Shudder, AMC Network’s premium streaming service for horror, thriller, and the supernatural, released the Malaysian horror “Blood Flower” (“Harum Malam”) on June 2nd, 2023. The supernatural possession flick is by director Dain Said (Interchange, Bunohan, Dukun) and can be watched in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. He said of the horror movie;

“My ghost in Blood Flower (Harum Malam) needs a place to haunt, and in Shudder it has found a home to spill blood and do its evil deeds.”
director Dain Said, Blood Flower movie.

Introducing Blood Flower (Harum Malam), a Shudder Original straight from Malaysia. Set in a small town Lqbal’s mother possesses unique abilities as a paranormal agent and healer. His abilities are a consequence of genetics and some of her powers have been passed down to him. In a similar vein to “The Conjuring” franchise, Blood Flower is a watered-down version where an inherited gift is being a conduit for evil spirits. What is also a common thread this djinn has been around for generations.

Harum Malam is Malaysian for Blood Flower

Lqbal’s mother is tragically taken by an evil spirit. It’s at this turning point where “Blood Flower” loses its footing a little. The production is cinematically solid. The title would not have been aided by high-end special effects. Jordan Wei Meng Chiam’s impressive camerawork did more than makeup for anything a bigger budget could have given. The CGI features some very creative blood spatter. But for those who wade into the pool of possession and exorcism sub-genres, there is an art to how convincing the demon is at subterfuge. This demon didn’t have to do very much to pull a fast one here.

The Blood Flower movie then focuses on the father/son relationship while Lqbal navigates being a teenager who senses things. Coincidentally as his father, Normal pulls Lqbal as far away from his powers as he knows how, their new locale is the home to the demon’s source. Within a Greenhouse Norman caretakes is the Blood Flower itself. When the entity is released unknowingly, Lqbal has to beg his father to let him have his powers back so he can fight.

I wasn’t a fan of the sound effects. The screeching sound throughout the entire runtime is not unlike when you let a balloon down by stretching the neck. Combine that with some screeching string instruments, and a screaming cast and you have yourself a minor head trauma. Not only that but the repercussions of early desensitization can’t be a good plan.

Blood Flower

Almost encroaching the 2-hour mark, the lengthy run time had a lot of unnecessary imagery crammed into it. There is a lot of time spent with this and most of it doesn’t add value. It only serves to weaken the stronger scenes that pack more punch. At times it feels like some of the on-screen visceral scenes serve to take the focus off a bland and unestablished script.

Blood Flower touches on themes about the importance of embracing your powers. It also has a strong focus on courage, determination, and the support of friends, to succeed. There is also some dialogue centered around “being normal” with a hashtag in the opening scenes #akunakjadinormal (I want to be normal). If you want more information on the ending of Blood Flower, check out this link from our friends over at High On Films.