Resurrection (Seru)

A Tayangan Unggul presentation of Hanamia Services production. (International sales: Astro Shaw, Selangor.) Produced by Gayatri Su Lin Pillai, Mohammed Helmi Yusof, Nazrul Asraff. Directed, written by Woo Ming Jin, Pierre Andre.With: Ahmad Shaarnaz, Khatijah, Nisha Dirr, Cut Mutia, Awal Ashaari, Pierre Andre, Nora Danish, Dewa Sapri. (Malay, English dialogue)Murky color and jerky movement are the most memorable elements in postmodern Malaysian splatter film "Resurrection," in which fest auteur Woo Ming Jin ("The Tiger Factory") collaborates with thesp/co-director Pierre Andre on this exercise in first-person point-of-view cinema. The wobble-cam effect makes this nested narrative less notable for its numerous bloody deaths than its nausea-inducing lensing. Although the film expands Malaysian horror's limited menu, local auds failed to arise when it was released locally in April. International interest will be confined to genre fests. The pic wears its multiple references on its sleeve, the action beginning with a scare lifted straight out of Thai horror film "Shutter," with a ghost appearing in front of a speeding car. The sequence culminates with Zed (Awal Ashaari), Bob (co-helmer Pierre Andre) and Yana (Nora Danish) burying a body somewhere in the Malaysian jungle. Mid-burial, a sudden swish pan reveals a film crew lensing the action, their work suddenly interrupted when a member has a fit and begins foaming at the mouth. With the intro now exposed as an homage-driven film within a film, producer Lina (Khatijah) steps in and addresses a camera being used by the "making of" crew to announce that the screaming, writhing woman is in fact possessed. The disrupted feature is shut down for the night, but other cameras keep rolling. Fearing that the crew may have disturbed a ghost, the filmmakers call in a local shaman (Dewa Sapri) to neutralize -- unsuccessfully as it turns out -- any supernatural activity. The narrative shuffles between the two points of view: that of the "making of" camera, as those crew members go in search of a missing make-up girl; and that of the production's main camera, which keeps on rolling to document the shaman's handiwork. Both story threads are intertwined, but the combination is too insubstantial to create real tension. Virtually dispensing with a first act, the script offers insufficient time to identify, let alone connect with the characters onscreen. Co-helmers Woo and Andre's obvious excitement for filmmaking technology is evident in their restless use of different viewpoints and electrical feedback to accompany every cross-camera jump cut. But knowing film hardware doesn't compensate for a substandard yarn where all actions are explained and motivations are told rather than shown. The HD lensing has a brown-green tone that dilutes the gore impact of the violence, but could aggravate handheld-camera-induced nausea in some auds. All other tech credits are pro.Camera (color, HD), Wan Chung Hung; editor, Akashdeep Singh; music, Azman Abu Hassan; art director, Nazrul Asraff Mahzan. Reviewed at PiFan Film Festival (Puchon Choice), July 16, 2011. Running time: 84 MIN. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com