Well, it’s not what I’d call horrible.
Haunted Changi (2010)
Directed By: Andrew Lau
Where to get it: MVD
The Prologue
Hello, Singapore! That country today brings us Haunted Changi! And in the film Haunted Changi, the cast not only attempts to scare us, they attempt to speak our language as well! That leaves for some at times amusing moments, even if the movie at times seems to lack a bit on the whole “scaring us” part. Brought to us here on DVD from the cool folks over at MVD, we have another one of those “found footage/first person” movies about some doomed people making a documentary at a haunted location! And I know, it’s been done before. But perhaps this time around these guys can add a little something different?..Maybe?
The Movie
In January of 2010, a group of local filmmakers began exploring the famously haunted Old Changi Hospital in Singapore with terrifying and tragic results. This movie pieces together the original Haunted Changi film crew’s footage to tell the full story. And not to offend anyone, but while in English, these people have THICK accents, so it may be wise for anyone who is watching to just go ahead and turn on the subtitles. Because it does at times get a little hard to understand what our crew here is saying.
When you break this movie down in comparison to all the other lost footage films out there, I wouldn’t say this one is bad, but it fails to really bring anything new to the table besides the subject matter. While still being very well shot and placed together, the film does indeed drag a bit when it shouldn’t be. Being a combo of footage between what they were filming and them filming what they were filming, you kinda can’t help get the notion that perhaps we are just witnessing the killing of time to prolong the movie. Sometimes in filming less is actually more. And when you are making a movie of this nature, it helps to not wait as long as this movie waits before actually getting to it’s point.
Sad thing about this film here, is I believe it never really gets good until about the final 15 or so minutes. That leaves a lot of time before that for dragging issues. These characters seem real enough, but that also leaves the door open for them to lack any real excitement to them. Even if you are going to go the most realistic route as possible, it would have helped to have had someone in the mix a little more animated to help kill the time, These people are all fine and dandy for the most part, but they lack any real flair. And the way they go about filming this “haunted” place surely lacks and sizzle to it. Still, like I’ve already said, it can rest on the fact it’s at least edited well.
The movie at least gets a little more creative with it’s ending, even if they do kinda kill their own realistic effect with some spotty CGI. Among other things, a cobra actually makes an appearance! And I think knowing my history with snakes, I’d probably be a bit more concerned about this mighty reptile had I been in the same situation than our guy filming this thing is. I also got to give props to the camera being used here. You gotta love a camera that will stay together after the person holding it is tossed a few feet a couple times. I guess if you take nothing else from this movie, you can at least enjoy the fact it’s a little weird and oddly amusing in spots.
The Conclusion
It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but overall I’d call it a good try. It just needed a little more spooky and for these dudes to talk in their native language instead of the bad English. All things considered however, it could have been a lot worse. And I might say, while not the best film I’ve ever seen, it’s not overly bad…Did I mention there is a cobra?
The Rating (5/10)
Chucks website
