Zukri is a malformed hunchbacked trash collector who wants nothing more
than a wife to love - but with his looks and profession, it's difficult
enough to even get to talk to a woman let alone woo her. Then his friend
tells him how to turn a kuntilanak (= a female ghost, sort of like a
banshee) into a woman of flesh and blood - by driring a nail made of pure
gold through her head and then bathe her in certain oils -, and Zukri follows
his friend's advice ... and even though the banshee has killed above-mentioned friend, the only one he had, before Zukri has driven a nail
through her head, he falls in love with her once she's human. And since
she's oblivious to pretty much everything that has happened before her
becoming human, the banshee, a lovely girl called Minah, falls in love
with Zukri as well, and they soon marry - much to the dismay of Jurbin,
the richest man of the village who thinks a girl as lovely as Minah should
be his ... so in Zukri and Minah's wedding night, he hires four thugs to
beat Zukri up while he rapes Minah, deflowering her in Zukri's stead.
After he is done, the four thugs want to rape her as well but accidently
remove the golden nail from her head, turning her back into a kuntilanak,
and now she's a kuntilanak with a vengeance. Soon enough, kuntilanak Minah
has taken three of the four thugs out, but now Jurbin tries to put the
blame on Zukri, accusing him of the murders and trying to get him lynched,
and only by luck Zukri manages to make an escape. The last surviving thug
though is plagued guilt, and eventually, he confesses the
whole affair (including Jurbin's involvement) to the authorities. And as a
thank you he is slain by Jurbin, just before kuntilanak Minah can get her
hands on Jurbin and not only murder him rather violently, but also hang
his corpse from a much-travelled bridge for everyone to see. Average
blend of romance and horror cinema of the monster with a heart of gold-type
with the typical don't judge a book by its cover-message. In fact,
this film has very little (or rather nothing) new to offer to the
(sub-)genre and is at times disappointingly blunt, but on the other hand,
thanks to its humane approach and lack of your typical heroic lead to set
things right again, it's at least kind of endearing nevertheless.
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