SGAG, a website dedicated for all things funny in Singapore, recently uploaded a Hungry Ghost themed short film. But it isn’t made in typical SGAG fashion to be funny or poke fun at the Hungry Ghost Festival or any of the practices associated with it. In fact, the 12-minute video is creepy, gripping and very well-done.

Titled “Good Boy, Stay Home”, the video was uploaded yesterday on SGAG’s team Nubbad TV’s YouTube channel. As of this time of writing, it has garnered over 88,000 views and 1,000 shares on Facebook and 2,000 views and 144 likes on YouTube.

The story focuses on James who’s burdened with taking care of his mother after his brother passed away. During the Hungry Ghost month, his mother seems to favour the brother more even though he’s dead and keeps referring to him as the “good son”, much to James’ frustration.

Watch it here:

I love the fact that “Good Boy, Stay Home” doesn’t employ any jump scares. Instead, it relies on the creepy as heck atmosphere created by the red lighting and James’ weird dreams. Even the simple non-stop crying with a line that doesn’t explain much works.

The script itself has simple dialogue in Singlish, which is perfectly fine for a short film like this because it adds intrigue. There are a few spoken lines that set off alarms in my head, making my brain work faster to try and figure out the mystery.

One particular line that I really like is: “Come back to visit, ok?” That really sent chills down my spine. Talk about foreshadow.

Plus it’s crafted well enough to give you hints about what’s really happening without revealing too much. So it leaves you right on the edge of your seat all the way till the end for the final plot twist.

Not to say that the short film doesn’t have any flaws (minor conty error and the acting could be better). But overall, it’s a great and much-welcomed attempt at bringing back horror to Singapore content.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good local horror film. So this short SGAG film is truly a pleasant surprise.

Though not related, the video’s theme of Hungry Ghosts reminds me of Singaporean director Kelvin Tong’s 2005 film “The Maid” and the Singapore-Hong Kong collaboration, “The Eye” trilogy.

The last scary film that I can remember is the Malaysian-Singaporean 2011 film “23:59” by Gilbert Chan. But according to CNA, it looks like the SG horror genre is being revived this year with this list of upcoming films. Yay!

Hope to see more scary SG content like “Good Boy, Stay Home”!