38/10
Followed by Panggonan Wingit 2: Miss K (2024)
Raina’s life was threatened after she opened the door and entered an unnumbered room in the hotel run by her sister, Fey. The figure of a woman with white hair and skin also made her presence known. Taken from the True Story of a Haunted Hotel in Semarang with the Initial “S”.
Writer Riheam Junianti has put together a pretty tight script
Having never heard of this 2023 Indonesian supernatural horror film titled “Panggonan Wingit” (also known as “The Haunted Hotel”), I sat down to watch it here in 2024 because I had the opportunity to do so. And given my long-standing love for the horror genre and Asian films, of course I didn’t need any persuasion to sit down and watch this film. It was entertaining, for sure, but at the same time, writer Riheam Junianti was cashing in on a lot of horror stereotypes, which kind of made certain aspects of “Panggonan Wingit” feel a bit mundane and generic.
I have to say, though, that the performances in the film were good
I’m not saying it’s a bad movie, far from it, because I definitely enjoyed the plot, and I’m sure newcomers to the horror genre will enjoy watching this film. As a longtime horror aficionado, however, I found the film to be good, but not impressive. Given my relatively brief exposure to Indonesian cinema, I was only familiar with the lead actress Luna Maya in this film.
I enjoyed the film’s special effects, props, sets, and costumes
Actor Egy Fedly, playing the spiritualist Ki Danang, was actually well-cast in his role, as he gave a pretty memorable and convincing performance. “Panggonan Wingit” has a good amount of gore and visual mayhem, without being over the top. So director Guntur Soeharjanto managed to take something that was used sparingly and make something good out of it.
But it’s hardly a film that warrants more than a single viewing
At 110 minutes long, the film could have perhaps benefited from a more generous trimming in the editing room. It’s worth sitting down to watch if you’re into horror and Asian genre fare, of course. My rating for director Guntur Soeharjanto’s 2023 film “Panggonan Wingit” is five out of ten stars.
