Pusaka Pontianak (The Accursed Heritage, 1965); Ramon Estella's semi-spoof of Pontianak horror films

Directed by Ramon A. Estella
Written by Ramon A. Estella (story and screenplay)
Songs by Yusoff B, Kassim Masdor, with lyrics by S. Sudarmaji
Featuring a song by Ahmad Daud and The Swallows - 'Dendang Pontianak' (Rhythim of the Pontianak) [1:08:00]
Produced by Malay Film Productions (Shaw Brothers)
In Malay
Starring: Saadiah, Ahmad Mahmud, Dayang Sofia, Salleh Kamil
, Normadiah, Mariam, Aziz Sattar, Ahmad Daud, Ibrahim Pendek, Ahmad Nisfu

"Ten people gather in an old mansion to find out who will inherit the money ($10 million) left by a recently deceased tycoon. The conditions of the will are totally not in keeping with Islamic syariah laws: all the people have to stay in the mansion for four weeks, and those who survive the ordeal will divide the money among themselves. (...) The will also states that a pontianak [of whom the tycoon was a descendent] is in the [rubber] estate, and so the four weeks may end up being deadly.

"Most of the characters are self-serving and greedy, so we actually look forward to the deaths. There's a farcical quality that doesn't recall the earlier pontianak films but instead the bedroom comedy of 'Perkahwinan Rahsia' [https://youtu.be/3j_cjZvjqgc]. This isn't a criticism but a description of its irreverent style; 'Pusaka Pontianak' is cheerful schlock. As in 'Pontianak Gua Musang' [1964 - https://youtu.be/O75b3S1RyAk], this isn't a 'real' pontianak film. 'Pusaka Pontianak' takes this scepticism even further, because it's pretty obvious from early on that the ghostly sightings are actually engineered by some baddies to scare away the other claimants to the estate; the suspense just comes from finding out who the baddies are.

"The two pontianak films we saw from the 1950s ('Sumpah Pontianak' [1958 - https://youtu.be/ma3D311orUM] and 'Anak Pontianak' [1958 - https://youtu.be/H_7-WnJHRfs] treated the undead creature quite seriously, and she was meant to evoke both horror pathos. But the two 1960s ones seek to dismiss her as a myth. (...) The brashness of pop yeh yeh brought the pontianak out into the harsh modern light of parody and cynicism, away from the shadows of whispered superstition and taboo where she thrived. You couldn't take her seriously anymore, and it's no coincidence that there was no further pontianak film for a decade [until 1975's 'Pontianak' - https://youtu.be/sqVFvRl0SY4]

Source: Amir Muhammad, '120 Malay Movies', 2010, pages 327-329.

Film locations (in Singapore): Shaw Brothers Jalan Ampas film studio [7:18]; Singapore River and Cavenagh Bridge [8:40]; Paya Lebar Airport [8:59]

Cover image courtesy of Wong Han Min.

Filem-Filem Dunia Supernatural: Films imagining the ‘Malay’, ‘Malayan’ or ‘Nanyang (south seas)’ worlds of Singapore and Malay(si)a with supernatural and super-beastly perpetrators -
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6Q1FXWsR0KYIfe6qDzuZEaFgXG6-u5At

The 'Films of Singapore & Malaya Regularly' Telegram channel:
https://t.me/sgfilmdaily

Видео Pusaka Pontianak (The Accursed Heritage, 1965); Ramon Estella's semi-spoof of Pontianak horror films канала h p