Ghost on Air
Ghost on Air is a Singapore horror film directed by Cheng Ding An and starred Y.E.S. 93.3FM deejay Dennis Chew. The film is released island-wide in Singapore on 17 May 2012 and released in Malaysia in June 2012.
| Ghost on Air | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Cheng Ding An |
| Produced by | Tay Hoo Wee |
| Written by | Cheng Ding An Dennis Chew |
| Starring | Dennis Chew Gan Mei Yan Eunice Olsen Rei Poh Samuel Chong Sheena Chan |
| Music by | Ken Chong |
| Cinematography | Lim Beng Huat |
| Edited by | WideScreen Media |
| Distributed by | Shaw Organisation |
Release date |
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| Country | Singapore |
| Language | Mandarin |
| Budget | $1 Million |
| Box office | $800 Thousand |
Plot
Ping Xiao is a popular radio DJ who had been nominated for the "Most Popular Male DJ" award nine times, winning two of them, and is expected to win the tenth nomination. However, when Ping Xiao is caught in a scandal in which he harasses a female patron of a bar while drunk, thinking that she is his deceased horror novelist girlfriend, Jia Li, he is demoted by his boss to host the late-night show, the "Ghost on Air", to save face, while his post is temporarily replaced by a young female host, Pauline. Thinking that Pauline is plotting to deny him his award, he acts cold to her, though she is genuinely worried for his deteriorating condition. As the host of the late-night show, Ping Xiao's job is to tell ghost stories to his audience, most of which he samples from those gathered by Jia Li. Jia Li had left several video detailing her researches to Ping Xiao before her sudden death a month before.
Throughout his experiences, Ping Xiao becomes haunted by the ghosts of the stories, which turn out to be real. One of the stories recounts the life of Jia Li's friend, Ya Ru, who disappeared for six months before suddenly returning, only to reveal that she is pregnant. She aborted the fetus, but felt that her unborn child is haunting her for aborting him. Ya Ru later committed suicide. Through Jia Li's mother, Ping Xiao visits Shophouse 14 boarding house, where a middle school student, Ai Xi, had committed suicide. After several nights, Ping Xiao discovers that the mean landlady, Mang Pao, has been hiding her son, Ya Nan, who had assaulted Ai Xi. He reports this to the authorities and recovers his status, ultimately winning the DJ award. The hauntings of the boarding house, though, has made him cold and distant.
After returning from the award celebration, Ping Xiao views the last video recorded by Jia Li, in which she, having returned from doing research in Shophouse 14, became terrified of the hauntings that she experienced, culminating in her death. Ping Xiao turns back and screams when he sees all the ghosts of the stories menacing him, suggesting that he will share Jia Li's fate.
Cast
- Dennis Chew as Ping Xiao, popular radio personality who has fallen grace after a much published scandal
- Gan Mei Yan as Jia Li, Ping Xiao's late girlfriend
- Samuel Chong as Albert, Ping Xiao's superior
- Eunice Olsen as Pauline, rival radio DJ to Ping Xiao
- Choo Siew Feng as Mang Po, owner of Shophouse 14
- Rei Poh as Ya Nan, son of Mang Po
- Sheena Chan as Ya Ru, Jia Li's best friend
- William Lawandi as Guo Ming, fellow DJ
- Clarissa Kok as Nana, fellow DJ
- Lee Shan Hui as Ai Xi, a 14-year-old deceased schoolgirl
Production
The director Cheng and Zhou met in 2008 during the promotion of Kallang Roar the Movie. The two instantly found a spark, and had been actively on the lookout for an opportunity where the two can come together to create an innovative new project. After numerous coffees, it struck upon them to construct a brave new wave of terror that came from the stories of a Radio DJ. After a few months of research and drafting of story drafts by the director's company Merelion Pictures, the story of Ghost on Air was finally ready. The film went into principal photography in December 2011 and was completed by the start of January 2012. It cost about 1 million in budget.