Philippine-born American celebrated filmmaker of genre tradition Brian Yuzna (“Society,” “Re-Animator,” “Return of the Living Dead III,” “Faust,” “Dolls,” “Progeny” etc.) has been traveling all over the world, from east to west, north to south, looking for cinematic materials and to shoot them with eclat but he apparently has a penchant for Southeast Asian mythology and folklore.
In a virtual masterclass held Wednesday morning with Yuzna at the Bucheon Fantastic Castle of the 2022 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) in South Korea, he admitted his fascination with Indonesian, Thai, Filipino and other Asian folk tales.
“The folkloric traditions of Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries are rich in fantastic elements,” said Brian in jest.
As a matter of fact, he has done a film on Philippine folklore and legends titled “Blood Island” which is a collection of supernatural stories about monsters, witches, zombies, dark characters etc. that has been extended to other Asian nations, like Indonesia localizing its “Tales of the Blood Island.”
No wonder Brian has these orientations because he was born in the Philippines to American parents. He has also explored Latin American culture of the animistic nature.
Yuzna underscored the presence of homegrown myths as distinct as the Western fantasy creatures like Frankenstein, vampires etc. He said that Filipino or Indonesian horror characters like sorcerers, giants (without him mentioning or particularizing kapre—the cryptid humanoid with long legs, hairy body, tall mien, smoking big cigars), elves etc. are genre gifts to world cinema.
These extraordinary figures, Brian explained, separate Eastern filmmaking from Hollywood fares.
As a producer and director, Yuzna said he subscribes to independent moviemaking although he qualified that studio screen life is more productive because there are diverse creative minds working for a common goal.
Brian is scheduled to set foot at the 26th BiFan from July 7-17 in Bucheon City to further talk about doing fantasy films and present his works to the world.