Ghost Banana Tree
6 /10 1 Votes
Duration | Director Heng Tola Country Cambodia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Release date 24 July 2004(Cambodia) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ghost Banana Tree (Cambodian title: Khmoach Daoem Chek Chvia, Khmer: ខ្មោចដើមចេកជ្វា) is a 2005 film. It is a successful Cambodian horror film based on a Cambodian ghost story about a vengeful ghost woman haunting a banana tree and killing her husband. It's the fourth successful horror film by Campro production, following ang Neath, The Forest and The Haunted House.
Contents
Tagline
Ha! Handsome Man hides in Byemane Tree thinking I can't find you
Plot synopsis
The story is an old Khmer tale of haunting about a newly married couple. The husband was sent abroad for business and, while away, the wife fell ill and died. Her spirit became vengeful and started haunting the people of their village. When the husband returned, not knowing about his wife's death, he quickly realized that the woman he found was not his wife, but her ghost when she unnaturally made her arm longer. He ran away from their house seeking help but, even after a proper Khmer burial, his dead wife followed him to a Buddhist monk's house where he sought safety. As he was reciting prayers with closed eyes, his wife's ghost climbed one of the many banana trees near the monk's house, entered through a window and immediately killed the man. The movie ends with their spirits flying to begin their next life together. It is traditionally considered inauspicious by the Khmer to grow banana trees close to a house, especially near a window.
Origins
The film is based on a Cambodian legend traceable to at least the 16th century. A folk belief, which many Khmer still follow, stems from this legend, forbidding people from planting banana trees next to their houses as a ghost spirit could enter the house by climbing in on a banana leaf. If there was already a banana tree growing close by, all of the banana tree's leaves touching or near the house would be cut off for safety. This centuries-old tradition is most common in more remote areas today.