Horror for younger audiences is a surprisingly difficult thing to get right, as you want ghosts and creepy situations, obviously, but you can’t exactly send a group of twelve-year-olds into an Indonesian version of Hereditary and expect everyone to have a nice afternoon.
Ghost Buzzer: Antar Aku Pulang takes a much lighter approach, mixing horror, comedy, fantasy and adventure into a story about four kids who decide that investigating ghosts sounds like a perfectly sensible hobby.
And considering how many Indonesian horror films are aimed squarely at adults, I actually like the idea of somebody making one that kids can watch without their parents having to spend the next three nights explaining why they suddenly need the bedroom light left on.
Four Kids, One Haunted Basement
The story centres on four twelve-year-old friends: Nizam, Vindy, Udin and Raka, who are fascinated by mysteries and supernatural stories – Raka has even built his own device for detecting supernatural beings, while Vindy has what the film describes as indigo abilities, allowing her to sense things that the others can’t.
Naturally, they decide to investigate a haunted basement, because apparently none of them have seen enough horror films to know that basements are where sensible people simply don’t go, and inside, they encounter the spirit of a girl named Maria, who asks them to help her get home so that she can finally find peace, before discovering another spirit, Ani, and finds themselves caught up in a much bigger mystery.
So rather than making the ghosts purely there to scare the kids, the story gives them something the children can actually help with.
Trailer
Agus Hendra Jaya and Amir Gumay Direct
The film was directed by Agus Hendra Jaya and Amir Gumay, with Ariel Fauzan and Heru Kurniawan credited as writers. The producers are Febri Amalia and Aditya Gumay, while the production is credited to PT Artha Media Indonesia, with M8 Pictures and Sanggar Ananda Kawula Muda also associated with the project.
The young cast includes Nevan Atallah as Nizam, Chacha Hits as Vindy, Rafael Fernando as Udin and Claudio Alexandre as Raka – Arzalea Lanasya plays Maria, while Almira Giena appears as Ani. Kenya Cantika, Ayu Diana, Alaric Isco Keenandra Akhmad and Barbie Azzahra Malayeka are also among the cast.
There’s also an interesting bit of history attached to the production, as the film was described as one of the final projects involving Amir Gumay, making it something of a farewell to a filmmaker who spent much of his career involved with Indonesian children’s cinema.
There’s a Bit of Indonesian Ghost-Lore in the Mix
The film doesn’t appear to be based around one specific famous Indonesian legend in the way some of the country’s darker horror releases are, but I think it uses the broader idea of arwah, or spirits of the dead who haven’t found peace, as part of its story.
And I think that’s a good way of introducing younger viewers to Indonesian supernatural storytelling without throwing them straight into the deep end, featuring characters who are curious, and enjoy investigate things together, which also gives Ghost Buzzer more of an adventure-movie feel than a straight horror film.
That reminded me more of the kid-focused supernatural films I watched growing up than the modern Indonesian horror films I usually cover, as there’s a bit of Stranger Things in the basic idea of children investigating something adults don’t understand, although obviously this is much lighter and aimed at a much younger audience.
The difference is that these kids aren’t trying to save the world, they’re trying to help some ghosts get home, which is considerably more wholesome.
The SU classification means the film is intended to be suitable for audiences of all ages, and that was very much part of the plan from the beginning, and it was released during the Indonesian school holiday period and promoted specifically as family entertainment.
I’m Glad This Exists
Ghost Buzzer: Antar Aku Pulang isn’t aimed at me in quite the same way as the Indonesian horror films I normally get excited about, but I do think there’s something useful about having a film like this around.
Indonesian cinema produces an enormous amount of horror, but so much of it is made for adults, so having a family-friendly supernatural adventure that introduces younger viewers to ghosts, spirits and Indonesian folklore without going completely overboard makes perfect sense.
And I quite like the idea behind the ghosts needing help rather than simply wanting to kill everyone, and it also gives the kids something to actually do.
And at around 88 minutes, Ghost Buzzer isn’t asking for a huge commitment, and the whole thing seems to know exactly what it wants to be – a gentle introduction to Indonesian supernatural horror, with four kids, a haunted basement and a couple of ghosts who apparently just want somebody to help them get home.
That’s a lot nicer than most of the horror films I’ve been writing about lately.
Check out some more Indonesian horror movies.
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