Any talk about aswang, kapre or white lady is enough to give one the creeps, especially when you're right in the middle of the jungle, away from civilization.
This is especially what five social media influencers or "vloggers" felt when they were tapped to star in a movie about the mystical creatures lurking in Mt. Banahaw where they didn't know what to expect.
The vloggers actually spent seven nights in the forest and what viewers can see are their real-time reactions caught on camera about the strange happenings taking place.
Kuta, which will stream on ktx.ph from Aug. 22 to 25, "is really more of an experimental movie that we thought about during the pandemic," said producer Elaine Lozano of ECL Multimedia Productions.
Lozano said they wanted to maximize the power of today's social media influencers, some of whom even have more followers than film celebrities. It was just a matter of letting the vloggers agree to the rough set-up of filming in the mountain.
In the end, the following vloggers were chosen: actors Buboy Villar and Nico Locco, impersonator Krissy Achino, Renerich Ocon and Yakki Ronquillo. Doing a special appearance were Jelai Andres, Pearl Gonzales and theater artist Bong de la Torre who is also an expert in shamanism.
The whole storyline was that the vloggers would be invited to a private resort outside the city, which is haunted. A prize of P500,000 was promised for whoever catches the image of a ghost on camera.
However, they soon realize that the whole thing is a scam. They run away from the resort, only to end up in a forested area of Mt. Banahaw and this is where their adventure begins.
Nico said he comes from a country (US) where they don't believe in ghosts so doing Kuta was an eerie experience.
"I learned a lot about Filipino culture in this movie. I heard from the locals in Quezon their actual sightings of aswang. When I set foot inside the forest, a different part of me came out. I felt scared for my life at one point, to be honest" he disclosed.
Meanwhile, Krissy revealed: "I knew we were filming, but I did not know what was going to happen. It was just like going inside a scary house, and we didn't know where the ghosts were. But our scenes showing us screaming and looking scared, they were all real and authentic."
The rest of the cast said that as the shooting went on, they felt more at home in nature. They realized that there is really a spirit world out there, the existence of mystical creatures just have to be acknowledged and respected.