Ghost Child

Ghost Child (Chinese: 鬼仔; formerly called Inside the Urn[2]) is a 2013 Singaporean horror film directed by Gilbert Chan starring Chen Hanwei, Jayley Woo and Carmen Soo. The film revolves around a family fighting against the titular "Ghost Child" (a toyol). It was commercially released in Singapore on 7 March 2013.

Ghost Child
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGilbert Chan
Written byGilbert Chan
Tang Fong Cheng
Danny Yeo
Screenplay byTan Fong Cheng
Gilbert Chan
Produced byGary Goh
Eric Khoo
Tang Fong Cheng
Bert Tan (Executive Producer)
StarringChen Hanwei
Jayley Woo
Carmen Soo
CinematographyKevin Kee Hoe
Edited byNatalie Soh
Music byKen Chong
Production
companies
Gorylah Pictures
Clover Films
Mm2 Entertainment
Distributed byGolden Village Pictures
Release date
  • 7 March 2013 (2013-03-07) (Singapore)
Running time
88 minutes
CountrySingapore
LanguageChinese
Box officeUS$422,150[1]

Plot

Having saved her from a band of Indonesian bandits, widower Choon (Chen Hanwei) announces his plans to marry Indonesian-Chinese Na (Carmen Soo). Na is mysterious in nature and says little about her background. Amongst the items she brings with her is an urn, which contains the eponymous "Ghost Child", otherwise known as a toyol. The toyol causes much distress to Choon and his estranged teenage daughter, Kim (Jayley Woo). Among other strange happenings, family photographs get torn apart and Kim's grandmother gets injured for no apparent reason. At first suspecting her dead mother's ghost for causing these, Kim soon learns about the toyol and attempts to get rid of it, but her efforts are to no avail. Could she save her family by ridding this unspeakable evil?

Cast
  • Chen Hanwei as Choon.[3][4] A widower contractor who encounters supernatural happenings in his residence after marrying his second wife.
  • Jayley Woo as Kim. Choon's teenage daughter who tries to fight against a mysterious evil force that threatens the safety of her family.
  • Cecilia Heng as Kim's grandmother.
  • Russell Ong as Troy.[5]
  • Vanessa Lee as Tifanny. Kim's schoolmate and swimming buddy.
  • Elena Choo as Jane.[6] Kim's schoolmate and member of her swim team.

Production

Production commenced in September 2012.[4]

Development

Ghost Child is Chen Hanwei's feature-length film debut;[4][7] previously he only appeared in numerous Singaporean television series.[4] Chen wanted to reject the role offered to him due to his busy schedule at first,[4] but later agreed. According to producer Lim Teck, Chen agreed to commit to the film for "a plate of cheap [Hainanese] chicken rice",[8] while Chen himself said it was because:

[...] I really wanted to do this film and they really wanted me for the role, so my manager just squeezed out time for it, no matter how tight it is.[4]

Chen had also previously mentioned that he joined the project as he was "a fan of the people behind it".[8]

Reception

Critical response

Gabriel Chong of Movie Exclusive thought "[the film lacked] a character-driven narrative, this competently staged horror otherwise boasts some genuinely suspenseful and edge-of-your-seat gripping moments", giving it 3 stars.[9] Raphael Lim, writing for F*** Mag, gave the film 2.5 stars, out of 5. "Ghost Child would have been an uncomplicated, generally effective horror yarn if not for its meandering subplots," he wrote.[10]

Box office

The film grossed an estimated S$530,000 during its run at Singaporean cinemas.[11]

See also

References
  1. "2013 Singapore Yearly Box Office". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  2. Lui, John (4 January 2013). "Shot in Singapore". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 24 February 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  3. Chua, Cherlene (17 August 2012). "Chen Hanwei was sold as a baby". AsiaOne. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  4. Han, Wei Chou (13 August 2012). "Chen Hanwei to make big-screen debut with "Ghost Child"". Channel News Asia. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  5. Chan, U-Gene (8 April 2013). "SPORTS FIRST, SCREEN LATER". The Straits Times. pp. B15.
  6. Chan, Gilbert (7 March 2013), Ghost Child, retrieved 6 August 2016
  7. Yip, Wai Yee (6 March 2013). "Chen Hanwei's big screen debut on Thursday". The Straits Times. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  8. Yip, Wai Yee (7 March 2013). "Chicken rice seals the deal". Life! (The Straits Times). p. C5.
  9. Chong, Gabriel. "GHOST CHILD (鬼仔) (2013)". Movie Exclusive. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  10. Lim, Raphael. "Ghost Child (鬼仔) - Review". F*** Mag. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  11. Chan, Boon (11 September 2013). "Where is the audience?". The Straits Times. pp. C2–C3.
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