Asian horror at 3am
SOME people think midnight is the scariest hour of the day but 3am is when ghosts and evil spirits are believed to be at their strongest.
And that’s the setting of Astro Boo’s first original series 3A.M. Bangkok Ghost Stories, airing Saturdays at 3am (late Friday night).
Each of its 13 episodes features a bonechilling supernatural occurrence at 3am in the city of Bangkok, from a late-night deejay being haunted by the spirit of a girl who committed suicide, to a thief trapped forever in a house by its owner.
“Asia has a lot of wonderful stories to tell. For Boo’s first original production, we’d like to give Asian storytellers the opportunity to share their storytelling skills, in the horror genre in particular,” said Astro chief operating officer Henry Tan.
“We believe these stories will not only resonate well in Asia butalso captivate audiences from around the world.”
3 A.M. Bangkok Ghost Stories showcases the directorial work of Kiatkamon Iamphungporn, who produced the hit Thai horror movie 3 A.M (2012) and its 2014 sequel.
Two of 3 A.M. Bangkok Ghost Stories’ stars, actress Chansakorn Kittiwattanakorn
and actor Tongpound Tonggamnerd, were in KL recently to promote the show.
“The experience working on this regional production has been thrilling, to say the least. It’s great to see the good response for thriller and horror stories from Thailand,” said Chansakorn.
Other episodes include tales of an initially-brazen nurse who begins to experience haunting experiences at the hospital that worsens each day; a hotel owner’s son who defies orders to stay away from the haunted Room 404; and three friends who chooses to collect road accidents’s victims’ dead bodies as their community work.
3A.M. Bangkok Ghost Stories is a collaboration with Thailand’s Five Star Production, reputable for its horror productions.
“We shared with them our plans and they were excited to take on this challenge. We’re glad to work with like-minded people.”
The second original series to come from Boo is Doors, as in “Do you dare to open the door?”. Set in the Philippines this time, it will also air at 3am and feature 13 episodes.
“It’s coming through really nicely. We have top directors and actors working on it,” said Tan.
Tan added that they’re still working on the proposals for a potential Malaysian version of the horror series.
“While championing Malaysian tales, we’re encouraging Malaysians to think bigger and look across the region rather than keeping it domestic-focused.
“An analogy I can use here is that I want to produce nasi lemak, but I need better quality ingredients. In the end it becomes premium nasi lemak, but we also need to make sure the essential flavours are still there.
“So you’ll see more of our collaborations with regional talents, not just on camera but behind it as well.” Bibi Nurshuhada Ramli