Name: The Real Pocong
Genre: Horror
Released: 2009-03-05
Duration: 1 h 38 min
Rating: 5.7
Cast: Nabila Syakieb, Ashraf Sinclair, Sakinah Dava Erawan

After finally having their own home, a couple and their daughter try to adjust to living out in the wilderness which eventually forces them to come to terms with the rumors of the house being haunted by the spirit of a vicious ghost looking to kidnap the daughter and must try to save her from the ghost.

Generally speaking, the film has a lot to like. Where it works best is the fun and engaging setup that brings the family to the remote house in the first place. The general idea of the family being much more accustomed to city-life moving out into the countryside not just to escape the noise and stress that entails but also for their financial constraints serves this nicely by addressing the common trope of why they're unwilling to leave the location when it starts to get spooky since they have no choice. By calling out the various sightings the daughter has in the surrounding woods or the reported incidents they have which highlight something not being right in the area as being unfamiliar with the area and the move to a new house, there's a rather fun old-school haunted house setup present in the film. That plays into the attachment to the cat that she finds left behind or the strange lullaby that she begins singing that signals something much more sinister at play but just gets written off as adjusting to the surroundings. As well, the film features a really enjoyable tone once the ghost is revealed and starts attacking the family. With the early scenes hinting that something might be hanging around the house with brief glimpses of someone or something lurking through windows spying on them or just being aware that a figure has terrified the daughter, the intriguing setup here prepares this to move into the supernatural involving the discovery of the Pocong's presence and the daughter's abduction. Featuring a rather fun seance gone wrong, the father heading off on a special journey to recapture the daughter and a big confrontation with the being holding her hostage along with the other ghost children, there are some chilling sequences in this section that highlights the danger posed by the creature haunting the family and setting the stage for the series of intriguing ideas in the final half where the action picks up considerably. Aware of the ruse that has occurred and the double-switch involving the identity swap of the particular characters, her terrified state that emerges here creates a chilling setup involving the desire to warn her mother to return and attempt to rescue her. That provides the launch to a fun series of revelations and remarks about what's going on and who the ghost really is and what she wants with the daughter as the backstory revelation about what happened and the final method for stopping the ghost which generates a lot of enjoyable aspects that have a lot to like. These aspects provide this with plenty of likable qualities to hold it up over its few minor flaws. There aren't too many drawbacks to the film but there are a couple. The main detriment here is the story that focuses way too much on aping other films instead of being original and clever. Way too often the audience is far ahead of the characters in here because of the lack of originality in the concepts being employed. The constant attempts at jump-scares with the ghost popping up in windows or trying to come up behind unsuspecting victims feel copied from so many foreign genre efforts. In addition, there are also some logic problems here about figuring out quite easily what's going on involving the ghost trying to lure and kidnap her away from the house any way she can but not being subtle about it. This is most evident in the inane decision-making skills of the mother, barely able to recognize what's happening to her daughter as she's obviously terrified but doesn't do anything about it. As well, there's also the rather underwhelming and unappealing CGI present here, managing to make a lot of the scenes look obvious and detrimentally fake that borders on laughable at times. Overall, it's not enough to truly drag this down completely but it does come down somewhat from what it could've been.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Language, and children-in-jeopardy.

The horror genre features stories that aim to elicit fear, suspense, and a sense of dread in its audience. Horror stories often explore themes related to the unknown, the supernatural, and the macabre, and they frequently evoke strong emotional reactions such as anxiety, terror, and unease.

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The Real Pocong

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