'Orang Minyak' Suffers A Remake! (my title, not the newspaper's)

ORANG MINYAK
By SHARIFAH ARFAH

This film is a weird mix of mythology, martial arts, comedy and horror (obvious or otherwise). But I did find myself enjoying the dialogue and scenes now and then.

Originally making its screen appearance in Sumpah Orang Minyak (1956), which starred P. Ramlee, the Orang Minyak (or oily man) is similar only in the usage of the being as the main character. Orang Minyak is about silat student Malek (Fauzi Nawawi), who becomes jealous of fellow student and friend Munir (Fizz Fairuz) after the latter is declared the star student. In a fit of rage, Malek kills the silat master.

The Devil takes advantage of the incident by inciting Malek into doing more evil, appointing Malek an orang minyak and telling Malek to worship him and to rape 21 virgins in order to gain unlimited power.

This modern take has several suggestive scenes, the most obvious being the orang minyak’s task of defiling the virgins. The orang minyak’s method of deflowering a female in this film is overt, though still within censorship limits. Sharifah Sofea plays buxom lecturer Dian, who expectedly becomes Munir’s love interest. In a final meeting before a large duel, Malek tells Munir of his intention to make Dian his next victim.

Eventually, when one of the orang minyak’s victims eventually gives birth to a bayi minyak (oily baby), the fate of Kampung Tualang Tiga is sealed indefinitely.

Replete with technical goofs, the film appears blurred in some scenes, and Malek’s black outfit suddenly turns grey in a flashback scene. One also finds that a well-lit house is pitch-black from outside. The villagers are ill-cast, with mother and daughter looking almost the same age. Perhaps it is a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Well, there were two directors at the helm.

Nadzrin's Note: The Orang Minyak phenomena, like the suburb serial killer, happen in kampungs and high superstition areas. The Orang Minyak is also often blamed for panty raids in local universities. To my knowledge, only one of them was ever a pesilat of high ranking and is now leading a local silat organisation (seriously).