This film essentially takes place in Indonesia with a woman by the name of "Ningrum" (Hami Diah) getting hired to work as a maid at a hotel not too far from Jakarta. On her very first day, she is told that the 3rd floor is under construction and to avoid it at all costs. Not seeing any problem with this instruction, she readily agrees and begins her first day at work. It's then, to her surprise, that she hears a noise that sounds like a woman sobbing--and it's coming from a room on the 3rd floor. Naturally, being somewhat curious, she immediately goes to investigate. Then, upon entering the room where the sound appears to be coming from, she stares in horror at an extremely pale woman with white hair who, after mumbling some strange words to her, causes her to run out of the room in sheer terror. Sure enough, three days later she is killed by an unseen entity at midnight. The scene then shifts to a woman named "Raina" (Luna Maya) being driven to a hotel that she has just inherited from her father. Traveling with her is her adopted, preteen daughter "Fey" (Bianca Hello) who looks forward to starting a new life in this exotic location. When they get there, she is greeted by her in-laws who have been taking care of the place for several years. And like everyone else who comes to this hotel, they tell her to avoid the 3rd floor at all costs. Unfortunately, it isn't too long before she hears what appears to be a woman sobbing from one of the rooms on that very floor--and that's when the horror begins all over again. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay horror film which primarily benefited from its dark atmosphere and beautiful scenery. And although the acting was adequate, what lessened the film, to a certain degree, was its rather predictable plot and unsatisfying ending. That being said, while certainly not a great horror film by any means, it still kept my attention for the most part, and I have rated it according. Average.

Without ever having heard about this 2023 Indonesian supernatural horror movie titled "Panggonan Wingit" (aka "The Haunted Hotel"), I sat down to watch it here in 2024, as I happened to have the opportunity to do so. And given my life-long love of the horror genre and Asian movies, of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch this movie.

Writer Riheam Junianti put together a fair enough script. It was entertaining for sure, but at the same time writer Riheam Junianti was cashing in on a lot of stereotypical horror tropes, which sort of made certain aspects of "Panggonan Wingit" a bit mundane and generic. I am not saying that it is a bad movie, far from it, because I definitely enjoyed the storyline, and I am sure that newcomers to the horror genre will get a kick out of watching this movie. As a life-long horror aficionado, however, I found the movie to be good but not impressive.

Given my relatively brief exposure to the Indonesian cinema, then I was only familiar with leading actress Luna Maya in this movie. I will say, though, that the acting performances in the movie were good. The actor Egy Fedly, playing the spiritualist Ki Danang, was really well-cast for his role, because he put on quite a memorable and convincing performance.

"Panggonan Wingit" has a fair amount of blood and visual mayhem, without being over-the-top. So director Guntur Soeharjanto managed to take something that was used in moderation and get something good from it. I liked the special effects, props, sets, and wardrobe in the movie.

Running at 110 minutes, the movie could perhaps have benefitted a bit from a more generous trim in the editing room.

Worth sititng down to watch if you enjoy horror and Asian genre, of course. But it is hardly a movie that warrants more than just a single viewing.

My rating of director Guntur Soeharjanto's 2023 movie "Panggonan Wingit" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Haunted Hotel is kind of like if The Ring was crossed with the legend of Samudra Beach Hotel and then crossed back over with The Ring again. It's not beat for beat The Ring, but you are going to recognize quite a few set pieces.

The setting is a Javanese beach community in the 1980s. Two lovely young women have inherited a mysterious hotel from their father. Their grandparents have begun managing it, but the sisters have been having a rough year, so they decide to move in to help out and be near their remaining family. That was probably a mistake.

Grandma tells them not to visit the third floor, and gives an excuse about renovations which does not pass the sniff test. Elder daughter Raina disobeys that missive on the first dang day, and meets the evil spirit which will haunt the rest of the movie. The phantom delivers a cryptic deadline to which Raina responds by leaving her to her creepy privacy, as you do; but it's not long before Raina discovers that the spooky looking lady was actually quite serious with the threat making.

The rest of the movie is mostly a Ring style countdown in which Raina and her ex-boyfriend Arno try to find out who the ghost is and what she wants in order to save both Raina and her younger sister Fey from an untimely death. What they discover is a tragic love story featuring the most hilariously convenient case of amnesia I have ever seen in a horror movie. Wait 'til you hear what Raina's dad was up to in Jakarta. That part was supposed to be sad, but it made me laugh out loud in places.

The special effects in this movie are pretty decent, and the actors do a good job with some pretty schlocky material. There is a Ring style fake-out. I don't think I'm spoiling too much with that, you'll notice it yourself when they wrap up the mystery and you realize there's more than fifteen minutes of runtime still to go. All in all, I can say I'm not sorry I watched it, while also feeling no particular need to go watch it again.