Hauntingly funny
MAMAT Khalid’s beloved Kampung Pisang in the heart of Perak returns to the big screen for the fourth time, and this means that wacky Husin (Awie) and friends are back with more laughs and parodies for all.
Screened in 121 Malaysian cinemas plus four in Brunei, Hantu Kak Limah will also debut in the Lion City a week from now (on Aug 16). The title character, played to eerie perfection by Delimawati, is marking her swan song.
Kak Limah, the creepy big sister of the village, may not have been a ghost in her first outing Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah eight years ago, but this time she really is, since she floats above the ground and flashes her terrifying blood-shot eyes at Husin and gang.
While her long, witchy hairdo has been around for ages, Kak Limah’s skin has changed dramatically into a shade of pale as eerie as that of Batman’s Joker.
Shock factors aside, Kak Limah is really the McGuffin of Mamat’s horror comedy, like the Pink Panther Diamond in Peter Sellers’ Pink Panther movies. This is because the award-winning director behind Kala Malam Bulan Mengambang is highlighting forbidden love between men and beautiful women from the world of “bunian” or fairies.
Born and bred in Ipoh, Perak, Mamat grew up hearing lots of “fairy tales”— not those by the Brothers Grimm but homegrown ones that cropped up in Malay tabloids.
These always involved locals who claimed to have lost their way exploring the Keledang Mountains west of the city, entered a “world of fairies” and recollected unbelievable adventures upon their return home.
Husin and his buddies Wani (Sherwani), Khuda (Isa), Nayan (Ropie) and Yeh Sekupang (the late Rab in his final film) enter the world of fairies when they are intimidated by Kak Limah’s ghost. Solihin (Zul) prepares to ‘tame’ the ghost of Kak Limah.
She has just died, having married the buffoonish Khuda a month prior, and after her burial, several villagers claim to have seen her floating above the ground and fly- ing up trees.
Convinced that Kak Limah’s ghost is on the rampage, Husin and friends pay a visit to Kampung Pisang’s latest resident, dash- ing ghost-whisperer Solihin (Zul, in his first Mamat project).
However, Solihin’s brawny appearance remains just that — he is as clueless as the other boys in dealing with Kak Limah.
While Awie’s Husin, Delimawati’s Kak Limah and Rab’s Yeh are the only charac- ters from the first three Kampung Pisang films, the newcomers such as Ropie’s Nayan and Zul’s Solihin also drive the story with their antics.
This is because Nayan, who works in the rural health clinic, is the village’s resident drama king while Solihin is the straight guy whose smart alec ways bring them more harm than good.
Husin remains his honest-to-goodness, yet occasionally silly self, while Kak Limah
jumps between a glamourous, desperate housewife and an eerie ghost that stuns audiences in all of her scenes.
Yeh is also a drama king, and serves as Mamat’s purveyor of Malaysian showbiz’s latest “hot stories” while Wanie and Khuda are the annoying slapstick members of the gang.
It is the cameo appearances of Erra, Hasmiza a.k.a. Datuk Seri Vida (in her first film), Imuda, Sabri and especially Mus of May who steal the show.
The beauties play fairies, and while they are largely eye candy, they do a great job tempting the boys into their world, especially Hasmiza, who seems to be having a great time doing over-the-top comedy.
Mus does a star turn as the fairy king. His long hair and small size make him cut out for that comical role, and whenever he attempts to stop Husin or Yeh from making advances towards the women, he generates loud laughs.
In true Mamat fashion, Hantu Kak Limah does great parodying popular culture and his characters rib Malaysians obsessed with
K-Pop and recent political developments.
The director also tickles with spoofs of hit songs such as The Manhattans’ Kiss And Say Goodbye and Enjit Enjit Semut, which heralds the arrival of Kak Limah’s ghost.
He has provided “blasts from the past” that appeal to children of the 1980s. One jingle from a fruit juice brand that was popular then is sung by Nayan shortly before he sees the ghost.
Hantu Kak Limah pays a befitting tribute to Tan Sri P Ramlee’s Pendekar Bujang Lapok in that the characters summon colourful spirits of the forest and utter cubaan (trial). Zul’s silat moves reflect those of Ramlee too.
Musician Zulkiff of Headwind has done a good job composing the film’s retro rock score, while the popular number Srikandi Cintaku by Bloodshed has been beautifully re-recorded by Awie and Mus as the theme song.
Hantu Kak Limah is straighforward storytelling that every viewer can sit back and enjoy from the word “go”.
It may be the title character’s last movie but Husin and friends will always be back as Mamat sees fit.