23:59

VERDICT: 2.5 stars out of 5

Year of Release: 2011
Country of Origin: Singapore
Language: Mandarin, English
Running Time: 1 hour 18 minutes
Director: Gilbert Chan
Producers: Gary Goh, Au Yuk Sing, Freddie Yeo
Screenwriter: Gilbert Chan
Cast: Mark Lee, Henley Hii, Josh Lai, Tedd Chan, Lawrence Koh, Tommy Kuan, Stella Chung

National Service is scary enough without the ghost stories.

Like Army Daze (1996) before it and Ah Boys to Men (2012) after it, 23:59 centres on the BMT (Basic Military Training) phase of National Service, the obligatory military conscription that all able-bodied male Singaporeans go through for two years when they turn 18. The difference here is that Army Daze and Ah Boys to Men are comedies. 23:59 is a horror flick.

Meet a core of five recruits, all of them instantly recognisable stereotypes. There’s Jeremy (Henley Hii), the good guy. Tan (Tedd Chan) is the timid one. Dragon (Lawrence Koh) is the bully. Lim (Tommy Kuan) is the comic relief. Chester (Josh Lai) is the upper class guy.

Tan is one of those recruits who just can’t seem to hack it in this environment. He’s having a pretty hellish time, what with Dragon bullying him. Fortunately, his buddy Jeremy protects him so it never gets to be Full Metal Jacket. Lately, however, Tan’s more troubled than usual and talks of a spirit haunting him. Jeremy doesn’t believe in the supernatural, which is ironic because he possesses actual psychic abilities that he’s in denial about. Instead, Jeremy just tells Tan to buck up because it’s their last week of BMT.

It just so happens that their training period coincides with the Seventh Month, the Asian equivalent of Halloween. The wise Sergeant Kuah (Mark Lee) even gives everyone protective amulets before they embark on a fateful route march. Jeremy, of course, disregards that and therefore unwittingly causes tragedy to happen. The spirit isn’t done, though – now that it’s got Tan, it’s targeting Chester. Jeremy has to figure out what Tan and Chester did that incurred the spirit’s wrath before it’s too late.

23:59 is a perfectly serviceable supernatural horror flick. It’s likeable even, shows ambition and potential on the part of the director, but it never escapes formula. Set in the early 1980s, it works best as a nostalgic period film. It beautifully photographs those austere British-styled army camp facilities so conducive to scaring your pants off that now no longer exist. Even during my time, the army was already moving on to those modern facilities they have today (of which I don’t tire of telling youngsters “you are so lucky! Yours are resorts compared to my time!”).

That’s the main strength and failing of 23:59 – it always works much better if you have some passing knowledge of its references. It tries to stand on its own but never quite manages the tricky balancing act. For instance, if you have gone through National Service, the lingo and routines might make you smile and nod knowingly. Do that and the scenes suddenly have meaning. I related to Tan, even though he was only thinly sketched, because I remembered how scared I was in those first weeks of BMT. It was the first time I had to leave home and family behind. Worse, I was cast into a rigidly regimental environment in some god-forsaken part of the island, cut off from civilisation. I’m being dramatic, but when you were a sheltered 18-year-old with an active imagination, it did feel overwhelming. Something, I imagine, Tan is feeling.

The ghost stories shared in the night-time storytelling sessions featured in the film didn’t help my anxiety either. Those stories are familiar. After all, it’s a time-honoured tradition to pass on the canon of army ghost stories so it’s quite hard to keep them out of mind. Furthermore, before the army made over their facilities, it’s easy to believe the camps were haunted, especially when you had to do guard duty.

There were many spine-tinglers spread around but the most infamous story was always that of Charlie Company. Set in the main training camp on Pulau Tekong, it’s an urban legend that refuses to perish. Interestingly, the major significance of setting 23:59 in 1983 is that it is around that time when that urban legend first appeared. For the longest time, I had thought that story was just fiction until I learned that it was based on a true incident, only deliriously embellished.

That story is often told, and in many ways, and this is the version I heard: during a gruelling route march through the forest trail, one of the recruits suddenly went missing. A comprehensive search was mounted but hours passed and he could not be found. The commanders got so desperate they decided to consult a shaman living in the area. The shaman told them where to look, adding that it was too late. The recruit was found – with his entrails ripped out and arranged neatly in front of his posed body. After that, the platoon was plagued with poltergeist activity, including one possession, said to be caused by the unfortunate recruit’s restless spirit. It got so bad that a Taoist priest was called in to perform an exorcism and the haunted bunk was then sealed off permanently.

I mention the above because that’s the story that inspires this movie’s events. However, only bits of that basic story appear here. 23:59 chose to go a different way by grafting portions of the original urban legend with its own newly minted creepypasta. While that is not a bad decision on its own, it would have been better if it had been a compelling story. I honestly thought the newly created mythology was weak. Why cast aside the creepy implications of the original urban legend and the more colourful demons already existing on Pulau Tekong? Why couldn’t it be any one of those beings shown in the freaky drawings that made up the opening credits sequence? Oh, why, oh, why couldn’t it have been the ghoul with the blown-up face that features briefly in the opening scenes? I wanted to know her story. Instead, the big bad was a watered down clone of The Ring’s Sadako. It wasn’t bad. It was just so okay that after teasing us with more intriguing horrors, it felt like a let-down.

There are still some decent scares, even though I take issue with the film resorting to implausible contrivances to move the plot along. For instance, route marches are not so sloppily organised that a small group can get cut off without anybody noticing. Guard duty does not require you to go into the uncharted parts of the forest. The biggest howler is how easily the recruits leave the camp. That doesn’t happen! Horror movies do require its characters to make stupid decisions but the settings shouldn’t make it this easy for them.

By the way, the title is pronounced “Two-three-five-nine”. That’s the way they say it in the army. 2-3-5-9 is army-speak for final call, lights out. All regular activities are over and you’re supposed to go to bed. Until this movie points it out, I never questioned why 2-3-5-9. It just never occurred to me why nobody ever says “midnight” or “12 o’clock”. It’s like an unspoken taboo. 23:59 does provide its own in-universe explanation, which did make me think, “Wow! That’s a good one!” I like this movie but overall, it isn’t as strong as it should have been, given glimpses of the talent shown. I really wish it had more “Wow! That’s a good one!” moments.