The much-awaited episode is set to premiere this weekend on HBO Go
In the Philippine cinema landscape, “kulam” or witchcraft have been, for the longest time, at the core of the horror movie genre. It has been depicted in numerous ways that it can, at some point, be hailed as one of the clichés of Filipino movies. But with the upcoming Filipino episode in season 2 of HBO’s “Folklore,” director Erik Matti promises a new spell that will keep Filipino audiences, whether they are local mythology fans or not, hooked to their screens.
“What I think is most exciting about this one is that we're trying to go into more than just the supernatural but also the fear of the unknown with humans in general,” Erik said in a virtual media conference. “That's what the story is trying to talk about. It also has a more dreadful tone to it rather than out and out scary.”
“I was looking back and we haven't seen a story told on film that explores how the mangkukulam look at things,” he continued. “More than just horror, we try to understand the reasons for them doing it.”
Dubbed “7 Days Of Hell,” the episode will be the Philippines’ debut on the horror anthology that puts the spotlight on the chilling tales, superstitions, and myths in Asia. Working together with Erik for the episode is his wife, writer Michiko Yamamoto. With Erik known for his cinematic works such as crime dramas “Honor Thy Father” (2015) and “BuyBust” (2018), and horror films like “Pa-Siyam” (2004), “Kuwaresma/The Entity” (2019), and “Seklusyon” (2016), this episode is becoming a culmination of his storytelling and visual works as it presents a policewoman on a mission to find answers to her son’s unknown illness.
“A righteous policewoman and mother races against time to save her son when he falls dangerously ill from an unknown cause,” its synopsis says. “When her son is given only a few weeks to live, she discovers that his illness is of supernatural origin and that a powerful sorcerer has cursed him. The only way for her son to survive is for him to apologize and make amends to the sorcerer. As the clock ticks, she is sent on a desperate quest to save her son.”
“The things we explored for ‘7 Days Of Hell’ is really how fear could build up with something that you really don't understand,” the director said. “I think right now, not just because of the pandemic, but generally how the world functions, there's a lot of fear that goes around that you can't totally explain. The inexplicable is the one fueling the fear itself.”
"You'll see with the characters in the film, they're confronted with something they could not explain, and as policemen they rely mostly on evidence, on proof, but then they end up thinking about maybe this is the work of the supernatural,” he added. “For people who believe in logic, I think that's interesting to watch in a story. Slowly, they try to veer towards illogical stuff, fear towards gut instinct and intuition rather than provable evidence. That's what we want to explore.”
“7 Days of Hell” is set to premiere on HBO Go on Dec. 5, 2021.
Watch the trailer here: