Reimagining the Pontianak Myth in Malaysian Folk Horror : Flexible Tradition, Cinema, and Cultural Memory

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the myth of the pontianak, a female monster from Malaysia’s animistic past. The essay focuses on depictions of the pontianak in a series of Malaysian folk horror films from 1957 onwards, the year Malaysia achieved independence from British colonisation. The chapter explores the reimagination of the creature as folk horror after centuries of marginalisation. I argue that the pontianak’s surprising reconfigurations refract cultural anxieties of the collective national unconscious and illustrate how a legacy from prehistory functions as flexible tradition in the modern era. The endless adaptability of the pontianak myth ensures the creature’s continuing relevance while illuminating how folk horror is a vehicle for the flexible re-articulation of the pontianak.