Hantu Jembatan Ancol directed by Arie Azis
Starring Nadia Ernesta, Nia Ramadhani, Ben Joshua and Marsha Arwan.

THE Indonesian film industry’s capacity to produce countless horror flicks is impressive yet I am usually dismayed at how atrocious some of them are.

Suster Ngesot, Pocong 2 & 3, Beranak Dalam Kubur, Lantai 13, 40 Hari Bangkitnya Pocong, Tiren Mati Kemarin and Kuntilanak 2 (the list goes on) are some of the Indonesian horror movies that have either created a buzz due to their great storytelling or just for being plain silly.

Hantu Jembatan Ancol, sadly, is among the no-brainer flicks.

The film starts off with a love triangle involving Nikko (Ben Joshua), Dona (Nia Ramadhani) and Livi (Nadia Ernesta).
Nikko, who is about to enter into an arranged marriage with Dona, falls in love with a seductive waitress, Livi.

Later, Livi announces that she is expecting his baby. Nikko accidentally kills her after being pressured to take responsibility of the pregnancy and dumps her body into a river near a bridge named Ancol.

Livi, as expected, makes a “comeback” to seek revenge. She terrorises Nikko as well as those who are dearest to him including Dona.

Expect cheesy lines such as “Sayang, cinta ini milik kita berdua” (My love, this love belongs to us) which is repeated many times throughout the movie.

It’s the same old plot we have seen elsewhere: a restless pocong (spirit) out for revenge after being jilted and killed by her trusted lover.

It is a pity that there is no room for improvisation and the entire storyline is quite stale.

However, actress Nia Ramadhani should be a crowd puller.

Her character’s development was disappointing though.

An actress as talented as her should be given more room to reach her full potential. She should be given roles that she is good at, for instance, dark and evil characters.

She was great as villain Bawang Merah in the movie Bawang Putih Bawang Merah.

Nia should have taken the lead role. Instead, the director opted for a less experienced actress to take the role as the pocong.

Nadilla Ernesta did not do justice to director Arie Azis’ attempt to instill fear among the viewers.

Leading man Ben Joshua was a joke as he gave such a poor performance!

Ben failed to make us hate him. He played a jerk but he all he did was make us laugh at his acting.

While flawed in its storytelling, this movie has a moral. Actions based on lust and lies will only lead to severe repercussions. In other words, what goes around comes around!

I expected to be scared out of my wits watching this movie but I found myself laughing my way out of the cinema.