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SINGAPORE : "Blood Ties" is the latest movie to join the growing list of Asian horror films. Rated M18, this Singapore film about a murdered policeman whose spirit returns to possess his little sister and exacts revenge on those who brutally murdered him and his beloved wife, promises plenty of blood and gore.
The supernatural thriller is among the first to receive funding under the Singapore Film Commission's New Feature Film Fund and for first-time director Chai Yee Wei, making this movie has been a "very stressful" experience.
Despite having previously made short films, "Blood Ties" is Chai's his first full length feature and there is plenty at stake for the director as he is the first of nine film-makers who received a S$250,000 grant, to complete his film.
Chai who has done mainly comedies in the past, told Primetime Morning that picked the horror genre for his directorial debut feature because "the producers see a market potential for something like that and audience might just lap it up a little easier".
"In Asia, we have very strong beliefs, myths and practices that we see from day to day. So I think people can relate to subjects like that a little bit more. Maybe that’s why Asians like horror, supernatural stuff," said the 33-year-old.
"But that said, it doesn’t have the usual scares of horror films... It’s probably more violent than gory in that sense."
Playing the lead role of the vengeful spirit is "Painted Skin" actor David Leong who admitted that filming was not only a spooky experience but a painful one as well.
Leong suffered a fractured rib after ignoring a priest's advice during a pre-filming Chinese ritual to "do more prayers".
"I was like 'yeah right' and on the second day of filming, I get hurt," said the actor.
"And it was during rehearsal for a move we did not even use!" added Chai.
And the spooky incidents did not stop there. While doing promotional shots for the film in a studio, Leong revealed that nine pillars forming the backdrop had fallen right after he finished taking some pictures, all at the same time, missing him by a foot.
When asked if he was more superstitious now, Leong said, "Well, I’m not overly superstitious. But I believe they exist. And I think respect is important."
Chai shared that filming was completed in 20 days instead of the scheduled 22 because "weird things happened".
"We had accidents with our vans, with our production truck and so on. After six days of shooting, my assistant director came to me and said: 'You know what? We have to cut two days of shooting because we have had too many car accidents so far.' In the end, we had almost 15 car accidents during the whole production."
Despite all the accidents, Chai is not spooked out just yet.
"I do like to deal with Asian myth and I forsee myself trying to collect some of these myths to tell stories."
"Blood Ties" opens in Singapore cinemas on Thursday.
- CNA/nc
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