The Pocong films have got to be one of the more interesting franchises in modern Indonesian cinema. The first in the series, Pocong (The Shrouded Ghost), which marked acclaimed director Rudi Soedjarwo's first venture into the horror genre, did not even make it to the market, when the Film Censorship Board deemed its violent content not suitable for release.

The people behind the film then used this unfortunate controversy for an intriguing marketing gimmick to promote its successor, Pocong 2, which cheekily put up "scarier than the banned Pocong" as its poster tag line. This strategy not only helped the film pull in a hefty number of viewers, but Pocong 2 garnered acclaims as a clever and heart-pounding scare that brought modern Indonesian horror to a new level.

Rudi's by-then usual use of natural settings, non-ambitious lighting and handheld camerawork -- as a part of the low-budget, express filmmaking movement he introduced with his previous film Mendadak Dangdut (Suddenly Dangdut) -- worked to the film's advantage by giving its terrors a sense of immediacy and realism. Monty Tiwa's witty, well-written script breathed fresh air in to a genre that seldom paid serious attention to storytelling, and steered the film to break out from the clutter of revenge-from-the-grave plot cliches.

Monty then went on to write and direct the sequel, Pocong 3, whose script had a promising premise and still gurgled with wit, but fell short on its weak directorial execution.

Now, there are a number of reasons why, not only Indonesian horror fans, but Indonesian film enthusiasts in general should go white with anticipation upon the release of 40 Hari Bangkitnya Pocong (40 Days of Pocong's Resurrection). First of all, it saw Rudi Soedjarwo's return to horror, prompting Pocong 2 fans to -- no pun intended -- resurrect their faith in the director.

Second, a seriously sinister poster that threatens us with, not one, but three shrouded ghosts; and a title that does not just mindlessly have the number four attached to it.

Instead, it rings with a traditional grandeur that evokes the glory of old-time horror films. Third, it brought back, not one, but two prominent dames of horror movies: Farida Pasha and Connie Sutedja. And lastly, Rudi recruited screenwriter Cassandra Massardi, a filmmaker known for her dramatic, non-mainstream endeavors, teasing us with a potential fresh twist in the script.

Jessi (Sabai Morscheck), a computer technician, takes on an assignment to flee from her volatile ex-boyfriend Nino (Raffi Ahmad). This leads her to a client, Kevin (Irwansyah), who just lost his parents in a car crash. They develop a closeness, much to the dismay of Kevin's overbearing aunt (Farida Pasha), while Nino is constantly on Jessi's tail, as a series of supernatural terrors seem to follow Jessi wherever she goes.

It is hard not to draw comparisons with Pocong 2 when Rudi created a look that is almost identical to the said film. His technique of keeping the characters' faces in tight close-ups during the more frightening moments still invokes a threatening sense of menace from a potential terror looming outside the frame. However, the film lacks Pocong 2's astute shocker timing. Some of Pocong 2's scare tactics can also be sensed at some points, with slight variations. Alas, the attempt to keep these tactics from being carbon copies is also the thing that makes them less scary.

Rudi's known skill as an actor's director is also hits-and-misses this time. He guided Sabai in the lead into giving a more grounded and organic performance, after her display of polished acting in her debut film Sang Dewi (The Goddess). Her Jessi is some sort of a de-glammed heroine: cautious and self-sufficient.

Monique Henry and Herichan, as Jessi's house mate and her boyfriend respectively, also contribute subtle comic moments with their spontaneous chemistry (although their characters never really amount to anything). On the other hand, Raffi's performance seems to be a mere extension of his showy role in Love is Cinta: hyper, loud, and greasy. While Farida's old school acting spoils a character that could have been creepier if acted with a little restraint.

Cassandra's script actually has some nice touches. She takes us through Jessi's and Kevin's attraction to each other with tongue-in-cheek banter ("I'm not used to meeting girls who fix computers," says Kevin, to which Jessi replies, "I'm not used to meeting guys who wear pink T-shirts."). She even manages to squeeze in a metaphoric dab disguised as a scare tactic (the blood stains on the carpet that refuse to go away). But the mediocre scares are unflattering to the script; and toward the end, Cassandra keeps the plot going with far-fetched orchestration. At one point, she even succumbs to the oldest horror movie punchline: Jessi running up the stairs to escape the ghost (when the door is, like, just right there on your left, sweetie). By the end, the film's title has gone from menacing to heedlessly random, and the big story arc fails to repeat the non-generic premise of Pocong 2, even Pocong 3.

With the franchise's history and the film's pedigree, 40 Hari Bangkitnya Pocong has a lot on its shoulders. Sadly, for all Pocong 2 fans out there, the magic is yet to be resurrected.

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