Congkak (Sungka) Movie Review

SYNOPSIS:

Kazman a dedicated husband has decided to buy a bungalo for their family in the outskirts near a lake, as a family getaway each time they want to leave the city life. Sufiah, his wife, didn't agree much with the idea but Kazman has promised his friend that he would purchase the house so he went along with it. Many strange occurance happend along the way to their bungalo including the strange loss of his handphone. As they got their Sufiah wasn't much at ease with the house and begged Kazman to leave immediately but he stood stil with his decision and moved in the bungalo.

Sufiah felt very uneasy most of the times as if she was being watched by another person. Her daughter Lisa would always go downstairs at night to a dark room playing congkak with someone whom seh could only see. Sufiah not pleased with these happenings threw away the congkak in the lake.

Sufiah was awaken again the next night hearing the congkak being played in the same room. As Sufiah went to check the room she saw an old lady was playing the congkak. Many other weird things began to happen with the dissapearence of her daughters as well.
Pak Tua, the oldest resident in that area came to the bungalo to rescue the family and find Ely and Lisa.

Actually, i didn't expect that we'll gonna watch this movie fir the reason na may duty pa kami ng 6am to 2pm and we usually go home after that para matulog ulit. Kasi naman ang aga-aga ng gising namin at talagang kailangan naming magbawi. Kaso napauwi kami ng maaga at 12nn kaya habang naglalakad-lakad kami ni Carmela ay na-curious kami sa Congkak title na nakapost sa Cinema ng Robinson's Ermita.

Well, as usual, nagtrip kami naman na manuod nito after playing at G-Box! Haha!

Me and Carmela

Other Reviews on Congkak

First impression of the movie is that it's reminiscent of Othman Hafsham's "Rahsia" from back in 1987, which saw Noor Kumalasari and Shukery Hashim in the leading roles. Basically, the movie tells the story of a family who want to break away from hustle and bustle of city life and take a vacation at a bungalow in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Kazman, the dad played by Riezman Khuzaimi, has bought the bungalow through an arrangement made with his friend. Despite the fact that his daughter, Eli (Erin Malek) opposed to his decision for the vacation, Kazman proceed with the plan and soon after their arrival, they start to unveil the mysteries that haunt the family.The best attribute of the movie is the establishment of the storyline, which is finely crafted and well executed throughout the flick.

This is the kind of a story that gives us an optimistic view of local films indeed. Although it is known as a horror flick, the narration of the movie does not only rely on the cheap horror aspect; it also highlights the family drama and characterisation, which is worth watching. Don't expect this movie to be scarier than "Jangan Pandang Belakang", but "Congkak' is truly an improvement on Idham's previous work.Nanu Baharuddin who plays Sufiah, the wife and mother, gave her best performance so far. Although she was seen previously in Shuhaimi's "Pontianak" films and "Waris Jari Hantu", this ghoulish flick unveils a completely different side to her character play as an actress.

The way Nanu deals with fear, anxiety, empathy, and emotion throughout the movie has opened up a brand new avenue in her acting career. Maybe Nanu waited for this kind of opportunity to show us what she's truly made of.Another highlight for the cast has got to be Erynne Erynna who plays Lisa. The petite actress has proved that she has big talent to show off, and overshadowed Eli's character completely. Erynne, who was previously seen in Khabir Bhatia's "Cinta", proved that she has something to offer this industry in the near future. Riezman Khuzaimi is just average and veterans M. Rajoli and Ruminah Sidek displayed valuable and important appearances all in all. However, it was a bit disappointing that M. Rajoli's voice was dubbed over with someone else's, and it is unknown for what reason they did it.Although the effects are generally acceptable, there are a few flaws here and there, which spoiled the almost perfect product.

The sound system, which used the SRD Dolby Digital system, made no big impact to the flow of the plot. It only can be felt during the suspenseful scenes. Apart from that, most of the scenes were not worthy of the sound system that they used for the movie.However, this movie has opened a new avenue for Metrowealth products and absolutely the best piece from Ahmad Idham to date. Pierre Andre has impressed with his writing capabilities and has proven that local horror flicks can pull audiences to check out a movie that is not only scary but also well made, and sends the message that even a guardian can be a lonely soul.

What I loved most: Great introduction
What I really hated: Storyline out of scope : This movie has a great intro where they tell us the origin of the game and the rituals they performed etc. However, when it came to the body of the story, it went out of scope. The story was not scary and had nothing to do with the title CONGKAK. It gradually changed to be about the house they bought instead. I think it can be a good movie if the storyline were to be more focused on the title and there were not much scenes of the "guardian" of the congkak and the ending was upsetting. Another dreadful thing was the cameras. They were constantly shaking at certain scenes.

This is the trailer of Cong-kak (Sungka) courtesy by ical84

Additional Points: I thought, scary talaga ang movie. Yeah, pwede naman kasi ang kasama ko na si Carmela ay takot na takot pero ako, hindi ko naramdaman na scary siya. May mga times nga na parang comedy at nahaluan ng fantasy sa kung ano-anong ek-ek na special effects. Pero, overall naman... Maganda talaga ang story at ang movie pero sana hindi Congkak (Sungka) ang title kasi hindi naman nag-eevolve ang story sa Sungka. Hehe!