The Haunted Hotel review.
Netflix’s penchant for stealth streaming foreign horror movies strikes again. An Indonesian ghost story with more than a little in common with Ringu.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
The Haunted Hotel
Directed by Guntur Soeharjanto
Written by Riheam Juniati
Starring Luna Maya, Christian Sugiono, Bianca Hello, Egy Fedly, Firstriana Aldila, Rafael Adwel, Budi Ros and Oce Permatasari
The Haunted Hotel Review
Netflix shadow dropped another quality foreign horror film onto their streaming service. While I’m sure that The Haunted Hotel was listed on a “coming soon” email blast at some point…there was no tweet…no YouTube trailer release…no warning and even less fanfare. They do this all the time. Netflix is one of the best services for premiering foreign horror movies. They just really don’t want you to know about it.
This time around we have an Indonesian ghost story. Titled Panggonan Wingit in its native language…It’s, fittingly, known as The Haunted Hotel for Englis speaking audiences. I couldn’t figure out what Panggonan Wingit translates to. The best I can tell, it’s the name of the hotel room that is inhabited by the ghost. The Haunted Hotel was produced by a familiar name…Rocky Soraya. Soraya directed the last foreign horror movie we reviewed that Netflix tried to keep a secret, Indigo.
The story revolves around Raina (Luna Maya) and her sister Fey (Biana Hello). They inherit a hotel upon the death of their father. That’s right…it’s another installment of inheritance horror! There is one simple rule that no one in The Haunted Hotel can adhere to for more than 30 seconds. Don’t go to the third floor. Allegedly under construction, an unnumbered room on the third floor is inhabited by a vengeful spirit who will put a curse on you. You will die at midnight…in three days. Yes…it’s very much The Ring. But we’ll get back to that.
When I say that people can’t stop breaking this one rule…I mean it. A maid is told this in the opening scene of the movie. She’s up there practically before the sentence is finished. She hears crying coming from an unnumbered room. When she opens the door, she sees a pale woman with white hair who tells her “Three days, midnight”. We don’t see what her three days looks like…but we do hear about it. Her cat has dies, a neighbor had an accident, and her sister has jumped off a building. It’s a clever way to hint at the fun we will have when someone else breaks the rule. Midnight comes and the maid is dead. Flayed by the white-haired woman.
Raina breaks the rule immediately after learning it too. When strange things begin to happen to her…she immediately worries about her younger sister. Fey, of course, had already entered the room by then. She didn’t even wait to be told the rule. Impressively ambitious, that one. What follows is, more or less, The Ring. They have three days to investigate the ghost, her backstory, and try to find a way out of the curse.
Where The Haunted Hotel misses the mark is during those three days. The investigation is solid and leads to a nice backstory. What doesn’t happen, however, is anything to the level of what haunted the maid in the opening. The movie promises death and destruction to the people around them…and instead settles for isolated scary scenes for the already cursed characters. It’s a weird choice to include the maid’s accounting of her days when the movie isn’t going to follow suit. I believe the entire second day passes without any ghostly activity. It’s a day mostly spent on the investigation…but still.
Joining Raina on her quest is an old flame named Ardo (Christian Sugiono). The pair become the leads of the story because Fey straight up disappears from this movie for a long time. Another strange choice but not one that really affects the plot. Ardo, of course, ends up cursed as well. What is the point of having a rule if everyone isn’t going to break it? Together they uncover the identity of the spirit and her connection to Raina’s family. As far as family secrets and ghostly lore go…it’s a good one. The story makes up for the lack of thrills in the middle of The Haunted Hotel.
The ghost (Menoer, we learn) is a vicious one. When your time is up, she goes all out. There’s a reason she chooses to skin people alive. It’s all a part of the backstory. Menoer makes for a striking antagonist. Shocking white hair and the palest skin…she enjoys nothing more than making others feel her pain. When she gets her hands on you…it’s a violent, bloody death.
A strong story is something that recent Indonesian horror has taken great care with. The Haunted Hotel continues that and gives its strong cast plenty to do. Well…until Fey takes the second half of the movie off, anyway. Fans of investigative horror movies will find a lot to like here. Fans of The Ring will recognize most of the beats. Perhaps too many by the end. The investigation is the draw here. From a trip to Menoer’s village to an attempt to search her room…from a Shaman’s ritual to reading Raina’s father’s books in search of secrets. There’s a lot of care put into the mystery of why this is happening.
The Haunted Hotel is another foreign horror film stashes away on Netflix that is as good as anything that’s hitting theaters right now. While the streaming service’s insistence on dropping these with no hype is a mystery of its own…the mystery inside The Haunted Hotel is one worth watching. It’s a bit slow. It’s a lot The Ring. But it’s another fun, well-made Indonesian ghost story.
Scare Value
The Haunted Hotel is another well-made Indonesian ghost story. You have to admire the region’s commitment to fully fleshing out their horror stories. It may lift one too many beats from The Ring…but it builds its own story around it. The familiar format subdues some of the effectiveness…but it’s another slick production hidden away on Netflix.
3/5
The Haunted Hotel Link
Streaming on Netflix
