Sci-fi horror film 'Ceroboh' explores outer reaches of paranoia

On Merdeka Day (Aug 31), the sci-fi horror film ‘Ceroboh’ will premiere on the streaming service Netflix.

Directed by Feisal Azizuddin, 36, this film tells the story of a world overrun by mind-controlling aliens.

Six survivors hide in an abandoned building, but when one of them is exposed to the aliens, paranoia among them proves to be just as deadly as any threat from the sky.

“The script for ‘Ceroboh’ came from a script competition that Kuman Pictures had in 2019.  It was a nationwide competition open to Malaysians. They could write anything, but preferably in the thriller genre. It had to have six characters and it was all in one location,” Feisal recalled when interviewed by Malaysiakini.

They received 120 full script submissions.

Feisal, his brother the movie producer Iskandar, and Kuman Pictures’ Amir Muhammad went through all the scripts. They shortlisted it to 10 scripts and finally picked ‘Ceroboh’, written by Chong Keng Fatt.

“‘Ceroboh’ is a good script to turn into a film right now because it caters to the audience I wanted to target,” said Feisal.

The film was produced by Kuman Pictures and Feisal’s production company, Feisk Productions, shot the film.

Lovecraftian

Feisal said not much of the original story was changed. Chong had written the script with Lovecraftian horror in mind.

Also known as cosmic horror, the genre is named after American author Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s work, which emphasises the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible on a cosmic scale.

Feisal pointed out that Kuman Pictures was known for its arthouse films like ‘2 Sisters’ and ‘Roh’ but wanted to make ‘Ceroboh’ a film with more mass appeal.

“I told Amir that I wanted to make this movie slightly more commercial because I appeal to that market. ‘Ceroboh’ follows six strangers who live in an abandoned building. 

“They are trying to keep away from a sky disc that is terrorizing the outside world. The story is less about the sky disc but more about the interactions among the six people, and how they eventually turn on each other.

“The alien is influenced by the Lovecraftian type of horror that is popular in the US. It is something in the sky that you can’t see but it is there,” Feisal elaborated.

The perfect location

The production team spent a week looking for a suitable location for filming and found the perfect spot - an abandoned block of buildings in Rawang, Selangor.

“It lends a perfect ghostly vibe. I think it is an abandoned shophouse or apartment complex. The setting of the film was an abandoned complex. We also used the surrounding areas in the film - broken buildings, broken furniture, and even alleyways.

“There is an eerie feel about the complex. There are two massive areas and we picked this one. Many of ‘ghost hunters’ like to come here too,” Feisal shared.

Feisal is very happy that ‘Ceroboh’ is going to be released on Merdeka Day, and on Netflix to boot.

“Netflix has a wide audience, not only in Malaysia but beyond our borders, such as the Asia-Pacific region. Every filmmaker wishes that everybody would watch their film and that people would pay money to watch their film.

“The film is multi-cultural but not to the extent that we are selling how diverse the cast is. I just wanted a diverse cast because I wanted to make it as diverse as possible. I am excited about its release on Aug 31 and it is an apt date for its release,” Feisal said.

He is excited that his family and the families of his filming crew will finally be able to watch this film, as locally produced sci-fi, let alone sci-fi horror, is a rare genre in Malaysian cinema.

“Most of my crew are very young. The average is between the early to mid-twenties. It is uncommon. I generally like to work with a young crew because they are driven, they are hungry and this generally helps them with their future,” explained Feisal.

His assistant director is a university student and she shot a short film on ‘Ceroboh’ while working on it at the same time.

Feisal describes ‘Ceroboh’ as slick, polished and the type of flick Netflix fans enjoy.

“It is not a  jumpscare type of film. We wanted to explore the social conundrum between characters.”

Five of the main characters were from open casting, while Mia Sara was contacted to play the conflicted main character.

Feisal said they wanted characters that were believable and relatable.

Keeping busy

He has already shot another film after completing work on ‘Ceroboh’.

“It is an adventure-mystery story called ‘This Land Of Mine’. It is set in the Royal Belum Forest and it follows a group of people from an NGO who got lost in the forest, which is over 120 million years old. They soon find that they are hunted by a beast that pre-dates mankind.”

Feisal said everything was filmed in the forest and the movie is currently in post-production. He hopes to release it next year.

Feisal is also planning a film called ‘Angkat’, which revolves around three brothers trying to bring their father’s dead body from a remote location back to their kampung. Their van breaks down and they have to carry the body themselves.

In December 2019, ‘Angkat’ was selected for the Southeast Asian Film Financing Project Market 2019 in Singapore and won the AV8 award.

Feisal was also selected for the Luang Prabang Talent Lab 2019, in collaboration with the Tribeca Film Institute. There, he won the top prize, the Aurora Producing Award by Aurora Media Group.

“‘Angkat’ was developed when I was a Fellow of Busan Asian Film School for their International Film Business programme in 2019. Shooting for the film starts in September.

“I have high hopes for this film,” Feisal added.

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