Spooked by offscreen horrors

[Anonymous]

STI Home > Prime News > Story
May 4, 2007
Spooked by offscreen horrors
Apparitions and strange occurrences haunted the set of Malaysian horror hit Jangan Pandang Belakang
By Melissa Lee

WHAT WAS THAT?: Newcomer Pierre Andre, who also penned the script, said half the incidents in the movie were inspired by real-life experiences.
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‘I don’t depend on ghosts to scare people. Sometimes there’s no ghost at all, and it’s just a hand popping into the screen to open the door – and people still scream’
Director Ahmad Idham

‘I don’t depend on ghosts to scare people. Sometimes there’s no ghost at all, and it’s just a hand popping into the screen to open the door – and people still scream’

MYSTERIOUS deaths, ghostly apparitions and unexplained cases of hysteria are the standard stuff of horror flicks.
But in the case of Malaysian box-office smash hit Jangan Pandang Belakang (Don’t Look Back), these spooky incidents occurred not onscreen but off.

During its last day of filming early this year, stuntman Nazari Omar Baki died when he fell out of a third-storey apartment window but somehow missed the cushioned landing area, said director Ahmad Idham at a recent press conference at Suntec City.

It was the first fatality to have ever occurred on the set of a Malaysian film.

The buzz generated by such strange behind-the-scenes incidents has propelled the RM450,000 (S$200,000) movie to the top of the Malaysian box-office charts since it opened on April 5.

Produced by Malaysia’s Metrowealth Movies Production, the film made RM410,000 on its opening day alone, and RM3.3 million in its first week – the highest-grossing local movie opening in 30 years.

The record was formerly held by last year’s superhero movie Cicak-Man, which made RM2 million in its first week.

Jangan Pandang Belakang stars 22-year-old newcomer Pierre Andre as a young man who searches for answers when his fiancee Rose (played by Intan Ladyana) mysteriously dies, and uncovers several disturbing secrets along the way.

Billed by Malaysia’s English-language newspaper The Star as ‘the scariest local movie ever made’, the film received an extra boost in publicity last month when Malaysia’s censorship body warned pregnant women and people with heart problems to avoid watching the movie.

Pierre, who also penned the script, said half the incidents in the movie were inspired by real-life experiences.

‘Two years ago, I was chatting with my friend when he suddenly lowered his voice and said, ‘Jangan pandang belakang’ – there was ‘something bad’ behind me that I wouldn’t want to see,’ he recalled.

It turned out that his friend had seen a ghostly figure in a tree behind Pierre.

Other baffling film-set incidents included two female crew members inexplicably becoming hysterical, screaming and crawling on the floor. They recovered only after a traditional healer was called in to exorcise them, said Ahmad.

Even after a long day of filming, the spooky experiences didn’t stop, he added. At night, they would hear voices, and the television sets in the hotel rooms would turn on and off in the middle of the night.

‘So we incorporated the experiences into the movie too,’ he said.

One challenge in making the movie was to frighten people ‘because the situation is creepy, not because of the ghosts’.

‘I don’t depend on ghosts to scare people. Sometimes there’s no ghost at all, and it’s just a hand popping into the screen to open the door – and people still scream.’

Jangan Pandang Belakang looks set to garner similar success overseas. Sony Pictures has approached producer David Teo to discuss distributing it in North America, Japan and India.

The movie, which opened in Singapore yesterday, will be the largest release of a Malaysian film here with a record 12 prints.

For his follow-up film, Ahmad said he will be teaming up with Pierre to produce another horror flick, Congkak, with the script again written by the latter.

But unlike in the past when he didn’t believe that making horror films could be spooky, he said quietly: ‘Now I will be very careful.’

melissal@sph.com.sg

Jangan Pandang Belakang is now showing in cinemas.

Tell us who plays the lead character Darma in Jangan Pandang Belakang (Don’t Look Back), and you could win a pair of tickets to the movie. There are 75 pairs of tickets sponsored by Eng Wah Cinemas up for grabs. E-mail your answers to contest@engwah.com.sg. by noon next Wednesday.

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‘I don’t depend on ghosts to scare people. Sometimes there’s no ghost at all, and it’s just a hand popping into the screen to open the door – and people still scream’
Director Ahmad Idham

[Anonymous]

Yes nice movie 🙂

[Anonymous]

hmm… who wanna watch the show with me? i haven’t watched yet…

But spooks offscreen is not uncommon. I remembered, for one university project, someone wrote a really scary script, psychosis. And the director/scriptwriter herself learned a lot about paranormal and spirits and stuff.

during filming, the actress when acting the part where she started churning imagination on how to kill her lover, her finger was positioned in the symbol of the devil without herself knowing. the director freaked out and wanted to scream, but the lecturer thought that she didn’t recognise the sign instead of knowing that she was really troubled by it.

and there are many other offscreen spooks, especially for theatrical plays. in the university there was a kuda kepang show, and indeed one of the actor really went to get a real horse from his home in johor, and he was possessed by the warrior during one rehearsal. the lecturer had cautioned against the use of real props, and throughout the rehearsal, he was totally not him. none dared to stop the rehearsal but had to go on with it to satisfy the warrior.

and the place they rehearsed in for the performance was reputed to have a once-a-year ritual by some local bomohs to appease some spirits. during that time of the year each year, the authorities would give an excuse to close the area and doesn’t allow anyone to pass there.

[Author]

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[Anonymous]

STI Home > Prime News > Story
May 4, 2007
Spooked by offscreen horrors
Apparitions and strange occurrences haunted the set of Malaysian horror hit Jangan Pandang Belakang
By Melissa Lee

WHAT WAS THAT?: Newcomer Pierre Andre, who also penned the script, said half the incidents in the movie were inspired by real-life experiences.
« Previous Next »

‘I don’t depend on ghosts to scare people. Sometimes there’s no ghost at all, and it’s just a hand popping into the screen to open the door – and people still scream’
Director Ahmad Idham

‘I don’t depend on ghosts to scare people. Sometimes there’s no ghost at all, and it’s just a hand popping into the screen to open the door – and people still scream’

MYSTERIOUS deaths, ghostly apparitions and unexplained cases of hysteria are the standard stuff of horror flicks.
But in the case of Malaysian box-office smash hit Jangan Pandang Belakang (Don’t Look Back), these spooky incidents occurred not onscreen but off.

During its last day of filming early this year, stuntman Nazari Omar Baki died when he fell out of a third-storey apartment window but somehow missed the cushioned landing area, said director Ahmad Idham at a recent press conference at Suntec City.

It was the first fatality to have ever occurred on the set of a Malaysian film.

The buzz generated by such strange behind-the-scenes incidents has propelled the RM450,000 (S$200,000) movie to the top of the Malaysian box-office charts since it opened on April 5.

Produced by Malaysia’s Metrowealth Movies Production, the film made RM410,000 on its opening day alone, and RM3.3 million in its first week – the highest-grossing local movie opening in 30 years.

The record was formerly held by last year’s superhero movie Cicak-Man, which made RM2 million in its first week.

Jangan Pandang Belakang stars 22-year-old newcomer Pierre Andre as a young man who searches for answers when his fiancee Rose (played by Intan Ladyana) mysteriously dies, and uncovers several disturbing secrets along the way.

Billed by Malaysia’s English-language newspaper The Star as ‘the scariest local movie ever made’, the film received an extra boost in publicity last month when Malaysia’s censorship body warned pregnant women and people with heart problems to avoid watching the movie.

Pierre, who also penned the script, said half the incidents in the movie were inspired by real-life experiences.

‘Two years ago, I was chatting with my friend when he suddenly lowered his voice and said, ‘Jangan pandang belakang’ – there was ‘something bad’ behind me that I wouldn’t want to see,’ he recalled.

It turned out that his friend had seen a ghostly figure in a tree behind Pierre.

Other baffling film-set incidents included two female crew members inexplicably becoming hysterical, screaming and crawling on the floor. They recovered only after a traditional healer was called in to exorcise them, said Ahmad.

Even after a long day of filming, the spooky experiences didn’t stop, he added. At night, they would hear voices, and the television sets in the hotel rooms would turn on and off in the middle of the night.

‘So we incorporated the experiences into the movie too,’ he said.

One challenge in making the movie was to frighten people ‘because the situation is creepy, not because of the ghosts’.

‘I don’t depend on ghosts to scare people. Sometimes there’s no ghost at all, and it’s just a hand popping into the screen to open the door – and people still scream.’

Jangan Pandang Belakang looks set to garner similar success overseas. Sony Pictures has approached producer David Teo to discuss distributing it in North America, Japan and India.

The movie, which opened in Singapore yesterday, will be the largest release of a Malaysian film here with a record 12 prints.

For his follow-up film, Ahmad said he will be teaming up with Pierre to produce another horror flick, Congkak, with the script again written by the latter.

But unlike in the past when he didn’t believe that making horror films could be spooky, he said quietly: ‘Now I will be very careful.’

melissal@sph.com.sg

Jangan Pandang Belakang is now showing in cinemas.

Tell us who plays the lead character Darma in Jangan Pandang Belakang (Don’t Look Back), and you could win a pair of tickets to the movie. There are 75 pairs of tickets sponsored by Eng Wah Cinemas up for grabs. E-mail your answers to contest@engwah.com.sg. by noon next Wednesday.

---

‘I don’t depend on ghosts to scare people. Sometimes there’s no ghost at all, and it’s just a hand popping into the screen to open the door – and people still scream’
Director Ahmad Idham

[Anonymous]

Yes nice movie 🙂

[Anonymous]

hmm… who wanna watch the show with me? i haven’t watched yet…

But spooks offscreen is not uncommon. I remembered, for one university project, someone wrote a really scary script, psychosis. And the director/scriptwriter herself learned a lot about paranormal and spirits and stuff.

during filming, the actress when acting the part where she started churning imagination on how to kill her lover, her finger was positioned in the symbol of the devil without herself knowing. the director freaked out and wanted to scream, but the lecturer thought that she didn’t recognise the sign instead of knowing that she was really troubled by it.

and there are many other offscreen spooks, especially for theatrical plays. in the university there was a kuda kepang show, and indeed one of the actor really went to get a real horse from his home in johor, and he was possessed by the warrior during one rehearsal. the lecturer had cautioned against the use of real props, and throughout the rehearsal, he was totally not him. none dared to stop the rehearsal but had to go on with it to satisfy the warrior.

and the place they rehearsed in for the performance was reputed to have a once-a-year ritual by some local bomohs to appease some spirits. during that time of the year each year, the authorities would give an excuse to close the area and doesn’t allow anyone to pass there.

[Author]

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