Shudder Acquires Historical Horror ORANG IKAN (MONSTER ISLAND)
Deadline has the scoop this acquisition by Shudder this morning. They have acquired Mike Wiluan’s historical horror film Orang Ikan (also known as Monster Island) for North America, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand release.
A co-production between Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, and UK, Orang Ikan stars Japanese actor Dean Fujioka and British actor Callum Woodhouse as two soldiers in WWII who are stranded on a deserted island. Except it is not deserted. That would be boring. To spice things up Wiluan will have the pair hunted down by a mythical creature, the titular Orang Ikan.
Partially inspired by Malay folklore as well as the classic 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon, Orang Ikan opens in 1942 and follows a Japanese ship transporting prisoners of war (POWs) to occupied territories for slave labour. After being torpedoed by allied submarines, a Japanese soldier and a British POW are stranded on a deserted island, and soon discover that they are being hunted by a ferocious mythological creature, the Orang Ikan. Both the soldier and POW realize that they must work together to survive the unknown, despite their differences.“I’m very proud to have Shudder present the film in territories that have a rich history and appreciation for creature films,” said writer-director Wiluan. “The ‘Fish Man’ folklore is a globally recognised phenomenon that has enjoyed several re-incarnations. Orang Ikan is a pan-Asian interpretation of the genre that also questions the nature of humanity during times of war.”
No word in the aritlcle when Shudder plans to release Orang Ikan on the streaming service. Perhaps there will be opportunity for some top teir film festivals to program it before its online release.
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