Gangster boss Omen (Firman Bahadur) gets into a fight with
fluit-playing beggar Prapto (Epy Kusnandar) after Prapto caught him raping
Rukiyah (Heny Timbul), and ultimately, the gangster wins the upper hand
and chases Prapto, who has always been a nuisance to him anyways, through
the streets ... A seemingly unrelated story: Married couple Lala (Ade
Fetri) and Steve (Benni Ruswandi) are constantly fighting because she
suspects him of having an affair (and she's right, too), but today is
Lala's birthday, and Steve promises to take her out. Finally, it seems,
they have made peace for good ... until his mistress (Wani) calls while
they are driving to the restaurant, and Lala and Steve get in a fight
immediately - and totally fail to notice Prapto, who is running in front
of their car, and is run over and killed. Lala wants to immediately stop,
get out and help, but Steve claims it's to dangerous, and drives off,
making Prapto a hit-and-run victim. Prapto's soul cannot rest though,
and he soon appears to people in the streets, scaring the heebiegeebies
out of them, and he has his revenge on those who have wronged him, most
notably Omen. Lala meanwhile is more and more overcome by guilt about
the accident, and she starts to have nightmares about Prapto (or is he
actually haunting her?), so much so that she forces her husband to
accompany her and at least look for the body of the poor man. They soon
track down Rukiyah and her daughter Suci (Ocri), the only true friends
Prapto ever had, but not even they can tell them where Prapto's body is
... until one night, Suci meets Prapto's ghost, who leads her to his body. Informed
by Rukiyah about the location of the body, Steve and Lala do their best to
give him at least a proper burial, and they take Rukiyah and Suci, slum
residents until now, in to treat them as their own. A happy ending? Not
quite: Passing the corner they run over Prapto days later, Steve and
Lala's car suddenly stops, and they are run over by a truck ... it seems
little Suci is possessed by Prapto's vengeful spirit ... Taking
quite a few cues from, of all films, Brian de Palma's Bonfire of
Vanities, Hantu Lampu Merah Kuningan is nevertheless a rather clichéd
horror movie, and though it might not be too badly made, it has very little new
to offer, instead comes across as little more than horror-by-the-numbers.
As such, the film is not too annoying, as it is well-handled by the actors
and director, but that said, the film has little to remember it by, and
you'll probably have forgotten it in a day or two.
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