HAWAIIAN GHOST STORIES [2020]

 THE SCARY SIDE OF PARADISE.  

There is no Judy Garland or Mickey Rooney on hand but, other than that fact, the concept of everybody in town getting together to put on a show is on display here.  The only difference is the show is a SOV/found footage horror movie and the scene isn't the local barn but the Hawaiian Islands.  The pleasure you'll get from watching HAWAIIAN GHOST STORIES really depends on your tolerance for total amateurs (there is not a professional actor anywhere near this movie) putting together a horror movie shot probably on their phones just for the fun of it.  Whereas I might be harsh on a big studio movie that's crap, a homemade "Lunchtime Production" (as my friend Peg used to call them -- a group had a lunch hour free so they made a movie) made with honest enthusiasm and good fun I have a lot of time for.  HAWAIIAN GHOST STORIES is an anthology film of several ghost stories being told by a storyteller to a bunch of kids around a campfire.  Each story features a Hawaiian (or Japanese imported) ghost or urban legend like the No Faced Woman, the Aswang or the Mujina etc.  There is no actual acting going on and there doesn't even appear to be an actual script but even so I had fun with this film.  There are some homemade practical effects as well as some VERY basic CGI which I found pretty charming.  Right down to the misspelled movie title that appears on screen as "HAWAIIN GHOST STORIES" before the end credits, this film has handmade written all over it!  In fact, this is one amateur horror movie which has quite a lot going for it, actually.

Firstly there is the location shooting in Hawaii itself; Hawaii is Hawaii and it looks stunningly beautiful no matter what it's shot on.  And oddly, the locations carry a lot of spooky atmosphere which I didn't quite expect. There is one pathway (Morgan's Corner) that features in a couple of the stories whose jungle canopy domes the dirt road shutting out much of the sunlight; pretty good atmosphere here.  Secondly, the brevity of the running time (it just barely hits 1 hour) doesn’t allow time for tedious stretches of failed attempts at character-buildingl HAWAIIAN GHOST STORIES gets in and gets out without trying to pad the length to 90 minutes as some amateur productions do to their detriment.  Thirdly, you don’t get many horror movies featuring the folkloric ghosts of the Hawaiian Islands so the concept itself is a breath of fresh ocean air – even if several of them are actually Japanese Yokai. And lastly, there’s the palpable feeling that everyone is having a great deal of fun making their own little horror movie.  As I’ve said, your enjoyment of HAWAIIAN GHOST STORIES totally depends on your tolerance for absolutely amateur productions with no budget; if not, then this movie is definitely not for you.  But for you forgiving souls, HAWAIIAN GHOST STORIES is a charming bit of fun that might even give you chicken skin.