By Chris Maloney
The Blair Witch Project created – or at least perfected – the “faux horror documentary” sub-genre and gave filmmakers a blueprint on how to make a great scary movie on a razor-thin budget.
Since then, many films have tried to copy the Blair Witch formula with varying degrees of success. The best known include Cloverfield, Spain’s [REC] and U.S. remake Quarantine, and most recently,Paranormal Activity.
But today, 11 years after the Blair Witch phenomenon, the question arises: Have “seen it all” movie audiences grown tired of the gimmicky format and has the faux horror documentary style reached the end of its run as a viable storytelling technique?
Some critics and movie bloggers, including myself, have answered a big resounding “Yes!” to that question and have suggested it would be great if The Blair Witch Project and the brilliant Paranormal Activity would serve as bookends to define and close out this decade of “true terror” filmmaking.
With that said however, Haunted Changi, a Singapore indie horror film scheduled for release Sept. 2 in Singapore cinemas, came to my attention after a friend emailed me the trailer. Watch it here.
Intrigued by the quality and Blair Witch feel of the trailer, I went to its site – HauntedChangi.com – to learn more.
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 of what happened.
I know this sounds a lot like The Blair Witch Project, but movies set in creepy old buildings – The Shining,Session 9, House On Haunted Hill – always pique my interest and I loved the authentic nature of the project.
But, the two things that really got me excited and separated Haunted Changi from other haunted-house movies and Blair Witch-type knockoffs were:
- The crew’s blog that is posted on HauntedChangi.com.
- The history of Old Changi Hospital, which I discovered, is a real place with a colourful history.
The reverse-chronological-order blog, which includes production photos and visitor comments, is fascinating and details the making of the crew’s “documentary” on the supposedly haunted Old Changi Hospital and how that small project morphed into Haunted Changi, the motion picture. http://hauntedchangi.blogspot.com/
The Hospital: What also adds to the authentic charm of Haunted Changi is the background on Changi Hospital – a real place known as Old Changi Hospital or OCH to Singaporeans.
After some research, I discovered the following facts:
- OCH was originally built as a British military barracks in the 1930s and is actually considered to be one of the most haunted places in the world.
- The Japanese military, who gained control of the island in a 1942 WWII battle known as “The Battle of Singapore,” used OCH as their headquarters from 1942-1945 and there were many rumors of secret tunnels, torture chambers and executions of POWs conducted on the grounds.
- In the 1950s, the former military flashpoint was turned into a public hospital and officially named Changi Hospital.
- The Singapore government shut down operations at Old Changi Hospital in 1997 and it has since been abandoned.
Old Changi Hospital, in all its eerie glory, at night. (Hauntedchangi.com)
After several repeated requests, the producer of the film – Mythopolis Pictures – eventually agreed to let me preview a “rough cut” of the first 60 minutes of the 80-minute film on the condition I don’t reveal too much information about the movie.
At first glance, Haunted Changi will remind you of The Blair Witch Project with its similar storyline and slow-burn pacing. And most importantly, like The Blair Witch Project, Haunted Changi delivers as a movie that makes you feel a real sense of dread, a rarity these days even for some of the better horror films.
But despite the obvious parallels to The Blair Witch Project, Haunted Changi has its own unique style. From the 1970s grindhouse opening to the outstanding camera work and fast-paced tight editing, the movie is an impressive filmmaking achievement filled with subtle nuances that will probably go unnoticed on first viewing.
The crew/characters, while not as interesting as the threesome from Blair Witch or the couple fromParanormal Activity, are nicely developed and believable with producer/host Sheena Chung standing out.
However, the star of the film is of course, Old Changi Hospital. And the star doesn’t disappoint.
Framed by jungle overgrowth, the creepy old building, while ominous in the daytime, is flat-out terrifying at night. And Haunted Changi is at its best and scariest when the crew is wandering the halls of the cavernous rundown hospital – it’s hard to imagine Hollywood creating a better haunted house set than OCH.
Haunted Changi is a movie that takes its time to build momentum, but like Paranormal Activity, we are never bored. And the film’s disarming first act beautifully set ups the tension-filled second act, which features some unforgettable frightening moments.
The documentary story device is a nice touch and adds to the overall enjoyment of the show. Is any of it real? My guess is the movie is a blend of fact and fiction, but in the end it really doesn’t matter. The bottom line is Haunted Changi is an ingenuous little horror film that I found highly entertaining for the first 60 minutes. And I have a feeling the last 20 are even better.
Poster of indie-horror flick Haunted Changi, set to debut in local cinemas on 2 September. (Hauntedchangi.com)
Chris Maloney is a freelance writer based in Chicago. He has been published in Shape, Hustler, The Huffington Post and PGATOUR.com.