From the first few frames of the Malaysian horror film Roh (which translates to Soul), you’re surrounded with an intense form of backwoods dread that something is definitely not right. It continues throughout the entire running time, creating a beautiful form of subtle terror few films are able to keep up for as long.
A small girl with decaying features follows a brother and sister — who’ve just seen a deer hanging by its necks, mind you — to their ramshackle hut. Though suspicious, the sister tries to help the girl. But after the child gives a freaky warning that the whole family will die in a couple of dies, she expires herself in a cascade of blood, leaving the family to bury her and keep the whole thing a secret.
A secret, that is, until a creepy woman and an even creepier man are, well, creeping around their house, both closer to the dead-eyed dead girl than they will ever admit. As the family tries to desperately fight the sincerely spooky hauntings, by the end, we don’t know if we’re looking into a nightmarish daydream or a brutal reality you can never wake up — or worse, die — from.
In Roh, the scares easily move between wholly atmospheric surrounding to absolutely terrifying jump cuts — something that should be impossible for a first-time feature director. The so-called masters of horror in the West could take plenty of lessons from Emil Ezwan, because in the delicately scant running time of 83 minutes, he’s crafted a horrific new legend I’m surprised Americans haven’t tried to rip off yet. —Louis Fowler