Malay-language horror feature, "Khadam", releases theatrically this year. We spoke to Lina Tan, the founder and power behind Malaysian production House Red Communications, which has held the project dear since before Covid. RedComm is producing "Khadam", with support from Komet Productions, China’s Sil-Metropole, India’s Applause Entertainment, and Indonesia’s MAGMA Entertainment. Directed by Shamyl Othman, the film is about a woman who, after the death of her mother, reluctantly inherits her family’s saka – a spiritual inheritance with dark and mystical undertones. The film uses the genre to ask quite an uncomfortable question – who are women really a slave to? 

What drew you and RedComm to "Khadam"? The script was written in 2018 by Fariza Azlina (Songlap, Kami), at a time when she was kind of in a dark space in her life. She sent it to me, I read it overnight, and the next morning I called and said yes... I could immediately relate to what she was writing about. We started pitching it in 2019. It was originally called "Saka" – a legacy term used in Malay culture. We got it funded and then as we were going into pre-production in January, February, March, we were hit by COVID. I only kickstarted the project last year when Komet Productions (founded by Izham Omar, who was in the earlier pitch in a different role) approached me and asked if the script was still available. So that’s how we got working on it.

How did the funding come together? Komet invested and brought in other investors. By then his vision was regional production. His funding model gives me an opportunity to work in a new way... and it really opens up a whole fresh perspective.

RedComm is not known for horror... Horror is a genre that is well-loved across every Asian country. Every country has their own horror. And I think being a horror genre helps very much. And I think we also had an Indonesian factor in there. At that time, we had already confirmed our cast – top Indonesian actress and scream queen, Aghniny Haque, and Malaysia’s A-lister Remy Ishak. I think this combination helped funding. 

How uncomfortable were you moving into a new genre? “We’re known for romcom and also for our female-centric films or TV shows, women and children. So for me, the genre justifies the story that we want to tell... and horror is a popular genre. Khadam made sense because the story really is about the responsibilities, the sacrifices, sometimes the horrors that women face, whether it comes from a daily walk in the streets, or from their husbands or children who they cannot handle or just the circumstances around them, when you don’t have help and when you’re trying to be a good daughter, you’re trying to be a good mother, you’re trying to be a good wife. I think there many horrors women face. 

How did you balance that everyday horror with expectations of blood & gore? There is plenty of gore, and a lot of scares... and an underlying spookiness throughout the film because we set it in a Malay village. It’s isolated from the rest of the world, by the river. There’s a cave. There are elements that go bump in the night. But the underlying theme is about a woman who’s trying to deal with real life and her inheritance and trying to protect her child. 

Do have a release date? 2026, probably mid-year. Right now, interestingly, we’re not fighting against Hollywood. In the last year, local Malaysian films have outperformed Hollywood. That’s quite an interesting change that it’s quite nice for the locals.

Lina also speaks about the biggest challenges facing Malaysian filmmakers, changes in the country’s film production environment, storytelling influences, the advantages (and disadvantages) of horror, what’s next for RedComm and much more. 

▶ Watch the full interview on YouTube or listen on Spotify.