User Reviews

A Malaysian folktale horror that took place in the wood. This was quite a creepy atmosphere due to the slow-pace and secluded area. The first half really unnerved me but also kept me interested in the mystery.

However, towards the end I just realized how convoluted the story was. Maybe it's just me, but it shouldn't be this confusing.

Overall, it's still a creepy one. 6.5/10.

Bringing new blood to Malaysian horror, 'Roh' provides a suitably unsettling destination for fans of darkly atmospheric horror. While it's sparse in plot and setting, Emir Ezwan's skilful and careful execution, in the staging, composition, editing and excellent photography, elevates the story further and covers up most of the film's missteps.

I feel pretty down the middle on this one. I was invested, but maybe not riveted. It delivers the necessities competently, never feeling derivative, but not totally something you haven't seen before. I couldn't always see where it was going, but I wasn't that surprised when it got there. It's the pinnacle of the slow burn, taking it's time but properly peppering in some shockingly morose scenes, and definitely not shying away from violence towards children. The cinematography is lovely, though that generally just amounts to a multitude of slow shots of the jungle, the droning music hammers home the moody atmosphere.

I don't wanna come off too harshly, it's clearly an indie picture due to how sparse it all is, but it looks great and the performances are excellent. Basically everyone involved did good at their jobs, which is a pretty solid accomplishment for first time director Emir Ezwan. The minimalism is a bit of a patience tester, so it'll be down to individual tastes how effective that is. If you're a fan of folk horror and stuff like The Witch, this might be up your alley. It feels like a wise old sage spinning a dark tail of the evils of the old world, delivered at a steady, deliberate pace with very little light at the end of the tunnel.

This one started out great for me. Super atmospheric and visually beautiful with a solid creep factor. As it went on, the story got more and more convoluted and slightly confusing to the point that it fell apart for me a bit. However I wouldn't let that deter you from watching it, it just dropped it from a 7 to a 6.5, ultimately leaving it at a 6.

Regardless, beautiful atmospheric slow burn folk horror, would recommend .

Cinematography wise it is a nice 6.5/10 with the placement of each elements in a frame. The details of each character and connections are there. It keeps it's culture of Malaysia but with the setting years back and inspired by Japanese folk story. There are plot twists, some slasher and few gore scenes. The vibe is ala The Witch 2015.

A creepy & ill-omened folk horror that invokes its eerie vibe, foreboding tone & uncomfortable aura from the remote wilderness setting its plot operates in, Roh (Soul) relies on its minimalist style, relaxed pace & central mystery to envelop the viewers into its grasp and only gets more unnerving as it progresses. There are however a few confusing bits in it that go over the head.

Directed by Emir Ezwan in his directorial debut, the story concerns a family of three who live an isolated life in the forest but soon find their quiet existence disrupted after the arrival of a mysterious girl with an unsettling prediction. Ezwan's direction exhibits ample restraint as he allows the sinister atmosphere to set up gradually and lets each scene play out in its entirety.

Assisting the director in bringing his vision to life on the screen is the methodical camerawork, brilliant sound design & restless score. Every new stranger turning up at the family's doorstep only amplifies the film's dark, ominous mood with their undisclosed identity & intention. As for the performances, the amateurish & unpolished acts aren't a plus but they're still serviceable.

Overall, Roh combines folklore, superstitions, spirits, omens, sickness, devilry, death, rituals & premonitions into a bleak & unforgiving fable of a family that gets ruthlessly torn apart by evil forces. The final act runs longer than required plus the local flavours & context at play remain lost on foreign viewers but this indie art-house horror from Malaysia is oddly fascinating if not wholly satisfying.

Roh: Malaysian folk Horror dealing with the tropes of demons, possession and reanimation through sui generis elements of necromancy. A family living in the jungle attract the attentions of an undead little girl. Some of the characters portrayed are more archetypes than individuals, a hunter, a shaman. The use of soil and birds in the rituals and the need to compete them is emphasised, the penalty for a mistake is death. Some interesting plot twists in a film shot entirely in a dark hut or the jungle. Directed and Co-Written by Emir Ezwan. On Netflix. 7/10.

The movie doesn't have that suspense build up nor some backstory/ introduction. It doesn't even fit in a slow burn horror movie, was not even scared and a snooze fest. Loose scripts and doesn't drive us to get along the journey of "chaosness". Too many unknown and unconnected mysteries which leave us feeling disappointed.

The only hype for this Roh is just the cinematography and that's all.

It wasn't that good. The only amazing thing here was the cinematography

The plot is simple. It is about a mother and her 2 kids. One day they were visited by a little girl who woke up the next day with a prophesy that the whole family will be killed by the next full moon. They were then visited by 2 strangers and strange events followed. One of the stranger reminds me of Hantu Galah, a man who went out one day to find a white deer for his pregnant wife. He ended up killing all the animals and cursed by the jungle spirits. He never came home.

But Roh is not a story about Hantu Galah. It is something else.

It is not a horror about screams. It is a horror movie that gives you feels and that is scary.

There are no special and cheap gimmicky effects that flood many horror films. Either I have not seen that many horror films as I would like to claim, I could not recall any borrowed scenes from Western horror movies to induce fear and screams.

It moves on a glacial pace ( maybe too slow for some kot) bringing audience shudder as it slowly moves from one scene to the next.

Without a heavy plot and special effects, Roh relies a lot on the jungle for its soul. The cinematography is excellent that it feels like a disservice to call it as an insta-worthy scenes in motion for a movie that is cheap in budget but high on class.

The ending makes you want to watch it all over again, to catch back what you missed before. There is a good message behind the movie. From the opening where it quoted Quran verses to the end, it made me wonder why the characters did not notice the signs in the middle. Why must you be reminded of God by evil?

Try and watch this. To me, when a movie refused to escape from my mind immediately but chose to meander in my thoughts urging me to blog, it is a good movie.

Too overrated, i dont know what to say here. But this is one of the best horror movie so far in malaysia

I couldn't finish the movie. It made me really sleepy through out the film. They tried to build up a story, but it's too slow. The whole story take place in the wood and not a lot of interesting things happens. I have a feeling that this movie should be a short film instead.

Watched the movie, I must say the setting, scares & plot are great and captures my interest. However the acting was too mediocre to support the story. It could be better with good actors. But not a movie to recommend.

I am usually the first to dissent from saying that a certain film is the foreign equivalent of another, but in this case the comparison helps me identifying the tone and target audience of who will appreciate this film.

It's a slow burn, devoid of any mainstream sensationalism that makes the horror genre suffer lately. It's definitely more of an arthouse work, that cares more about constructing a narrative than making the audience get a heart attack.

Like, as I learned, most of the latter horror films from far east, Roh draws from local folklore. What makes Roh more interesting is the sense of mystery that sorrounds the events.

In a clear choice, the dialogue is minimal and there is heavy subtraction. In other words, much is implied, not said, assumed, and this makes the ending, although clear, with unanswered questions.

I mentioned "The Witch" because the tone is very similar, although the setting is somewhat radically different, and the different culture makes the seemingly similar plots very radically different.

Roh is Emir Ezwan's directorial debut, and as such, it is outstanding. I hope that we get to see more from him in the near future.

I have seen "Roh" at the Far East Film Festival Online. Despite the first "official" screening is on the 3rd of July, all the films of the films can be seen at any time during the festival days.

It's like giving someone who can't cook all the best ingredients and the best modern Kitchen but the person doesn't know how to cook. The movie looks beautiful and the pacing is nice, acting also good, but the the ending is just horrible. Watched with family and friends but no one understood the movie and we all felt like we were taken for a ride. The pay off for waiting and following the movie till the end is not there. Could have been the best Malaysian movie but ended up making the audience angry.

The movie is shot beautifully, and the acting is nowhere near as bad as some here are saying. But this movie is SLOW, and not in a way that successfully holds tension for very long.

The ending is a mess and some of the final events are nonsensical, suggesting that maybe there was some over-aggressive editing to cut down the length.

I'm a big fan of Southeast Asian horror, but this is one you'll want to give a miss.

Very bad movie. Don't watch it. It's not horrible.

One of the greatest film that I've seen in Malaysian Cinema. Not like any other typical that we usually see in other horror film. This film doesn't rely on cheap jump scare but more into the story. There's a hidden message behind this film too.

In technical aspect, I think everything is perfect. The cinematography is stunningly beautiful. The production design is well taken care of that I don't see any flaw. The music score also fit the feel that it try to potray. This film also take care of color grading perfectly where we don't usually see in other film in Malaysian Cinema. The film is worth watching.

Seems like a horror movie for people that don't liked to be scared which to me is what horror should be about it's called horror for a reason sucks so many horror movies these days that don't scare and more like a drama boring where's the scary movies damn it I get it's more dramatic now so they hit a bigger audience but damn I miss me a truly scary masterpiece for real. Nothing these days really scares me the most recent one I can think of was dead silence. Slashers aren't scary their very predictable but Halloween is still good lately paranormal activity was a bit scary but not truly Asian horror from Japan or Korea is really good but not enough coming out I just want something that scares you to the core where you wanna sleep with the lights on but I guess my problem is maybe I'm so used to scary movies that they don't have that hit anymore.

Although the budget was limited in making this movie (and I knew that fact before immersing myself), 'Roh' supplies viewers with a perpetual sense of calm and dreadfulness throughout the film. I honestly applaud the producers for achieving a fearful atmosphere with a low budget and relatively cheap special effects. The movie is indeed rather ominous and slow-paced (too slow imo), and few words are spoken from each character. It is thus imperative not to miss out on key conversations and dialogue between them.

In the exposition, we can see that the film is going to dance around Malaysian folktales, legends, and religion (Islam). A very spiritual and supernatural kind of horror. The film's target audience is definitely any one person who is familiar with such stories or is religiously Islamic.

Overall, the plot is quite simple, but the flow and direction sometimes may leave you confused and desiring more. The climax has a little twist but unravels itself unsatisfactorily like many stereotypical horror films. I have seen A LOT of horror movies, and this one will not leave a lasting impression. You will be left with unanswered questions.

"Roh" is a Malay language folk horror film which was first premiered at Singapore International Film Festival in 2019. It was screened at various international film festivals after 2019. This film was Malaysia's official submission for the international feature film category in the Oscars.

"Roh" means "Soul". A mother lives with her two children at a hut in the middle of a secluded forest. The family starts to experience supernatural happenings after the appearance of a mysterious girl. The duration of the movie is 83 minutes but all the mysteries will unfold at the last 5 minutes. Metaphors and symbols are used to represent many religious motifs. References of Iblis and Adam from Quranic verses are also taken here.

The most amazing part of this movie is cinematography. Saifuddin Musa did a terrific job by creating an eerie atmosphere throughout the whole film. Performances of each and everyone are mind blowing. This film contains no jumpscares but it has many disturbing scenes. You'll get to see a perfect blend of Islamic folklore and Malay black magic.

If you're comfortable watching slow burn folk horror movies, then you shouldn't miss "Roh".

One of the best supernatural horror of the year. Without a heavy plot and special effects, this film rellies a lot on the jungle. Great cinematography and creepy atmosphere. A well done slow burn horror.

Living in a remote jungle village, a young boy and his family find a feral girl alone in the woods and decide to bring her into their home, but shortly after doing so are afflicted with a series of strange incidents and tragedies that they trace to being the girls' fault and must unravel her dark secret before more are harmed.

Frankly, this one turned out incredibly enjoyable. The biggest attribute present in the film is the impeccable atmosphere created around the remote village that plays up the isolation and superstition that runs rampant in the area. Visually, this is impressive with the evil, foreboding sense of the jungle around them and something living out there they better not mess with, which is helped along by the dark stories about what's out in the woods and the series of accidents that befalls them soon after. This concept carries out the chilling notion that they've contracted something far more dangerous than they bargained for simply by being good samaritans. Since they ended up taking in the little girl from the jungle, their unknowing of the true danger awaiting them and falling into the supernatural through pure bad luck carries a lot of weight as things begin to spiral out of control. With these scenes taking place within the colorful jungle that takes up so much of the running time enhancing their isolation and bringing their surroundings into focus to play off of, there's some great scenic work at play here. On top of that, the film scores solidly with the more overt horror thrills. The initial opening of the body being burned in the mud and then ceremoniously stabbed provides a chilling start to things much like when the family brings the girl into their home. Once that happens, the strange incidents around them begin to pile up, from the brutal slaughter of their animals to unexplained sudden onslaught of fevers to sightings of something lurking around their house which all gradually build the sense of unease and dread hinting at from before in especially chilling manners. With the supernatural events getting so bad that a local healer must be brought in, the sense of black magic rituals and ceremonies that are performed in a futile attempt to ward off the sinister forces at play not only fit into the groundwork of the universe but also add a fun dimension to the film. As the effects of the curse start to take hold and the events get bloodier, this picks up considerably, providing great action and some brutal effects-work that gives the film plenty to enjoy. There really isn't much to dislike with this one. The main issue some might find fault with would be the measured and relaxed pacing that some might find too slow. With the limited cast, no grand-scale set pieces and a methodical build that continually puts events on-screen but done intentionally, the calculated approach could be taken to read as a slower-moving film than it really is. The constant scenes out walking in the jungle or working on ways to protect themselves from the mystical forces around the village do get old with everything playing out like repeated versions of the sequences which is another factor to this one not really feeling like a faster-moving effort. With all the real danger and secrets being revealed in the finale, this is a more realistic issue as the build-up doesn't have much rhyme or reason until the very end of the film. The series of revelations and turns there provide this with much darker material to work with than expected but also means it's almost over before finding anything out which could've been spread out more in the film. That is the main flaw here although the other issue might pop up.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, violence-against-animals and children-in-jeopardy.

I recently viewed the Malaysian film ROH (2019) on Prime. The storyline revolves around a single mom raising her children in a small hut outside her village. Their lives take a dark turn when a seemingly needy little girl arrives on their doorstep, unknowingly bringing a curse that threatens their survival.

Directed by Emir Ezwan in his directorial debut, the film stars Putri Qaseh (Walid), Namron (Gadoh), Farah Ahmad (Jibam), and Harith Haziq (Beautiful Pain).

This is a meticulously crafted film with impressive settings, strong acting, and a compelling storyline. The premise is intriguing, establishing effective family dynamics. The little girl adds a creepy element, and the "when the moon is full, all of you will die" scene is well-executed. The use of camera angles and lighting effectively enhances the eerie atmosphere, while the kills feature solid blood splatter and gore. Scenes like the rough head-banging and the person set on fire are notably well-done. The conclusion is sad, sudden, and intense, adding depth to the narrative.

In conclusion, ROH stands out as a unique addition to the horror genre, offering solid horror elements that make it a must-see for fans of the genre. I would give it a score of 7.5/10 and strongly recommend it.