HAUNTED CHANGI (2010) -- B-

MSRP: $14.95

RATED: Unrated

STUDIO:  Seminal Films

RUNNING TIME: 81 minutes

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• World War II Archival Footage

• Crew Blog Archive

• First Three Chapters of the Book, What Happened to the Crew of “Haunted Changi”?

The Pitch:

Yet another addition to the booming found footage horror genre, albeit one set in a real-life haunted hospital in Singapore.

The Humans:

Andrew Lua, Sheena Chan, Farid Assalam, Audi Khalid

The Nutshell:

In early 2010, a ragtag group of Singaporean filmmakers decided to make a documentary about Old Changi Hospital. As is the case with every single found footage horror film ever made, some very bad things ensue.

The Lowdown:
I think it’s safe to say that Singaporeans love ghost stories. For immediate proof, one need look no further than the perpetually bestselling local book series entitled True Singapore Ghost Stories, which has gone on to spawn not only various imitators from other publishing houses, but also a television series and as many as twenty-one official sequels since the first volume’s publication in 1989. While contemporary Singaporean films range from the broad comedies of Jack Neo to the art films of Eric Khoo, the national fascination with the macabre has gradually crept its way onscreen in recent years. While there have been plenty of horror comedies and straight-up horror films, Haunted Changi (2010) marks the first Singaporean attempt at a found footage horror film. 

 The Singaporean government’s worst nightmare: graffiti.

The title of the movie refers to Old Changi Hospital (OCH), which was shut down in 1997, but has a long, tortured history dating back to World War II. In the film, we follow an independent film crew composed of director Andrew Lau (Andrew Lua), producer Sheena Chung (Sheena Chan), soundman Farid Azlam (Farid Assalam), and cameraman Audi Khalis (Audie Khalid) as they explore the history of OCH for a feature documentary. The film builds slowly, taking its sweet time to properly set up the background history of Old Changi Hospital through various “man on the street” interviews.  According to the locals, the alleged horrors lurking inside Old Changi range from the ghosts of Japanese invaders during World War II to a Pontianak, a vampire-like creature from Malay folklore.