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Cinta Laura Kiehl reveals strong message in horror film 'Jeritan Malam'
Cinta Laura Kiehl shares behind the scenes experiences from Jeritan Malam.
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Cinta Laura Kiehl poses during an interview with The Jakarta Post on Oct. 22. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
It was in 2015 when a thread on a horror story was uploaded to online forum Kaskus.
Penned by a user named meta.morfosis, the thread, titled “Jeritan Malam” (Night Scream), followed a man who experiences terrifying, life-changing events after he moves to East Java for work.
The story is interesting due to the main character’s determination to preserve his sanity despite the strange events he is experiencing. The author did not confirm nor deny whether the story was based on true events or not, which heightened readers’ curiosity.
Shared up to 1,300 times, the popular thread has been adapted into different formats, including a feature film set to be released in local cinemas on Dec. 12.
Helmed by Rocky Soraya, the Jeritan Malam film version features Herjunot Ali as Reza, Cinta Laura Kiehl as Wulan, Indra Brasco as Minto and Winky Wiryawan as Indra.
During an interview with The Jakarta Post, Cinta said the film had a strong message.
“It makes the audience question how far are you willing to go as an individual to achieve what you want in life – are you willing to give up those you love or are you willing to give up certain material possessions?” Cinta said.
Playing Reza’s love interest, Cinta is said to have changed her appearance for the movie, as well as her American accent.
She also learned to hold back as her actual character is completely the opposite of Wulan’s character. “I like to speak up, I’m very pro gender equality and women being able to do whatever men can do, so [playing] Wulan was a great challenge for me,” she said.
Read also: Cinta Laura stars in Netflix film ‘Nanny Surveillance’
Nonetheless, Cinta states that Wulan’s timid character is part of her strength, especially when she has to accept the fact that she has to let her dearest person go.
“I think in this movie Wulan really displays her strength as a woman when she lets go of her significant other and allows him to move forward with his life in order to achieve his dream,” Cinta said.
The filming took almost 50 days in different locations, including Jakarta and the West Java city of Sukabumi.
Cinta said she felt “quite lucky” because she only joined the shooting process in Sukabumi for two days. “But I know that the other actors, including Winky, really had to struggle. They sometimes even had to sleep in caves in very uncomfortable conditions,” she said.
Director Rocky is no stranger to horror films as he previously helmed Mata Batin (The 3rd Eye) and its sequel The 3rd Eye 2, among others.
Cinta describes her collaboration with Rocky as “a walk in a park”.
“I like that he’s really blunt and very straightforward; in certain scenes or shots where he wouldn’t necessarily agree with my choices as an actress, he would outright tell me, ‘That was bad’,” she said. “And I appreciated that because I’m very straightforward myself, so I’d rather him tell me that I did a bad job than tell me, ‘It was good, but try to do this’.” (kes)
