Foreign fame as fearful 'Faed' frightens the Far East

Published on July 30, 2007

Asians make their own fright flicks for each other, and sometimes Hollywood tries to copy them but, like we said, they really don't get it.

Currently taking the East by storm is Thailand's own "Faed", which you can call "Alone" if you really have to.

In South Korea, at the same time as Harry was Pottering off, Bruce Willis was dying harder and many, many people insisted on seeing "Transformers" for some reason, "Faed" joined these certified blockbusters at No 4 in box-office receipts.

More than 300,000 South Koreans piled into the cinema to see it in a week. And these people know their scary stuff - they made "Ju-on" and "The Host and Memories of Murder".

"Faed" was a freak-out hit in Singapore as well, and in Indonesia the cinemas were completely booked out and extra screenings had to be added.

All this made for some pretty enthusiastic welcomes for the movie's cast and crew as they toured the region doing promotions. Lead actress Marsha Wattanapanich was lavished with praise.

By the way, gossipmongers, the two guys at Marsha's side on these travels are the co-directors, Banjong Pisanthanakul and Parkpoom Wongpoom. She has not broken up with her sweetheart, DJ Krit Sriphumseth.

Next target for "Faed" is Hong Kong, which should fall for it like blood from a gaping wound, and then - shivers! - the United States.