Writer/ Director Anthony Ferraro Talks About The Making of Horror Sci-fi Short Film Wakener

Horror sci-fi short film WAKENER is a laudable contribution to the enduring Cthulhu Mythos that originated from iconic American writer H.P. Lovecraft. The indie piece, starring Rhomeyn Johnson, Nimo Purcell, Sapna Gandhi, Anthony Di Petro and Jonathan Castile, is the brainchild of writer-director Anthony Ferraro. Ferraro is best known as the creator and host of the popular Create Scifi Youtube channel.

WAKENER tells the story of an impromptu mission to investigate the sudden appearance of a mysterious ghost ship that carries ancient tech. Despite budget constraints, the cinematography look sleek and very well-executed. Ferraro is undoubtedly a skilled scriptwriter and world builder. He manages to set up each of the character's individual motivations that propel towards the unfortunate events at the finale.

It is also impressive how Ferraro and his team were able to visually capture the audience's attention through artful lighting of the cast, accompanied by detailed self-built costumes, props and sets. Some of the acting was not as nuanced as Red Dot Diva would have preferred, however, the atmospheric feel of the film as a whole, was a haunting and memorable experience.

After watching WAKENER a few times, Red Dot Diva wanted to find out more about what goes behind the scenes. She had the pleasure of chatting with Anthony Ferraro about the production process.

Sci-fi Short Wakener by Anthony Ferraro To Debut At Create Sci-fi Youtube Channel, 9 June 2023

Acclaimed writer/ director and indie film-maker Anthony Ferraro is paying homage to the works of H.P. Lovecraft with his next short film WAKENER. H.P. Lovecraft is one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. He is best known for his weird fantasy, horror and science fiction stories, particularly the Cthulhu mythos, which continues to inspire artists, authors, film makers and game developers around the world.

In his latest horror-scifi film WAKENER, Ferraro tells the tale of a broken ship technician and an ambitious young officer, whose paths collide while investigating a Ghost Ship, which holds ancient tech that has been outlawed. What kind of monstrous fate is waiting for them within the mysterious ship?

Enter The Upside Down At The Stranger Things - The Encounter At Bugis+ Mall (30 June to 1 August 2023)

The supernatural world of Stranger Things, Netflix's popular horror series with an 80's vibe, will manifest on the 7th floor of Bugis+ from 30 June to 1 August 2023. The immersive retail experience called STRANGER THINGS - THE ENCOUNTER is a partnership between Netflix and designer toys and collectibles studio Mighty Jaxx.

Get your 80s' gear ready, and pretend you are Eleven or Mike. Then, gather your gang to take down the dangerous creatures all set to destroy your entire world. You might even want to call upon the Hellfire Club (Red Dot Diva salutes to her fave character, Eddie *sob*) as backup. You will need help, especially when the evil Vecna has plans for world domination.

What you can expect at STRANGER THINGS - THE ENCOUNTER? Check out the list below:

Top 5 New TV Series For Your Watchlist - Premiere Dates January to March 2023

A new year means more new TV shows to watch! There are several series already set to return in 2023, like The Blacklist, Star Trek: Picard, The Mandalorian, The Gilded Age, and (sob!) the last season of The CW's The Flash, but if you intend to add more spice to your daily entertainment hour, there is a pile of new shows that will premiere in 2023.

Based on USA premiere dates starting from January to March 2023, Red Dot Diva recommends 5 shows that you can add to your watch list. Do note that not all shows and channels are available in Red Dot Island. Paramount Plus is one of them, so you would either have to find your own way to watch these, or pray that they will turn up on either Netflix, Amazon Prime or Disney+ SG.

Scroll down to check out Red Dot Diva's recommended list!

Jiangshi Galore At Daniel Yu x Blaxk's Altered Realities: A Jiangshi Introspection Exhibition (till 20 Nov 2022)

Local toy designer and sculptor DANIEL YU takes centrestage at an exhibition hosted by collectibles store and creative space BLAXK at Funan Mall. The exhibition entitled Altered Realities: A Jiangshi Introspection launched on 30 September 2022, and it is still running till 20 November 2022.

Red Dot Diva got to know about DANIEL YU'S creations when she spotted his toys displayed at a Singapore Toy Games and Comic Convention many years ago. His iconic Jiangshi (commonly known as “Chinese vampire”, although it is more like a zombie?) vinyl figures beckoned to her dark, macabre heart. There is something nostalgic about the jiangshi. The creature is such a classic Asian horror trope that has been ingrained in our psyche, especially those who watched a lot of the Hong Kong horror movies of the '80s and '90s.

Altered Realities: A Jiangshi Introspection is dedicated to DANIEL'S Jiangshi and other toy designs. Creative works by thirteen local artists have also been invited to put their visual spin on the Jiangshi. With that in mind, Red Dot Diva had to pop by BLAXK for a look. She visited the space during the First Wave of the exhibition that included art interpretations by Allison M. Low, Clogtwo, erikartoon, Claire & Pann Lim, Inkten Nadirah, Ratking, and Zan Cheong.

Local Horror Podcast Ghost Maps Wins At 17th Annual People’s Choice Podcast Awards 2022

GHOST MAPS: TRUE SOUTHEAST ASIAN HORROR STORIES has won Best Asian Hosted Podcast at the 17th Annual People’s Choice Podcast Awards! The People’s Choice Podcast Awards are a global and prestigious awards given annually to the best podcasts as voted by the general public. It is the longest running and past winners include This American Life, Crime Junkie, and WTF with Marc Maron. GHOST MAPS is the first Singaporean podcast to win at the awards. Congratulations!

HANTU’s flagship series GHOST MAPS is the go-to podcast for narrative supernatural tales which stars our region's notorious ghosts, monsters and supernatural spooks. Pontianak stories? Check. Vengeful child spirits? Check. Pocongs? Yeppp. Check.

Diva's Interview With Artist Sean Lam - Geungsi Is About Human Emotion and Subconsciousness

After decades of working in various high profile projects overseas like the two-part graphic novel adaption of New York Times bestselling Larry Niven's sci-fi novel RINGWORLD, and the mega 40-page manga IT TAKES A WIZARD by Thomas R. Hart, local artist Sean Lam has been returning back to his roots. His self-published graphic novel GEUNGSI Vol 1: Geungsi in the House was launched recently during the National Library Board's annual Night at the Library event, together with an art exhibition that showcased the creative evolution of the comic.

GEUNGSI (the Cantonese pronunciation of jiangshi, the vampire from Chinese lore) is a horror fantasy tale about Meng, an energetic HK slayer who moves to Singapore, and meets Shaun, a young salaryman. Bad news for Shaun though. He has been turned into a geungsi by a mystery woman named Alice. Can Meng and Shaun be friends? Or will they end up as frenemies and end up fighting the unexpected dangers of the underworld? If you are interested in checking out this new horror comic based in the streets of Singapore, GEUNGSI is already available at several local bookstores, including GnB Comics, Kinokuniya and Basheer Graphics Books.

To find out more about Sean Lam's thought process in creating GEUNGSI, Red Dot Diva got in touch with him for a short interview.

Folklore Season 2 Ups The Scare Factor With More Asian Horror Stories

FOLKLORE Season 1 (2018), HBO Asia's original anthology series consisting of horror stories from Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, was a success in the international film festival circuit. Award-winning film-maker Eric Khoo is the creator and showrunner of the series, and various episodes were screened in major festivals like Toronto International Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Geneva International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest (Texas, USA) and Asian World Film Fest (California, USA).

The best thing about FOLKLORE Season 1 was how novel it was. Compared to East Asian lore, South-East Asian stories are rarely known internationally. FOLKLORE managed to lovingly capture the essence of some of South-East Asia's favourite momoks (phantoms/ bogeymen) with a high production values.

There are a couple of stories in the first season that are still visually ingrained in Red Dot Diva's mind. They are POB, the brilliantly filmed black and white Thai ghost story by reknown director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, and the more traditional and partially socio-political tale of the TOYOL by Malaysian director Ho Yuhang. That just shows how creepy and memorable Asian horror can be compared to the Westernised ones, which tend to over-explain the supernatural.

Well, come 14 November 2021, horror fans can expect more scares as FOLKLORE is set to increase the fear factor for a second season. There will be six new episodes about the human condition when faced with the deeply rooted superstitions and myths in Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore. Each of the stories is helmed by a director from their respective territory, with a special spotlight on two female directors this new season. Famous Japanese popstar Seiko Matsuda makes her directorial debut in the episode about a lonely Japanese idol, and Singaporean director Nicole Midori Woodford unveils the roots of a family trauma.

Calls on Apple TV+ Is A Suspenseful Binge-worthy Audio Drama

Think of binge-worthy shows, and you might never have imagined an audio drama to be one of these. As highly visual creatures, we tend to focus on colours or dramatic action through imagery.

With CALLS, currently available on the streaming service Apple TV+, audiences are transported back to the days of radio drama. In each of the 9 episodes, you feel like an eavesdropper to intimate conversations, and what you hear is even creepier than what might see. Your wild imagination tends to take over, adding to the weird visceral experience of this horror-scifi audio series.

Fede Álvarez, the director of Apple TV+'s English version, employs minimal but highly effective graphics. As the conversations play out, they are accompanied by lines, bubbles or waves depicting the mood of the dialogues. The visual cues also helping the audiences to orient themselves by depicting the connections between the parties involved.

Phantom on the Scan #1 Is An Atmospheric Start To A Creepy Paranormal Tale

Writer Cullen Bunn and artist Mark Torres, co-creators of the chilling horror series “COLD SPOTS”, have teamed up again with another supernatural tale with AfterShock Comics. Their new series called “PHANTOM ON THE SCAN” was launched last week, and the first issue offers intriguing teasers about how the story is going to unfold in the next week books.

Lead character Matthew Jordan began manifesting his psychic powers through a child spectre, after a comet fell to earth 20 years ago. Every time he uses his abilities, he feels his life force being drained away.

Matt learns that he is not the only one experiencing this phenomenon, and gathers together a group of psychics with an objective to save themselves from certain death. However, when one of them dies horribly during their first meeting, they discover something even more sinister is out to get them.

MY RODE Reel 2020: Vote for Singapore Entry CLOSING TIME by Kyle Ong and Wayne Rée

A few months ago, Red Dot Diva held a livestream with her friend Wayne Rée to discuss about horror stories in this region. While introducing the South-East Asian podcast called GHOST MAPS that he is involved in, Red Dot Diva had expressed a wish for more local horror films that would appeal to today's audiences. A good scare is always cathartic when things get tense, don't you think? Like during a pandemic, for instance.

Then, suddenly... BOOO!!! just right in time for Halloween, Wayne messaged Red Dot Diva with a piece of spooky good news. Together with his GHOST MAPS collaborator and film maker Kyle Ong, they have made a horror-comedy short film called CLOSING TIME (打烊). The film had been submitted to MY RØDE REEL 2020, dubbed as The World's Largest Short Film Competition.

My RØDE Reel Short Film Competition, currently at its 7th year running, is organised by RØDE Microphones. This year, the highest cash prize ever is being offered for a short film competition. How much you ask? A glorious $1 million in cash is up for grabs!!

CLOSING TIME (打烊) is about a young couple Steven and Mavis who own a small convenience store. One late night, after an encounter with a friendly ghoul, they begin to receive several new (old?) supernatural customers in the dead of night.

Experience "AUTUMN" the unusual 12-hour live instalment for HBO's Third Day series (3 Oct, 4:30 PM)

Unlike the islanders of Osea in HBO's psychological thriller THE THIRD DAY, there are no changing of seasons in equatorial Red Dot Island. Many of those who live here have not experienced autumn before, but now you would have an opportunity to do so.

Later on, at 4:30 PM (3 October, Saturday), there will be a special 12-hour theatrical event dubbed “AUTUMN”, where you can immerse yourself in the world of THE THIRD DAY'S Osea Island via a livestream on HBO Asia's Facebook page. The island exists in real life, by the way. So does the old Roman-built causeway that can only be navigated at low tide for approximately only 4 hours a day in every 12.

The cinematic broadcast features the show's cast including lead actors Jude Law, Katherine Waterston and Florence Welch. The audience will be able to watch events unfold on mysterious Osea Island in real time in one single day, in one single take. This sounds like such a unique, trippy experience that Red Dot Diva is making plans to log on and see what this is all about. What will the Osea villagers be doing during these 12 hours? Will they be making creepy eye-contact with the camera?

Kelly Marie Tran in Teaser Pic from Hulu's New Horror Anthology Series Monsterland

Fans of Kelly Marie Tran can look forward to her hyperspace jump from the Star Wars universe to a world of horror in Hulu's new anthology series called MONSTERLAND. In fact, you can check out the pic above to see Kelly Marie Tran as Lauren, wearing a wedding gown, from the episode entitled IRON RIVER, MI.

After the disappointing lack of Kelly Marie Tran screen time in the final instalment of Star Wars' Skywalker saga, Red Dot Diva hopes that the lovely actress will get to flex more of her acting skills in this series.

The 8-episode MONSTERLAND is inspired by American horror & dark fantasy writer Nathan Ballingrud's book NORTH AMERICAN LAKE MONSTERS, and is set to premiere on 2 October 2020.

Red Dot Diva Announces Local Writer Wayne Rée as Guest for Second Facebook Livestream

Last month, in an era where most people are staying at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Red Dot Diva decided to launch a Facebook livestream, hosting a zine launch party with local writer Joelyn Alexandra.

The live event turned out to be more fun and interactive than expected, as their friends joined the two online discussing about Joelyn's new “UNSTABLE UNIVERSE”, a fictional world that is set to expand from the graphic novel UNSTABLE FOUNDATIONS, published by COSH Studios in 2019. There were hiccups like awkward sound echos, and ‘uh-oh where did Joelyn disappear to’ moments, but the live session felt casual and cosy, as if a bunch of friends dropped by to yak about geeky stuff.

For the second installment of Live with Red Dot Diva, she has roped in fictional writer Wayne Rée, to talk about “HORRORS, REAL AND OTHERWISE”.

The Walking Dead Season 10 Part 2, and Kingdom Season 2 Premiere During COVID-19 Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic is unfolding worldwide in real time, two internationally popular TV shows about a zombie apocalypse, are making their return to our screens. They are part 2 of AMC's THE WALKING DEAD Season 10 and Netflix's KINGDOM Season 2.

With news streaming over the social media about people panic buying at supermarkets, hoarding food and essentials as they try to fend themselves from infection, Red Dot Diva thinks that one can pick up a few lessons on what not to do when watching these zombie shows.

Like why the rush for toilet paper? During an apocalypse, Red Dot Diva is going to gun for mineral water. After all, you can barely last 3 days without water. Also, how is anyone going to be able to cook rice, pasta, instant noodles (not talking about Mamee) without water?

Red Dot Diva also feels it is very cathartic to watch fictional characters deal with the aftermath of an outbreak. You can scream at them in frustration from the comfort of your favourite arm chair, or begin to have faith in humanity again, even though the world is going to sh**.


THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 10 Part 2 - started 24 February 2020, Fox TV Asia

The second part of Season 10 of THE WALKING DEAD, a show based on the comic book series by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, premiered recently on Fox channels in the SEA region on 24 February, same day as the U.S. telecast.

HBO Asia's "Folklore" Horror Anthology Set To Give You Sleepless Nights, Premieres 7 Oct, 10 PM

October is the best season for a nice, spine-chilling scarefest, and HBO Asia will be rewarding horror fans with a 6-episode anthology called "Folklore".

Created by award-winning local director Eric Khoo, "Folklore" is a HBO Asia Original series that brings a modern or updated twist to the classic ghoulies and myths that Asians will be familiar with. The team of directors, specially requested by Eric Khoo to be part of the project, spin creepy tales that possess their own home countries' brand of horror.

Each story will be told in the local language that the episode is based on, and will also provide insights of the social issues that exist in that country.

Six episodes will air each Sunday exclusively on HBO (StarHub TV Ch 601), beginning from 7 October, 10 PM. They will also be available on HBO Go and HBO On Demand (StarHub TV Ch 602).

Non-subscribers of HBO will be able to watch the first episode "Folklore: A Mother's Love" via streaming on HBO GO for free, from 10 PM on October 7.




Here are the synopsis of the 6 episodes:

Movie Review: Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人) 2 : End Of The World - Not Enough Crunchy Bits

Even though the live action movie "Attack on Titan" Part 1 did not meet most of the fans' expectations, it still had a pretty good box office run both in Japan and locally in Red Dot Island.

Part 1 made SGD 3.8 million (USD 4.8 million) in its opening week in Japan, and over here, gross takings was over SGD 818,000 after four weeks of screening at only 15 locations.

Red Dot Diva watched the preview of Part 2 earlier this month and was all set to enjoy a similar "fear experience" that was the most enjoyable aspect in the first movie.

To her surprise and disappointment, the follow-up film had fewer hungry Titans stomping and much less gore, with hardly any character development. In fact, some of the characters were hardly even seen or had spoken dialogue - like Sasha, for instance.

Instead, there was a lot of dialogue which slowed down the pace considerably, making the movie harder to sit through without feeling impatient. The action did pick up toward the end but by then, one would hardly care enough for the young cadet team to root for their victory.

"Attack on Titan" Movie: Interview with Haruma Miura, Kiko Mizuhara and Director Shinji Higuchi

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Meeting a fandom's high expectations is a rough deal, especially when a beloved anime is adapted to a different medium. So, it was inevitable that there was a gamut of reactions from those who have already watched "Attack on Titan" (AoT) Part One.

These ranged from the sheer disappointment of hardcore AoT lovers, to the "it's pretty OK" mentions by those who are not too invested in the franchise. Then, there are also the horror fans who relished the uncomfortable existential terror that ran through the course of the film, and those who loved the movie anyway.

AoT's creator Hajime Isayama, who is involved in the production, said that he was perplexed by the hate hurled at the movie adaptation, and assured that he as well as the director, writer and producers are taking in various opinions to better understand the fans' reactions.

Nevertheless, "Attack on Titan" topped the box office in Japan, with takings of about 600 million Yen (about SGD 6.8 million) on opening week.

Fans outside of Asia are eagerly waiting for the English version, and this week, FUNanimation announced the North American premiere dates. The Titans are set to stomp into theatres on September 30 for Part 1 and October 20 for Part 2.

Thanks to local distributor Encore Films, Red Dot Diva had a chance to ask AoT actors Haruma Miura (Eren), Kiko Mizuhara (Mizaka) and Director Shinji Higuchi a few questions:

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Movie Review: Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人) Part 1 - More An Appetiser Than A Main Course

Whether the live action movie adaptation of "Attack on Titan" (進撃の巨人) is worth feasting one's eyes upon would depend on one's palate.

Essentially, "Attack on Titan" is about the remaining clusters of mankind battling to survive against enormous creatures who stampede through the cities' barricades, and whose single purpose is to devour every single human being in sight.

Both the original manga written and illustration by Hajime Isayama, as well as animated series, are hugely popular with anime fans. For such fans, the live action movie may turn out to be a disappointment.

Red Dot Diva understands that there is an almost impossible challenge to adapting the character-rich world of manga and anime into a two-part movie, but in this case, she felt that the key changes made were not entirely to the film's advantage.

SDCC 2014: Daniel Radcliffe, Alejandra Aja and Joe Hill Will Be Showing Off their "HORNS"!

This piece of very interesting San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) news came trickling into Red Dot Diva's mailbox earlier this morning.

The movie "Horns" will be promoted at the convention!

The movie is adapted from Joe Hill's (yes, he's the son of horrormeister Stephen King!) 2010 dark-fantasy novel of the same name. The book and movie unravels the tale about a guy called Ig Perrish, who woke up with horns suddenly growing on his head and wielding unexpected powers after his girlfriend's mysterious rape and murder.

"Horns", which was directed by Alejandre Aja ("The Hills Have Eyes", "Piranha 3D") with screenplay by Keith Bunin, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. 

What's most intriguing about the film adaptation was finding out that Daniel Radcliffe is in the lead role as Ig Perrish. The young actor seems determined to head in a different and darker direction from his Harry Potter days! The movie also stars Juno Temple, James Remar and Heather Graham.