PETALING JAYA, Oct 19 — Horror lovers and Bront Palarae fans are in for a double delight with Folklore: Toyol which will air in just a few weeks.
The HBO Asia horror anthology series features six episodes from Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand by various directors.
Bront, who stars alongside Nabila Huda in the Malaysian episode directed by Ho Yuhang, plays a politician in a fishing town who meets a mysterious woman with shamanistic powers.
The actor-director said the part intrigued him from the beginning.
“My character’s dad cast a long shadow on him and there’s a lot of baggage, hence the desperation to become successful and respected in society but the modus operandi he chose was a quick fix.
“He’s a flawed man and characters like him have never been written for local actors before. It’s a role any actor would kill for,” said Bront at the sneak peek of the episode.
Although Bront always found the toyol (a child-sized mythical spirit) to be scary, the actor said real life presented more scares.
“Mediocrity scares me,” he told Malay Mail.
“With ghostly experiences, it’s not like it happens to you every day. Most of the time it only happens once in a lifetime. I’d rather experience the supernatural through my work — I’ve never encountered anything supernatural and I don’t intend to.”
Each one-hour episode highlights the respective country’s superstitions and myths with the aim to update the Asian horror genre.
“With the right team, nothing is impossible. I hope we executed it well,” said Bront on the difficulty of modernising Asian ghost stories.
The actor added that it was high time to embrace the diversity the East can offer.
“We take for granted the uniqueness of our culture. My mat salleh friends are so excited because the premise is so unique to them whereas my local friends are like ‘Hmm, let’s see how you guys do it this time’,” he said.
“Once someone from a Western-centric perspective gets a glimpse of Eastern horror, it gives them a different viewing experience.”
Folklore: Toyol was featured at last month’s Fantastic Fest, the largest horror, fantasy, sci-fi and action film festival in the US.
Catch new episodes of Folklore every Sunday on 10pm on HBO (Astro Channel 411 and 431 HD). Folklore: Toyol will air on November 4.
