The Ghost Train of Manggarai (2008) by Nayato Fio Nuala

Director: Nayato Fio Nuala

Year: 2008

Country: Indonesia

Alternate Titles: Kereta Hantu Manggarai

Genre: Ghosts

Plot:

After an argument with her sister, a woman begins investigating her disappearance with friends and comes across the notion that she had inadvertently taken a ghost train instead, and they soon find themselves haunted by the ghosts they witnessed on the voyage.

Review:

This turned out to be quite an impressive and enjoyable effort. One of the better aspects here is the fact that this one readily features a striking amount of suspenseful and highly chilling scenes yet gives this a rather fun pace. From the opening scene, featuring the girl getting onboard the titular cursed train in the wee hours of the morning and realizing the ghost-girl on with her, the utterly chilling sequence in the apartment where the ghost continually appears in several unexpected places and the dream sequence of her boarding the train with all the different ghosts following after her, all give this one the kind of feel and tone of a more western- influenced film and generate the kind of creepy atmosphere needed to set-up the plot throughout here. Given the way this one sets up the storyline about the sister running away and ending up encountering the ghost train running through the countryside, these manage to further that set-up into the kind of chilling, high-end piece here featuring the kind of suspense-packed action scenes of the group boarding the train as a joke only to just barely get out alive once the ghosts start to terrorize them or the haunting scene in the apartment where it builds from him alone developing photos of the trek to specifically encountering the ghosts at home and his friends' house.

The reason why these scenes work so well is the fact that there are actual repercussions from meeting the ghosts as if they really shouldn't be there and tampering in their domain is not something to be taken lightly as the film moves into high-gear afterward as everyone who got on board begins to encounter the malicious beings which makes for quite a thrilling time here as that's added alongside even greater amounts of suspense and atmosphere to this one, typified by the scenes of the girl getting teased while bathing or the motorcycle incident where they all meet rather gruesome fates afterward. Even better is the sequences in the final half, which is where this one really trades nicely on the darker action scenes as they recover the girl at the house, only for the ghost to reappear again and take her away leading to the grand encounter in the train yard, which is chilling and highly atmospheric as well as ending this on a high note with some great ideas at play. That atmosphere is all the better here due to the rather dark, creepy look of the ghosts, as their pale white faces and dark outlines create a striking and imposing series of villains throughout, as the scenes of them slowly crawling along the ground or appearing in the room with them. All told, these provide this one with a lot to really like here, although it does have a few minor flaws.

The main thing about this one is the fact that the film's self-censored restraints are quite apparent from the outset, which has a big effect on the film as a whole. By forcing it to shy away from the lurid deaths or sleaze the way most films readily work with ease, it never really implies any sense of danger from the threats, as even though they're chilling in design and act rather creepy, there's nothing about them to give it any fear, as we don't get that impression about what they can really do. Simply abducting people is all this one gets in terms of showing them generating fear, and it plays well until you realize it's always going to cut away from the ghostly attacks without really placing any emphasis on their powers. Likewise, the other factor here is the fact that there's just so much scattershot antics to their search for the truth as it seems to go around on various different tangents searching for everyone, and it just seems to randomly introduce people to carry their quest onwards, which leaves this one feeling somewhat disorganized and scattered. All told, though, this is all that's really wrong here.

Overview: ***.5/5

An immensely creepy Indonesian ghost effort, this is a wholly enjoyable and worthwhile take on the setup that has a lot going for it to overcome some issues here that bring this down. Those with an interest in this era of indie genre efforts, who are curious about it, or who appreciate this kind of Asian Horror effort will have the most to like, while most others out there should heed caution.