Director Trần Hữu Tấn and producing partner Hoàng Quân are brave: Not only does their new project belong to an in-demand genre, it also marks another first in their respective careers. In terms of period horror series in Vietnam, there has never been one like Hellbound Village — the English name of Tết Ở Làng Địa Ngục.
But to Tấn and Quân, and especially Quân, only folks outside of this production would deem their vision an act of bravery. They were — as they always have, really — simply injecting newness.
"Both of us always strive to show things people have never seen," Quân said. "We also like to challenge ourselves."
Kindred horror spirits
Of course, making Hellbound Village gave them all of the above. The twelve-episode series, based on the bestselling horror novel by Thảo Trang, prompted both men to assemble a crew and head for the mountains of Hà Giang in Northeast Vietnam, a location that hasn't been in any of their prior projects. All the environs' uncertainty, seclusion, and eeriness proved ideal for them to realize a village full of soul-stealing fireflies, carnivorous carps, afterlife ferrying, skull wine, and karmic annihilation, all being new genre concepts to local audiences.
The gist of the story sees a village chief, Mr. Thập (Quang Tuấn), an old beggar (Phú Đôn), and a tavern owner, "Wicked" Tam (Võ Tấn Phát), finding out whether the bizarre and gruesome deaths of Hellbound residents mere days before the new year are a mortal or supernatural act.
Hellbound Village has been screening in Vietnam since October. However, the first two episodes were shown with theater-ready audiovisuals and English subtitles (provided by yours truly) for its premiere and press screening.
Tấn and Quân were working on another project — a feature — when a friend of the former brought the novel's first chapter to them. At the time, Trang's work was available online by her design. There was enough within the words for the men to then divert and devote resources toward the series.
Tấn joked: "I guess supernatural-tinged arrangements follow supernatural-tinged projects!" (At the premiere, cinematographer Fa Châu Trần briefly said that strange things "would happen all the time" while filming.)
In a sense, the series' co-writer Đào Diệu Loan (credited alongside her is author Trang herself) also experienced the unexplainable. Before Hellbound Village came her way, she and horror were oil and water. She was surprised to find Trang's novel made an impossible bond possible and, in turn, added the first horror-centric project to her career.
"I'm from Hanoi, so director Tấn believed I could realize the material that was packed with Northern Vietnamese elements," she added over email. "I also love culture and in-depth research, both of which helped me with the adaptation process, and to work with much excitement and confidence."
She has been enjoying the series so far, specifically from the third episode onward. Her favorite character to write and then see in action is "Wicked" Tam.
International appeal
As with many productions from Vietnam, horror and otherwise, stateside access to Hellbound Village remains limited. But Tấn and Quân hoped it's only for the time being since, according to them — and especially the feedback they've received — the series intrigues more than just local sensibilities.
"I think Western audiences will be curious as to why the village chief has to look after the people so closely, do certain things," Quân said. "The character's collectivism is the point of difference."
Tấn, meanwhile, brought up titles such as Korea's The Wailing and the series Kingdom, the U.S.' The VVitch, Thailand's The Medium, and Taiwan's Incantation, citing how they have found appreciators beyond their borders because the horrors depicted in them are distinctive and region-specific. Hellbound Village has that, of course, with much of it brought to life by makeup artist Chang Belevia and her team (as seen in this featurette).
Also, it did take some time, but Tấn and Quân's last project, the urban legend-inspired Vietnamese Horror Story (Chuyện Ma Gần Nhà), eventually made it to the U.S for subscribers of SCREAMBOX in mid-November 2022. The creative duo agreed that the film being an anthology of three distinct stories, in a sense, gave them the experience to tackle Hellbound Village's serialized format.
"I made many creative approaches that weren't as effective as intended in Vietnamese Horror Story, to be honest," Tấn said. "And so, for Hellbound Village, I found myself really focusing on constructing a proper narrative arc and generating clearer payoffs. The material would need to have that. As an audience member, I would like to see that."
On the business front, Quân said the central take-home from Vietnamese Horror Story was that anthology-style projects would find "more freedom" when developed for non-theatrical mediums. For starters, the production house wouldn't be pressured by certain big-screen parameters like hitting a certain runtime (or risk becoming the center of discourse).
Thus far, both men have been pleased — and have shared with local media — that elements of their series are being cited as emblematic of strides made and misconceptions dispelled in making local episodic and genre projects.
"In Vietnam, there is yet a clear distinction in the quality between a series and a web series, and in turn the budgeting for each," Quân said. "We received investment offers that were low, or impossible to create a quality production with. The numbers were just enough for a web series; meanwhile, we — as well as the audience — believed that everything deserved to be and could be more."
"Many told me that 'You only need to get the story right,'" Tấn added. "They weren't wrong, but then if I didn't pay as much care toward the look of the story…? Investing in a horror series ought to be fair across the board, since all the departments are adding to the experience."
More to brew
On November 2, author Thảo Trang announced Hellbound Village's continuation on Facebook. Naturally, Tấn and Quân kept details of a second season close to their chests, but they said that if they were to work on it, the village "will look very different."
"I have yet to hear an offer to work on this," said series writer Đào Diệu Loan, "but if I do, I'd love to be a part of it!"
But before anything about season two arrives officially, the cinematic landscape of author Thảo Trang's Hellbound Village's world returned in the feature-length Kẻ Ăn Hồn (The Soul Reaper) in December. It was shot once the series was wrapped, bringing much of the crew's total production days in the Hà Giang region close to three digits (for Tấn, based on a Facebook photo and caption he posted in May, he stayed with a Hmong family near the filming location for "nearly three months").
The Soul Reaper's plot expands the epilogue in the source novel. It also takes place before the series' events and, as a result, features younger versions or predecessors of some characters. A highlighted visual in the film references a "rat wedding," inspired by a famous traditional Đông Hồ painting (and perhaps a nod to how an allegedly cursed populace can only celebrate things if they keep them low-key…). The film stars Hoàng Hà, Võ Điền Gia Huy, Huỳnh Thanh Trực, Chiều Xuân among others.
Back in October, Variety reported that The Soul Reaper scored distribution deals to international markets through efforts from Skyline Media (its CEO Hằng Trịnh once sat down with FANGORIA for everything about Mười: The Curse Returns).
"Horror films based around cultural elements host specific charms and challenges," Tấn said, "and all of them are new grounds for us to explore. One might say this is our creative vision for the genre."
Afterward, Tấn and Quân will enter the production of another period horror project, the feature-length Con Cám. It promises an original spin on the well-known Vietnamese fairy tale believed to be a localized Cinderella, which, if the title is any indication, will center around the more villainous sister.
As of this writing, viewers stateside have yet to receive their invites to Hellbound Village, either as the eponymous series or its feature-length prequel The Soul Reaper. Tấn and Quân would love to see this remedied, however…
Hellbound Village (Tết Ở Làng Địa Ngục) is on K+ and Netflix (for certain its Vietnamese library). The Soul Reaper (Kẻ Ăn Hồn) rolled into theaters December 15.
