Ghostly encounters
The cast of Ghostchild shares spooky stories which they encountered on the set of their new movie.
FOLLOWING his success in the horror genre with the National Service-themed military ghost flick 23:59 (2011), Singaporean filmmaker Gilbert Chan decided to direct another scary movie.
Written and directed by Chan, the S$1mil (RM2.5mil) Ghost Child is presented by MM2 Entertainment, Clover Films and Zhao Wei Films.
The story tells how things start getting spooky for a contractor’s mother and daughter when he brings his new Indonesian wife back to his home in Singapore.
While driving through a remote area in Indonesia late one night, widower Choon (Chen Hanwei) saves a pretty woman by the name of Na (Carmen Soo) from a bunch of burly rogues. Na follows Choon home to Singapore, but finds that she has to contend with a hostile reception from his mother (Cecilia Heng) and daughter Kim (Jayley Woo).
Meanwhile, Kim is also having a particularly rough time in school – poor grades, getting bullied and boy problems – after her mother died of cancer.
As if that is not enough, a ghost child suddenly emerges and starts making mischief in their household.
For those who are not aware, a ghost child ( toyol in Malay or gui zai in Chinese) is a mythical goblin – invoked from a dead human foetus through the use of black magic – that is usually kept for financial gain or to create mischief. Its owners usually make offerings of candies, marbles, toys and even blood to appease the spirit and compel it to perform specific tasks.
Chan was accompanied by the movie’s leads Soo and Chen at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday to promote the horror flick. Each of them had scary stories to share about weird happenings on the set while filming the movie.
Soo, who portrays the demure IndonesianChinese woman, admits to being a scaredycat who does not really enjoy watching horror flicks. Expressing relief that she did not have any supernatural encounters herself, Soo, however, told of an incident on the set involving the actor who played her first husband.
“There was a scene in which he was supposed to rummage through some drawers to look for something. He’d already had a few practice runs and everything went well. Then, when the cameras started rolling, he suddenly yelled ‘Cut, cut’ and blood was dripping from a deep cut on his hand,” shared Soo, who quietly said a prayer for filming to proceed smoothly after the incident.
Chan said they found signs of a toyol being kept when the crew went to recce for the shoot.
“We saw some marbles, toys and sweets under a shady tree behind the house. In order to film there safely, we were told not to bring any pork onto the set,” the director remembered.
“Unfortunately, that particular actor (who had injured himself) was not around when the message was passed around. So, he unknowingly brought more than a dozen packets of wantan mee (pork dumpling noodles) with char siu (barbecued pork) for the crew’s supper.”
Based in Singapore, multiple-award-winning television actor Chen hails from Johor and said he was thrilled to make his feature film debut with Ipoh-born model/actress Soo as his leading lady.
Playing a contractor who unknowingly brings a toyol home after he marries an IndonesianChinese woman, Chen sent chills down everyone’s spine at the press conference when he reminisced about his eerie experiences, one of which involved a creepy snapshot on his cellphone. Chen showed the photo to members of the media at the press conference.
Commenting on the blurry selca of himself standing in front of a dark pathway, Chen pointed to a pair of figures faintly visible directly behind him in the photo. “I remember telling everyone to clear the set so I could snap a picture of myself alone. Then, someone pointed out to me that there were two mysterious figures behind me in the picture – an adult wearing a sleeveless tank top with a child next to her. It was particularly creepy because I was very sure all the cast and crew were wearing long sleeves that night. And, we never saw anybody that fit the description on the set that day,” Chen concluded.
GhostChild is showing in cinemas now.