"El Jacho: Una leyenda puertorriqueña," an independent 22-minute Puerto Rico horror short film, premieres free on YouTube through the MonoVisión PR channel on Friday, November 13. Magdiel Jobad Rodríguez and Adrián Borges Estrada wrote it, and Borges Estrada also directed. Set in the 1990s, it adapts the folk tale of Jacho Centeno, a fisherman condemned for lighting a cross to light his way in the mountains, and follows a group of young people who move into a mountain residence and face the supernatural entity.
Borges Estrada told Primera Hora the team drew on the Orocovis version of the legend and also found versions in Ponce and along the coast, weaving "easter eggs" of them into the character. The film debuted at the Screamfest Film Festival in New Orleans and screened at the Lusca Film Fest in 2023 before festivals in Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Chile and Spain.
More than 50 local film professionals worked on it, with MonoVisión PR, Imagine8, Cine PR and Lonely Park producing across five principal photography days. Tanisha Hernández handled makeup and practical effects, requiring scenes shot in reverse order. Rights to Vico C’s song "Viernes 13" were secured through Rimas Publishing and Universal Music for the festival circuit.
Borges Estrada won Best Direction at the Puerto Rico Queer Film Festival. A feature-length version’s script is finished and in development and financing.