The Netflix Indonesian film, The Haunted Hotel, as the name suggests, is centered around the Amber Mangun Hotel, where a spirit resides in one of its rooms on the third floor. Raina and Fey were surprised to find out that their father had inherited a hotel from his parents. He had always kept it a secret from them, and when his in-laws were in financial crisis, he offered them to run the hotel. Baskara was in debt when he passed away, and the sisters ended up losing their home. Raina and Fey arrived at the hotel for shelter, and they hoped to assist their grandparents in running the establishment.
Spoiler Alert
What was the hotel’s curse?
Soon after settling in at the Amber Mangun Hotel, Raina found out about the tragic death of one of their employees, Ningrum. Raina was at Fey’s new school when she met her ex-lover, Ardo, who was investigating the death of Ningrum. She was flayed to death, yet there was no one in her room when her body was discovered by her daughter. The mysterious death piqued everyone’s interest, and Ardo was keen on finding out a link between the victim and her workplace. That night, Raina noticed a strange light on the third floor. Her grandma had informed her that the third floor was closed off for renovation, and she was worried that a guest might have been trapped there. She followed the sound of a woman’s whimper and broke the lock to enter the hallway. Raina opened the door of the room where the sound was coming from, and she was frightened to see a woman with white skin and hair seated in front of the mirror. She simply stated, “Three days, midnight,” and Raina left the room. She did not know what to make of it, but she started to notice strange things occurring the very next day. She spoke to her grandmother about the woman on the third floor, and she was visibly frightened. Ningrum’s death resulted in people discussing the hotel being haunted, and the guests staying there soon started to check out.
Raina tried to brush off the idea that there was a spirit living in the hotel, but she soon met the white-haired woman once again, and this time she was determined to physically injure Raina. With the situation gradually getting out of control, Raina’s grandparents finally decided to speak up. They confessed to knowing about the spirit living on the third floor, but because of their financial situation, they tried their best to keep it a secret. During the hotel’s renovation, one of the workers encountered the spirit, and he died three days later, at midnight. After the incident, they brought a shaman, who confirmed that the place was haunted. They locked off the third floor, and for years, there were no other tragic deaths in the hotel. Raina’s grandmother had warned Ningrum not to enter the third floor, but she was concerned when she heard a woman crying. Ningrum was killed three days after she saw the spirit. Raina was afraid that she too would meet the same fate, and she eventually discovered that her sister, Fey, had also been to the third floor and had come across the spirit. The two sisters were now haunted by the ghost, and they had to find a way to survive.
Who was Menoer?
The shaman advised Raina to find out the name of the soul that was trapped in the hotel, because only then would he be able to communicate with her and stop her from committing the brutal murders. After searching the room on the third floor, Raina came across a piece of paper, and she eventually realized that every room had pieces of a letter hidden. Raina and her family, along with Ardo, collected the pieces and solved the puzzle. It was a letter addressed to Raina and Fey’s father and was written by a woman who called herself Jasmine. Through the clues, Raina deduced that her father and the woman met in a pine forest, and perhaps it was there that she could find out more about her. Raina and Ardo, with the help of a local, Parjo, arrived at the nearby village to gather information. Parjo introduced them to the village chief, Mr. Soemardi. Raina and Ardo asked him if there ever existed a woman with white hair and red eyes in the village. The chief was not comfortable with their questions, and he lied about not knowing anything about her. Later, Raina and Ardo figured out that he was lying, and his wife told them the whole truth. As it turned out, the woman they were asking about was the daughter of the chief. She was born an albino, and she was ostracized because of her skin condition. Her name was Menoer, and all through her life, she suffered from extreme loneliness. Tired of the mockery and the mistreatment, one day she just left.
What resulted in Menoer’s misery and ultimately her death?
Raina and Ardo returned home, and now that they had the name of the spirit, the shaman, Ki Danang, tried to communicate with Menoer. The shaman looked into Menoer’s past and told her story. After running away from her village, Menoer escaped to the pine forest. She was lying senseless when Baskara found her and brought her home. This was the first time someone treated her with respect, and she started to grow fond of Baskara. He was also in love with her, and they spent some beautiful days at the hotel together. One day, Baskara left to conduct business in Jakarta and never returned. Tired of waiting for him, she decided to travel to Jakarta to find her lover. She was devastated to see Baskara married to another woman. Menoer returned to the hotel, and she punished herself for her condition. Baskara brought hope into her life, but he proved to be just like everyone else. For the next three days, she pulled off her skin and flayed herself to death.
The only way to stop Menoer from killing people was by taking away her pain, and to do so, she needed to forgive Baskara. Raina was heartbroken to find out that her father betrayed the trust of a woman, and he was the reason behind the confusion and deaths. Raina decided to confess her truth to Ardo—she broke up with him because she had undergone a hysterectomy after she was diagnosed with cancer. She knew that family was important to Ardo, and her inability to give birth was the reason why she left him. Raina did not wish to die with secrets; that was the lesson she learned from her father’s case.
How did Raina try to reverse the curse?
Raina had started to lose respect for her father, but thankfully, Fey found a manuscript that explained his side of the story. As it turned out, Baskara did not travel to Jakarta that day for work; he went to the city to buy the perfect ring for the woman he loved. He wanted to surprise Menoer, and he kept the entire plan a secret. Unfortunately, after Baskara bought the ring, he met with an accident that resulted in memory loss. He was accepted by the family who found him that day at the market. The couple who helped him had recently lost their son, and they were more than happy to allow him to keep the name of their son, Djanuar. He eventually got married to another woman, and they started a family. But one day, all of a sudden, the memories of the past came back to Baskara. He recalled falling in love with Menoer, and he returned to the hotel to find her. He was devastated to find her remains, and with a broken heart, he buried her body and marked it with a flower sign.
Ardo realized that they must do what Ki Danang had asked them to. The only way to stop Menoer was by sliding the ring Baskara had bought on the skeletal remains of Menoer. Raina was hopeful that, after finding out how deeply Baskara loved her, Menoer might find peace and leave the mortal world. Finding Menoer’s remains was a challenge, especially with time running out. Raina had to take matters into her own hands when Ardo was possessed by Menoer. She dug out the grave on her own, and at the end of The Haunted Hotel, when Menoer tried to stop her, she somehow managed to slide the ring. Menoer left Ardo’s body; she seemed to have finally found the peace and happiness that she had been searching for all her life. Menoer’s spirit vanished, and peace was finally restored at the Amber Mangun Hotel.
What happened to the hotel?
After the entire Menoer episode was over, Ardo confessed to Raina that he was still in love with her. He did not care about her condition and was open to the idea of adoption if they ever thought of starting a family. They eventually decided to get married, and they planned on discussing it with Raina’s grandparents. Ardo felt hopeful about their future together, but all of a sudden, when the lights in his room went out, he wondered if the threat was not yet over.
During The Haunted Hotel‘s ending, Menoer returns to murder Ardo. She had spared Raina and Fey from the horror, but she refused to forgive anyone else. Even after knowing how important Ardo was to Raina, she chose to kill him, suggesting that maybe she was not ready to allow Raina to enjoy her happily ever after. While the ring helped heal Menoer’s broken heart, she was still in pain. She could not get over the hatred, the mistreatment, and the mockery she had to face every day, and that was the reason why she continued to haunt those who dared to make it to the third floor. She had committed suicide, and she was cursed to eternally live in the mortal world. There was no end to her revenge, and the hotel would remain occupied by her forever. Raina and her family decided to sell the hotel, but some curious souls always found their way to the third floor.
The Haunted Hotel is a gory horror with an emotional story at its center. The tricky part is getting over the hideous white paint used for the Menoer character. If you can overlook it, then this Indonesian horror is not entirely a miss. It is entertaining, it is gory, and it is just the typical horror you would expect at a haunted hotel.
