It is a truth universally acknowledged that there are several rites of passage teens go through in their life, including going on foolhardy adventures to look back on and laugh. But what if something terrible happens on one of those days? Enter Geng Kubur, or Dead Boys Club, a new Malaysian teen horror flick coming to Netflix this August, written and directed by Malaysian filmmaker Gavin Yap.

Geng Kubur (literally, ‘Graveyard Gang’) follows four Malaysian teens who, like its title suggests, enjoy hanging out in graveyards. A coming-of-age story, the film itself sees one of these adventures gone awry, as they stumble into a haunted forest, forcing them to face their worst fears if they want to survive. Quirky, trippy and with a heartwarming story of friendship and self-acceptance to boot, Geng Kubur promises an easy watch, while also packing a few classic scares here and there to get your heart pumping faster.

“We pitched for a FINAS grant around 2020 during COVID, and ended up shooting it around September 2022, after our extended lockdown ended, before completing the film in 2023,” says Gavin. “The initial idea was a more straightforward horror movie, and while the story itself is fictional, but its themes of self-forgiveness and trauma are more personal and autobiographical.”

“Actually, my own family lived near a graveyard – we didn’t hang out there, but going to explore it was definitely a rite of passage, where us kids would entertain ourself by checking out haunted places. It wasn’t the only thing we did for fun, but it was exciting because it was different. It felt like we had more freedom to explore in that time.”

That, in short, is how the two ideas came together to form what would become Geng Kubur, where our protagonists are haunted not just by their past, but facing the hallucinations based off these memories conjured by the forest, turning the familiar into the downright terrifying. “The forest feeds on each individual’s problems – whether it’s their own fascination by folklore and ghosts, or their own insecurities or domestic horrors. Each character’s nightmare has their own distinct style, with their own frame rates or using old videocameras to create a certain mood, and all of it would be very unnerving because you’d see all these different things appearing and disappearing, making it seamless and disorienting,” says Gavin.

“We always knew the film would be in Malay, and I worked with my co-writer Honey Ahmad again, after she helped me with translations for my last telemovie, because she just gets my voice, the vibe and tone of what I’m trying to do,” he continues. “Prior to shooting, my theatre side comes in – we have rehearsals and table reads where I say, “This is the scene, and if the dialogue doesn’t feel natural, how can we make it natural?” to refine the script and build chemistry among the cast, before finally going into production proper.”

The cast of Geng Kubur are relatively young, matching their characters’ actual age in Form 5 (16-17 years old), and Gavin was also firm that he wanted them to look the part. “It was a good opportunity to find new talent through open casting. We didn’t put out an ad, but we did it through word of mouth, where anyone could recommend a friend if they felt they suited the role. I wasn’t restricting it to newcomers, but I did have specific ideas of what kind of people each character would be,” says Gavin. “You’ve got Firhan, who’s like a young Malay Tom Hanks – a regular guy who doesn’t necessarily get the girl, while you have Fangyang as the de facto leader. Prem was more of a Han Solo type, and Sasidaran, who plays him, is the oldest of the cast. Even then, his audition was so good, that even though he didn’t fit my original idea of how he should look, he had the right attitude, and was fluent in both Malay and English as well.”

Shooting the film during a post-COVID period however was a strange one for Gavin, who also had the experience that year of being in Singapore to perform in Pangdemonium’s Muswell Hill, before returning to Malaysia to work on the film. “During Muswell Hill, there were so many strict rules in place because of the lockdown, and if anyone tested positive, it would affect the whole production. I remember how scared everyone was, standing apart, sitting apart during meals, and even going back to the hotel, we’d be so scared of contracting something so avoided contact as much as possible so we wouldn’t halt progress,” says Gavin. “I’m glad that things went relatively smoothly for Geng Kubur during filming, but it’s one thing to shoot footage and another to get it off the ground during the post-production phase, and it took a while before we found an ideal release method and timing.”

While the film was not a huge box office success in Malaysia when it released in cinemas, now is the chance for the film to find its audience with this Netflix release, which Gavin sincerely believes will happen. “When I put a film together, my main goal is authenticity to who I am. Every time I have tried to do something that isn’t true to me, just because I think the audience will like it, it hasn’t turned out well, because it’s not genuine,” says Gavin. “Of course, I can shift my mindset when I work on say, commissioned projects, but if it’s an original work, I need it to be a journey that means something, and that sincerity will resonate with others as well.”

“And my projects aren’t just my dream and my dream alone, they’re a collaborative process where I have people who review my work, give me notes, and I adjust accordingly if I find their feedback useful. I do have a responsibility to investors, but they have to give me the creative freedom to have a degree of creative freedom. I don’t just want something to entertain for 90 minutes but eventually end up forgettable, which is why I’m thankful for the grant that gives me such freedom. And like everything I’ve done, I think this film will also elicit strong reactions – people either get it or they don’t, with very little middle ground, and that’s so satisfying to me, that people feel something when they watch it.”

Geng Kubur releases on Netflix on 25th August 2024.