The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) is the country’s longest running and biggest international film event that we look forward to every year. The festival is now in its 28th edition and will be showcasing 112 films across a multitude of genres and presentations over 11 days from Nov 23-Dec 3.
We’ve already picked out nine films to get you started, but if you prefer watching films right at the end of the day, then this section of the festival should be right up your alley. SGIFF debuts their Midnight Mayhem, a segment that will showcase four international horror films, from an airborne virus infection that causes humans to go crazy to a mystical creature haunting a village in a forest. You can catch them all at Filmgarde Bugis+ for $12 a pop.
It Comes At Night (Nov 24, 11:55pm)
A great trailer never fully reveals its plot, teasing the audience with just enough to pique their curiosity. Here’s one by American director Trey Edward Shults that forces us to ask questions like, “Why are they in the woods in a cabin?”, “What’s outside?”, and “Who opened the door?”. It Comes At Night follows a family who finds solace in this new home set in a post-apocalyptic future after an unknown cataclysm. Tension and paranoia levels in the house are raised when a couple seeks refuge in their otherwise peaceful abode.
Jailbreak (Nov 25, 11:55pm)
Heavy guitar riffs, check. Mission briefing at the beginning, check. Overconfidence in the difficulty of the missions, check. While this might not be a horror film per se, you can imagine how horrific it is for the team of police when they find themselves trapped in a prison filled with rioters creating total chaos after being let go for an unknown reason (that will probably be revealed in the film). The mission was simple—a team was tasked to send a notorious criminal with a tacky name to a maximum security facility. All hell quickly breaks loose and… insert action sequences.
Salvage: Malay Wild (Dec 1, 11:55pm)
There’s just something very disturbing about the found footage horror genre; it feels more real, more in-your-face and just overall panic-inducing. The Blair Witch Project may not have been the first of its kind, but it did help to propel the genre to the mainstream, what with its realistic aesthetic and the fact that you don’t actually see what it is that’s got the actors running for their lives. In Sherad Anthony Sanchez’ Salvage: Malay Wild, which will be making its international premiere right here in Singapore, a news crew delves deep into a forest in Mindanao, to investigate a string of deaths that were allegedly caused by creatures called “aswangs”. After an encounter with the military, they find themselves caught up in the mystery that they came to investigate, possibly becoming victims themselves.
Mayhem (Dec 2, 11:55pm)
Well this seems like a fun movie to watch. More ultraviolence than horror, this dark humor film is a tongue-in-cheek depiction of a “cut-throat corporate culture”, which American director Joe Lynch has taken to whole other level. The film follows attorney Derek Cho (played by Steven Yeun) living out a typical day in the office. But he ends up getting fired after being framed for a mistake he didn’t make. His day gets worse, as he finds himself quarantined together with everyone in the building (just as he was about to leave) after an infectious airborne virus that turns people into raging maniacs who can’t control their feelings, spreads inside. Looks like an interesting, Battle Royale-esque satire on capitalism and corruption.
