film, where it started as a comedy but ended as a horror show, IRIS SANG TERBANG (Sheikh Rashid Sheikh Abdullah).
VLOGGER/FOUND FOOTAGE
This is the social media version of the found footage concept. There are also heavy uses of video calls ala “Unfriended” (Leo Gabriadze, 2014) but not all of them frame their story fully around it. Not all films in this category can be considered found footage too, they just start with vlogging and soon forget about the framing device I guess. Films in this trope are such as 15:45 (Think Media), CUCI TANGAN (Zikri Rahman), THE STORY (Aldina Azani), POCONG SALAH RUMAH (Soleh Evans), BLOODY MARY (Wani J), LOST TAPES: SERUAN (Macbeth Tubang), LIMA (Fahmi Zamari), DELUSIO (Sathishwararao), and YOUR BROTHER’S HOME, ISN’T HE? (Joshua Chin).
EROTICISM/VOYEURISM
I was looking back at the discussions of two legendary mangakas, Naoki Urasawa with Junji Ito in “Urasawa Naoki no Manben” TV show. They posited that beauty contrasts well with the grotesque— with Urasawa Naoki further hypothesizing that horror and eroticism might be coming from the same source of wanting to see more. This idea also prevails in films, as the godfather of horror films, Alfred Hitchcock does use the camera in a voyeuristic manner that influences all other horror films to this day.
Talking about Hitchcock, many entries employ a shower scene in their stories, but most felt more like a regular one rather than with voyeuristic intent. It really has nothing to do with gender or sexuality, but there needs to be a specific type of “gaze”, as in RED WINE (Timothy Stephen). For the type that was discussed by the two legendary mangakas, where beauty contrasts with horror, it might not be as clear, but I can see it in PERINTAH (Azri Z Yusof), BAYANGAN MS LILY (Aarenkang), and FLIK SERAM 02 (Cech Andrea).
PSA
This trope is almost unavoidable for two reasons: one, many Malaysians still see horror as a didactic genre, to teach something. The films were made during the RMO, where there are many new social rules that we need to follow. It at times feels more like a long PSA advert on TV, some are funny, some are way too straight. They are NEXT (Irham Rusaidi), RINDU (Imanizz E’am), SERAM KUARINTIN (SYOKKK SENDIRI CHANNEL), HANTU CORONA (Leleng Wanderer Ent), JIN KAFIR (Faindra Jabbar), DUDUK RUMAH (Criedfizcken), and SEBELUM HANTU KOBIT DUDUK RUMAH KAU (Wou Media).
MENTAL HEALTH/PSYCHOLOGICAL
Mental health was one of the significant issues highlighted by many during the start of the pandemic, with the RMO and being isolated at home. There were four ways filmmakers in this competition who tackled this issue.
The first made PSA’s of sorts, to remind the viewers to take care of their own mental health and do check-up on their friends and family such as HARI TERAKHIR (Fadzil Mohamad) and HALUSINASI (Shahanz Akbar). The second is characters going crazy during the RMO period with a hint of PSA such as PATRICIDE (Hafiz Rashid), LOCKDOWN (Daarshaan Gopal Krishnan), BAWANG, PISAU DAN ISMAT (Hadi Pahmi), THE SLAVES (Hasib Anwar), MOLAR PAIN (Digital Panda Studio), SLEEP [NOT AWAKE] (Adli Shinichi), LOVE BITE (Vevainedra Hendry), ISANISULAH (Shameel Sharifuddin), and DAY 10 (Wong Tuck Hon).
The third is similar but with already psychopath killers being in lockdown such as LOCK DOWN (Sharveen Rajen), HOUZIES (Ditut Production), and CARI UNTUNG (ROCFO). The last is more conceptual as it blurs the line between psychology and horror, the type of horror stories that I particularly like as in PERSIMPANGAN (Mafidz), NEGO-NEGO (Asyraf Bakti), BISIKAN: LAMBAIAN NGERI MENGECAM JIWA (Orun Afron), and LUCIDUS (Calvin Khor).
CANNIBALS/ZOMBIE
I was surprised at seeing how many cannibal-based entries there are in this competition. The worry about lack of food does creep up during the early days of RMO, and it was reflected in films such as FILLET (Nick Davis), MEATBALL (Wan Amir Productions), EAT ATE EATEN (Peh Ean Jei), DINNER (Low Kyle Chung), and LOVE BITE (Vevainedra Hendry).
Zombie, on the other hand, despite the sub-genre is no longer that popular, the internet got busy with zombie-related conspiracy during the early days of the pandemic. It’s no surprise at least three filmmakers took this approach, LOCKDOWN (El Helmikhir), 2023 (Azrai Paharodzi), and DELUSIO (Sathishwararao).
CONCEPTUAL/OTHERS
Conceptual horror is not easy to describe as it is where I’m putting a wide variety of movies in. Some will take the approach of “what if A is scary”, like what if chairs are scary as in IF YOU TOLERATE THIS YOUR CHILDREN WILL BE NEXT (Hasbi Ghazali). What if the pandemic itself is the horror if we think about it as in SURE (Kambe Pictures), THE NIGHT (IH Studio), TERAKHIR (Abdul Rahman Shah), WHAT IF (Adaptasi Production), and DON’T GO (Sidney Chan). Some others went meta with being haunted while writing a horror story/script as in PUISI TENTANG HANTU (J. Films), YOU HAD ME AT HELLO (Adam & Arief Freddy), SIAPA? (Faizal Sulaiman), and ARADHANA (Nanthakumar Rajagopal).
Some went experimental with an audiovisual experience such as in WHO: WHAT’S HAPPENING OUTSIDE (Visual Temple), LIMBO. (Muhammad Ammar Adzim), and DÉJÀ VU (Goh Lee Kwang). There are some with time/space loops such as ROHti (Hamda Aziz), LIMA (Fahmi Zamari), and THE CONFINEMENT (Nicholas Chong Sik Yang).
Others, such as MISI (SKHAYD PRODUCTION), a police procedural; ABANG JANJI (Khairul Hafizar), a dramatic horror movie; MINGGU-MINGGU WABAK (Walid Ali Studio) with a documentary slant; and IF ONLY IF (Chen YunHao) about the sudden death of a loved one.
