''Ghost Child'' (; formerly called ''Inside the Urn'') is a 2013 Singaporean horror film directed by Gilbert Chan starring

Chen Hanwei Tan Hung Wee (born 29 August 1969), better known by his Chinese stage name Chen Han Wei (), is a Malaysian actor based in Singapore. Early life Chen Han Wei grew up in Kampung Ungku Mohsin, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Adopted since birth, Hanwei ...

Jayley Woo Jayley Woo is a Singaporean actress. She was a full-time MediaCorp artiste from 2012 to 2018 but continues to work on an ad hoc basis. Career Woo was a blogger alongside her older twin sister, Hayley Woo, under the stage name Jay On The Hay. ...

and

Carmen Soo Soo Wai Ming (; born 14 October 1977), better known by her stage name Carmen Soo, is a Malaysian model and actress. Life and career Soo was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to a Chinese father and to a half-Chinese, half-British mot ...

. The film revolves around a family fighting against the titular "Ghost Child" (a

toyol A toyol or tuyul is an undead infant in Indonesian and Malay folklore. It appears in the mythology of Southeast Asia and is invoked as a helper by shamans (dukun or bomoh) by the means of black magic. The creature is used to rob people of their rich ...

). It was commercially released in Singapore on 7 March 2013.

Plot

Having saved her from a band of Indonesian bandits, widower Choon (

) announces his plans to marry Indonesian-Chinese Na (

). 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

. 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

as Choon: A widower contractor who encounters supernatural happenings in his residence after marrying his second wife. *

as Kim: Choon's teenage daughter who tries to fight against a mysterious evil force that threatens the safety of her family. *

as Na: Choon's Indonesian-Chinese wife. * Cecilia Heng as Kim's grandmother. * Russell Ong as Troy. * Vanessa Lee as Tifanny: Kim's schoolmate and swimming buddy. * Elena Choo as Jane: Kim's schoolmate and member of her swim team.

Production

Production commenced in September 2012.

Development

''Ghost Child'' is Chen Hanwei's feature-length film debut; previously he only appeared in numerous Singaporean television series. Chen wanted to reject the role offered to him due to his busy schedule at first, but later agreed. According to producer Lim Teck, Chen agreed to commit to the film for "a plate of cheap ainanesechicken rice", while Chen himself said it was because: Chen had also previously mentioned that he joined the project as he was "a fan of the people behind it".

Reception

Critical response

Gabriel Chong of Movie Exclusive thought " he film lackeda character-driven narrative, this competently staged horror otherwise boasts some genuinely suspenseful and edge-of-your-seat gripping moments", giving it 3 stars. 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.

Box office

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

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 2618214, Ghost Child Singaporean horror films