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 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:
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.
