Harusnya Horror is a horror comedy film where the ghost in this one is apparently rubbish at being a ghost, which makes a change, and this new film comes from Reza Oktovian, better known as Reza Arap, and marks his feature directing debut – the basic idea is that a shy, anime-obsessed ghost is given a job from the afterlife – scare 100,000 people within 30 days – except there’s one rather large problem – he’s absolutely terrified of people.
So instead of becoming some terrifying supernatural presence, he ends up working with a bunch of struggling horror content creators who decide that having an actual ghost around might be exactly what they need to make their videos go viral.
When the Ghost Needs the Influencers More Than They Need Him
The ghost here gets another chance at the human world because he wants to watch the final episode of his favourite anime – which is apparently what motivates him to accept the rather ridiculous assignment from the afterlife – and the creators he encounters aren’t exactly successful either, as they’re struggling financially and have been making fake horror content, so when they realise they’ve found an actual ghost, they obviously want to see how much money they can make., which feels particularly appropriate for a film about modern horror creators.
The trailer makes it pretty obvious that this isn’t trying to be a serious supernatural horror film, and there’s a lot more emphasis on the personalities of the creators and the ridiculous situation they’ve found themselves in – also worth noting that the first teaser appeared in April 2026 and quickly attracted attention online, reportedly reaching more than 111,000 views, within a few days, which isn’t too bad.
Reza Arap Makes the Jump From YouTube to Horror Director
There’s obviously an interesting story behind the camera here because Reza Oktovian (Arap) isn’t coming into this as an established horror director, because Harusnya Horror is his feature filmmaking debut, and the project grew out of the creative world around his AAA Clan and Marapthon projects – the film is also the big-screen debut for nine members of the Marapthon group.
The screenplay comes from Rahabi Mandra and Syahrun Ramadhan, with Reza also credited for the story, and behind the camera, Sony Seniawan handles cinematography and Ricky Lionardi provides the music, while Ryan Purwoko and Wildan M. Cahyo are credited as editors.
The production comes from ESS JAY Pictures, alongside AAA Clan, Marapthon, Sinegrande and Legacy Pictures, with David S. Suwarto, Sridhar Jetty and Jimmy Lalwani among the producers.
That background is probably more important to this film than it would be for a normal horror movie, as these are people who already understand online audiences, livestreaming, inside jokes and the slightly mad world of internet personalities.
So at least the premise isn’t coming from someone guessing what a content creator does after watching two YouTube videos.
Lula Lahfah’s Final Film Appearance
The cast is headed by Reza Oktovian, Lula Lahfah and George Tierison, alongside Garry Ang, Yuka Theo, Mister Aloy, Bravyson Vconk, Niko Junius, Ibot and Teguh Prakoso. The wider cast also includes Ronny P. Tjandra, Malka Rafasya, Yoshua Marcellos, Reynavenzka and Heroe Soewarno.
There’s also a more emotional reason the film has attracted attention because Lula Lahfah, who appears in the movie alongside Reza, died in January 2026 at the age of 26 – the production has continued to acknowledge her contribution to the film and has described her involvement with particular respect, which inevitably gives the film another layer now.
There isn’t a huge amount of traditional Indonesian folklore in the premise, and I think that’s worth pointing out rather than forcing some connection that isn’t really there, as Harusnya Horror seems more interested in the modern Indonesian internet world – content creators, viral videos, online fame and people trying to turn absolutely anything into something that will get views.
That’s quite a different approach from Indonesian horror built around kuntilanak, pocong, tuyul, santet or specific regional folklore, but there is still plenty of room for some Indonesian horror-comedy tradition.
Harusnya Horror is scheduled to open in Indonesian cinemas on August 20, 2026, with a reported runtime of 106 minutes – the film is directed by Reza Oktovian (Reza Arap) in his feature directing debut, from a screenplay by Rahabi Mandra and Syahrun Ramadhan, with the story credited to Reza Oktovian.
The cast includes Reza Oktovian, Lula Lahfah, George Tierison, Garry Ang, Yuka Theo, Mister Aloy, Bravyson Vconk, Niko Junius, Ibot and Teguh Prakoso, with the production coming from ESS JAY Pictures, AAA Clan, Marapthon, Sinegrande and Legacy Pictures.
Trailer
Check out some more Indonesian horror movies.
Leave a Reply