Showbiz newbie Kristoff Garcia plays the lead role in Alvin Yapan’s latest project, Talahib, a movie produced by Feast Foundation.
Talahib, according to Yapan, tackles the problems of forgiveness, and the legacy of violence is passed on from parents to their children.
“In Talahib, I’m just returning to the horror genre only that this time, I wanted it to be a bit fun pero hindi mo naisasacrifce yung quality,” Yapan told the press during a recent set visit.
“The story is about a band of friends who went to ‘talahiban’ for a spirit quest. They will have a horrific encounter with the ghost killer as they try to arrive at a solution for the frequent killings,’ the filmmaker added.
The ghost killer, according to Yapan, preys upon hapless victims who happen to pass by this talahiban in an abandoned subdivision. Their bodies are always found asphyxiated before being disposed of in the same talahiban.
The story is told from the point of view of PO2 Bong, the police investigator. He does not believe in ghost killers; even though at one point he will have a close encounter with the killer, shooting him at close range, and slashing through the wild grass that bleeds. However, Bong will begin to reassess his belief when he encounters a band of friends, all in their 20s or early 30s, conducting a spirit quest at the talahiban, or so they say.
The leader of the group is Mario. He is joined by Vernie, Paul, Patrick, Ria, and Joyce. As it turns out, this band of friends is the children of a group of parents who killed the ghost killer (who used to be a hired assassin) and buried his body in the talahiban of that subdivision. Now, to stop the violence, the band of friends is trying to exhume the body. But the ghost killer, intent on continuing his killings even in the afterlife, will not let them. He enjoys killing too much. The band of friends will be killed off by the ghost killer one by one, leaving only Joyce behind. The movie will be mostly chasing scenes among the bleeding grasses of the talahiban which seems to have a mind of its own.
To keep Joyce alive, Bong together with his police partner, PInsp. Roman, will encounter a mysterious character in Stephen, caught loitering in the talahiban. Bong thinks Stephen is only pretending to be mentally deranged to avoid suspicion. But as it turns out, Stephen is the son of a real estate mogul who used to hire the killer, to do assassination jobs for him. Stephen will become key to the origin story of the ghost killer.
“I play Stephen in the movie, and he’s a very interesting character. He’s from an influential family and yet he experiences something horrific,” Garcia said. “It’s also an honor to be given this type of role to portray because it’s a bid different from the previous projects I had. And I’m taking this opportunity to showcase my talent as an actor.”
Joining Garcia in the movie are Joem Bascon, Jess Mendoza, Kristof Garcia, Gillian Vicencio, Sue Prado, Kate Alejandrino, Angeli Sanoy, Iyo Canlas, Yam Mercado, and Dax Alejandro, among others.
