Whenever Erik Matti makes a horror film, he says, he always looks for ways to elicit a proper “terrified” reaction from those watching.
He’s not one for subtlety. So when he had a chance to direct a new one, Matti made sure that it will be something that he can be proud of — one that he, by his own standards, can call “real horror.”
Matti opened up about “Kuwaresma” on Instagram this Tuesday, saying that it “has all the ingredients of a really fun horror movie.”
He teased that the movie, set for release this May, has “ghosts, mystery, whodunnit, human frailties, crazy characters, Azarel the devil and a dead dog that comes alive.”
He shared that it was a “blessing” to direct “Kuwarsema,” explaining that horror is one of his favorite genres.
He counts “The Changeling,” the “schlocky Italian horrors” and the “campy ghost erotica horrors” as his inspirations.
“Any chance I have to make a horror film is always a blessing. And when I say horror, I mean, real horror,” he wrote. “I don’t pitch art films disguised as horror films where the idea of horror is a stranger writhing in pain in an empty street naked.”
“I always am up to the challenge to do a horror film that can get a proper terrifying reaction from the audience. Restraint is good but horror doesn’t truly work entirely if it’s too subtle.”
“I am pretty proud of #Kuwaresma.”
“Kuwaresma” is billed as the first horror movie of Sharon Cuneta.
It’s about a family haunted by what appears to be the ghost of their youngest daughter.
It is Matti’s newest horror flick after “Seklusyon,” which earned him the best director award of the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival. It is set for a May 15 release. (abs-cbn)