Review of Malaysian Judicial by Miss Sultrybelle

Two prisoners are sentenced to a certain number of cane strokes. Frankly, I couldn't even tell how many over the thick accents of the cast members. The film really needed subtitles, as even native English speakers will have a hard time understanding.

The first girl is caned, and well, there really isn't any point in describing the scene. Her reactions are basically the exact same from beginning to end, she is just moaning a little louder towards the end…a little.

The second girl has her turn, and this is where the film goes from very bad to truly awful. Her tattoos are uncovered and huge and she isn't willing to show her face. She has a mask on and later it is removed off-screen. She then has her face pressed into the padding and her vocal reactions are again, very quiet. How nice they were, to untie her hands and grasp the frame with them. Let's make this film look even more amateur, shall we?

This film had so many flaws, where to begin?

First, the position the girls were caned in was somewhat problematic. Although as far as I can tell it does authentically mimic the frame that the Malaysians use, right down to the padding protecting the lower back and thighs....well it still sucks. Because they are so tightly bound, their freedom of movement is limited, so we cannot enjoy them thrashing and squirming around in pain. The director did her job here and made the frame look as authentic as possible, but it still makes the caning visually less appealing.

Second, the person pronouncing the sentences was off-screen, not only was her accent very thick, but we couldn't even see her. When you compare this to a studio like Mood Pictures with their ML series, the sentences were always announced by an onscreen tribunal. This gave those films (even the first two, ML 1&2, which were of low quality), a sense of legitimacy. Having an off-screen voice just looks like some penny-pinching shortcut, especially if you use people who aren't even willing to appear on camera.

Third, the executioner, who although she knew how to use the cane, was absurd. After each and every time she landed a stroke, she raised her arms up in the air as if she were a model striking some pose. It's interesting, but this is how close to how the Malaysians actually to it. Except that here, the woman raises her arms after the stroke has landed instead of before as the Malaysians do. After observing that the first few times, it made the film seem even more ridiculous and amateur. Also, in between the strokes, every single one of them, the camera briefly cuts, not only annoying but really ruins the symmetry of the film, if a break is really required a break after every stroke.
 
Fourth, as stated before, the second model was unwilling to show her face and had hideous tattoos which were not covered. She started the scene with a mask on and after a break took it off. She was allowed to finish her caning with her face pressed into the pad so as to totally obscure her identity. This deprived us the viewers of facial expressions, which are quite important if we are able to enjoy the film. Having her face pressed into the padding also muffled her already muted reactions. There is only one thing I can say to these people: if your model isn't willing to show her face, DON'T CAST HER!

Finally, the film's pricing was excessive. $29 for 23 minutes? Not killer expensive, but certainly overpriced here, especially for all the crap the film contains.

The only pluses I can really give here are that the video quality wasn't bad. Also, the executioner and guards were at least properly attired and the former knew how to cane properly. They did make a decent attempt to imitate Malaysian-style canings, from the way the executioner raised her arms, to the frame and padding the models were restrained to and then to the smocks they wore.