Pontianak (film)

Pontianak is a 1957 Singaporean Malay horror film directed by Indian film director Balakrishna Narayana Rao, popularly known as B.N. Rao, and starring Maria Menado and M. Amin. Based on the Malay folktales of a blood-sucking ghost born from a woman who dies in childbirth, the smash hit premiered on 27 April 1957 and screened for almost three months at the local Cathay cinemas. Its success spawned two other sequels, Dendam Pontianak (Revenge of the Pontianak, 1957) and Sumpah Pontianak (Curse of the Pontianak, 1958). It is also said to have launched the Pontianak genre in Singapore and Malaysia, with rival Shaw producing its own Pontianak trilogy and several movies of the same genre were also made in Malaysia.[1][2][3]

Pontianak
Directed byB.N. Rao
Written byAbdul Razak
StarringMaria Menado
M. Amin
Music byZubir Said
Production
company
Cathay-Keris Film Productions
Release date
  • April 27, 1957 (1957-04-27) (Singapore)
Running time
110 minutes
CountrySingapore
LanguageMalay

This film is believed to be lost alongside with its sequel. There are different stories of how the films went missing. One is that Ho Ah Loke the film producer was frustrated and decided to throw the film into a mining pool. Second is that the film was disposed as Ho's wife was angry at him for storing films in an air-conditioned room in their house. The last was that Ho was doing some clearing of his house and decided to dispose the films into a mining pool.[4]






Cast

References
  1. "CHINESE ADVERTISEMENT OF THE MALAY FILM "PONTIANAK", 1957". National Archives of Singapore. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  2. "PONTIANAK – A PIONEER HORROR FILM SERIES, 1957". National Library, Singapore. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  3. Chen, Johnny (29 October 2012). "B.N. Rao – Man behind the Pontianak". ghettosingapore.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  4. "A role she will always be remembered for". The Star. 19 August 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2021.


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