‘Sapi’: Not your typical horror film

‘Sapi’ director Brillante Mendoza (Photo by Rowena Tan)

After reaping critical praise for his award-winning film “Thy Womb,” internationally acclaimed director Brillante Mendoza delivers his first horror genre film, “Sapi.”

Not the typical horror movie, Mendoza explained during the film’s premiere night on Tuesday, “Hindi natin maikakaila na may mga nakakatakot (sa mga) eksena dito. (Pero) ang dagdag na factor dito na wala sa usual horror genre ay ’yung mga social issues… social relevance… Hindi pwedeng mawala ’yun.”

Expounding on the theme of the movie, the 53-year-old director said, “Meron tayong mga napagusapan dito (sa film) na hindi lang katatakutan… kundi mga bagay na mas nakaktakot sa mga araw-araw na buhay natin. Ito yung bagay na hindi na tayo natatakot kasi tinatanggap nalang natin ito bilang parte ng buhay natin.”

“Sapi” is horror film about a paranormal phenomenon of demonic possession intertwined with the goings on in the lives of broadcast journalists trying to get ahead.

It spins from an ongoing competition between two television networks, the Sarimanok Broadcasting Network (SBN) and Philippine Broadcasting Channel (PBC). SBN, whose news production team is headed by two employees, Meryll Flores (played by Meryll Soriano) and Dennis Marquez (Dennis Trillo), finds that documenting an actual spiritual possession would be their only hope of getting the break they so desperately seek. Yet, despite their thorough research they could not find any incident of possession that they could film.

Sadly, their rival network PBC stumbles upon a case of demonic possession from footage taken by its cameraman, Baron Valdez (Baron Geisler). Feeling desperate, Meryll buys the outtakes of the Ruby possession case from Baron.

What Meryll thought would mark the turning point of her career slowly turns out to be a reality she did not bargain for; one that mirrors the political system governing the TV network where she works for.

Also in the cast are Mercedes Cabral, Jim Libiran and Rubu Ruiz, among others.

Produced by Solar Entertainment and CenterStage Productions, “Sapi” is now showing in local cinemas nationwide.

‘Sapi’: Not your typical horror film

Source: Mb.com.ph (November 06, 2013 at 07:38PM)

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