My “Halloween Review Series” starts with this brand spanking new Malaysian Horror offering from new writer/ director Zarina Abdullah. Zarina trained as a civil engineer, but studied filmmaking at the New York Film Academy in London.It took nine months to develop the script, and shooting the film took only 37 days. Special effects were done by Oriental Post, a Thai company that had previously worked on the Stephen Chow’s feature, “Kung Fu Hustle”. It stars Deanna Yusoff, Khatijah Tan, Farid Kamil, Dato Mustafa Maarof, M. Rajoli, Fauziah Nawi…..but my favorite has to be the heroine played by Natasha Hudson.
The basic story goes like this…..“Chermin is a horror/suspense thriller about a woman who is haunted by a vengeful spirit trapped in an antique mirror. The plot centers on Nasrin (Natasha Hudson), whose face has been disfigured from a ‘mysterious’ car accident. When her mother Kak Siti (Khatijah Tan) discovers an antique mirror hidden amongst old family heirlooms, Nasrin finds herself strangely drawn to it. Nasrin’s fascination with the mirror turns into obsession and she starts taking on the persona of the mirror spirit, Mastura (Deanna Yusoff). On her quest to regain her past beauty, Nasrin submits herself to the mirror spirit by satisfying the mirror’s need for blood and revenge. Will she able to sacrifice love for vanity? Is she able to look inside herself and see the beauty within? Or is what is reflected in her heart a shadow of the mirror?” Sounds good doesn’t it? Let’s find out…..