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Celine Low chevron_right
Malaysia has no shortage of abandoned buildings, tragic histories, and deeply held beliefs about the supernatural. We brought a mixed crew of sceptics and believers, loaded up our Samsung Galaxy A57 phones, and hit some of the country's most notorious locations to see what the nightography feature could actually capture. What we found went well beyond camera specs.
This is the story of how a smartphone camera test became one of the strangest shoots our team has ever done.
An Influential Neighbourhood with a Dark History
Our first stop was Bukit Antarabangsa, the prestigious hillside in Ampang with a grim track record: at least four major landslides since the 1990s. The 2008 disaster alone killed four people, injured 15, and levelled 14 homes.
Today, the area sits in an uneasy tension between rebuilt neighbourhoods and stretches of land that were simply left — cracked foundations disappearing into overgrowth, homes that exist only as concrete ghosts.
As a location for a low-light camera test, it completely blew us away. The Nightography on the Galaxy A57 cut straight through the darkness, rendering every detail with uncomfortable clarity.
However as a place to spend the evening, it was something else entirely. Even the sceptics on the team grew quiet here. Team member Afiqah immediately pointed out an eerie feeling coming from the second floor of one of the bungalows.
Umar and Jaz decided to explore the interior of the house, feeling nervous as they circled the abandoned space. Umar heard whispers the whole time and assumed it was teammates outside until he walked out and realised that the whispers didn't sound the same. On the wall inside: an arrow pointing upward, with text in Malay reading "it's there" — pointing to the exact spot both of them had felt something.
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Few sites in Malaysia carry as much collective memory as the ruins of Block 1, Highland Towers. The 1993 collapse killed 48 people and left the remaining two blocks permanently evacuated. For over three decades, the structures have stood as a monument to what happens when hillside development goes wrong.
We arrived to find demolition already underway with cranes positioned and the entire site cordoned off. We couldn't get in. The Galaxy A57's camera captured sharp images of the towers in pitch-black conditions from outside the perimeter. Cracked concrete, dangling rebar, windows that look out onto nothing. Whatever the phone's sensor was picking up, it was doing it without flash, and the results were pleasantly impressive.
Then it was time to head to our next location: a hotel with a ghostly reputation.
To reach our next location, we had to drive through Karak Highway, which doesn't need much introduction to anyone who grew up in Malaysia. The urban legends are practically national folklore: the infamous yellow Volkswagen Beetle, the shadowy figures in the middle of the road, and the mysterious live radio call. Whether myth or collective anxiety about a road that has seen genuine tragedy, the Karak occupies a particular place in the Malaysian psyche.
Locked Out of Asia's Most Haunted Hotel
We drove an hour into the Genting Highlands for Amber Court, widely regarded as one of Asia's most haunted hotels. Conceived as a luxury retreat in the 1990s, the project collapsed quietly after the 1997 financial crisis and never recovered. The legends that filled the vacuum are vivid: a headless woman roaming the corridors, red algae streaking the walls like dried blood, the sound of furniture dragging across sealed, empty floors above occupied rooms.
The team was on edge before we even pulled into the car park.
Then we arrived, and the atmosphere deflated almost immediately. Amber Court has since been rebranded as Golden Hills Resort — fresh paint, tight security, functioning reception. Whatever haunted reputation the place had built over the decades, the current management has done a thorough job of painting over it. It looked, frustratingly, like a normal hotel.
The frustration only deepened from there. Our booking to stay at the hotel didn't exist. Someone had scammed us. With security cameras on every floor and a clear policy against on-site filming, we had no footage, no access, and no recourse. We cut our losses and left.
The silver lining came in stages. On the way out, we spotted an abandoned car on a dark stretch of road, opportunity enough to squeeze in a few more Nightography test shots, and the Galaxy A57 delivered. We made a final stop at Chin Swee Temple, partly to salvage some low-light footage, partly to decompress.
The Forgotten Second "Petaling Jaya"
The next day of our shoot, we visited a row of abandoned shoplots beside Tasik Widuri in Bukit Beruntung, Rawang. Advertised as the next Petaling Jaya, Bukit Beruntung was supposed to be a thriving township thanks to rumoured developments of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport being built in the area. But when that didn't happen, development stalled and the structure was left to decay since the 1990s. Nature has taken most of it back.
From the road, it looked almost peaceful. Families were relaxing by the lake just metres away. But as we pushed toward the abandoned structure, the path closed in: thick vegetation, moss, clouds of mosquitoes. It was the kind of oppressive greenery that makes you feel like the place is actively discouraging you from going further.
Despite exploring the area when the sun was still out, the darkness was inescapable as we went deeper into the buildings. This was exactly what we came for. Looking through the space on the Galaxy A57, the difference was immediate — details that were completely invisible to the naked eye snapped into sharp focus on the screen. Corners, textures, depth. The camera was seeing what we couldn't.
What followed is better watched than described — all documented in the video. We'd encourage you to watch it rather than read a secondhand account. But we'll say this: we heard breathing. We heard footsteps. A door slammed in a space where we had already confirmed nobody else was present.
A Spooky Hike
Our final location, Wawasan Hill, was both emotionally and physically taxing. We went in the dead of night for an hour-long hike. It was pitch black with only headlamps and torches to light the way across narrow, uneven terrain. The accumulated fatigue of two days spent in places with heavy atmospheres was weighing down on the team, me especially.
The place was unsettling and it could've just been the fact that we were alone in a pitch-black trail. There was just too much variables for things to unfold disastrously. It also didn't help that it was connected to a viral, hair-raising incident that happened in August 2025.
A woman hiking alone lost her way and encountered a stranger, an "uncle," who simply nodded when she asked if she was heading in the right direction. She wasn't and she would be stranded for almost four hours with a dying phone. Fortunately, the woman was rescued by firefighters just before sundown but when she brought up the uncle, the firefighters would tell her that she wasn't the only one who'd encounter him.
Even with minimal lighting, the Galaxy A57, to its credit, managed to keep up. It pulled detail and colour fidelity out of near-total blackness in a way that would have taken a much larger rig just a few years ago. Technically, it was the most impressive performance of the shoot. But that wasn't the only thing we caught on camera.
We found a temple tucked into the forest. Then Umar froze. He turned to Thaarsh, our videographer, and asked what he'd just whispered in his ear. Thaarsh was several meters behind him — he hadn't said a word. The rest of us were standing well away from Umar when it happened.
When we reviewed the audio recording, the whisper is there.
As spooked as we were, we tried to brave on and continued to take as much photos as we could until the hour was up. We didn't stay much longer after that.
Final Thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy A57 performed exceptionally across every location we visited. Its Nightography system — combining a large aperture main sensor, enhanced noise processing, and intelligent computational photography — consistently produced footage and stills that exceeded what we expected from a mid-range device in genuine darkness. If that's what you came here for, consider it confirmed.
But the more lasting impression from this project isn't technical. It's the reminder that Malaysia's landscape is layered with stories that go far beyond any smartphone spec sheet, and that some of the most compelling content comes from being willing to show up in uncomfortable places with an open mind.
Malaysia's haunted landscape doesn't demand belief. It just has a way of making certainty feel harder to hold onto.
Watch the full video on the ProductNation YouTube channel:
We visited these locations for documentation purposes. Do not attempt to enter without proper authorisation and safety precautions.
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