‘Mantsa’ explores things scarier than ghosts

MANILA, Philippines — The trailer of director Louie Ignacio’s intriguing horror-suspense thriller, “Mantsa” (Stain), brags there are scarier things out there than just ghosts. “That’s something to look forward to,” said veteran actress Pilar Pilapil, who top-bills the cast of the film.

“When I was still young, I had many things that I was afraid of,” added Pilar. “But now that I’m older and I am now more spiritual, I am just afraid to end up in hell. I really strive very hard to do what is pleasing to the Lord.”

Pilar shared how she overcame those fears. “If you just rely on yourself, it’s really hard to overcome your fears,” Pilar said. “But since I gave my life to the Lord, and He made me whole again, that was when I was able to overcome those fears and those weaknesses. Not with my own strength with God’s strength and His spirit.”

Another lead star, Gelli de Belen, refuses to think about the things she’s afraid of. “Maybe if there’s one thing that I’m afraid of, that’s to be away from my family or to be away from my sons,” she said. “I hope I will not have to deal with health issues. As you get older, maybe that’s what you are really afraid of. Dealing with health issues as you get older. Getting sick and be(ing) away from your loved ones.”

Young actor Khai Flores hates to be left alone in any place. “If there’s another thing, this film tackles mental health,” he said.

His co-star Shira Tweg believes a lot of things can happen within the day. “Sometimes, that’s what I’m afraid about,” said Shira. “You really don’t know what will happen within the day.”

The movie is presented by Dragons Entertainment Productions, with Bambbi Fuentes and Tine Areola as executive producers and Ric Valenzuela Jr. as producer. Bambbi is also the line producer. The production manager is Dennis Evangelista.

“Mantsa” also stars Snooky Serna, Lloyd Samartino, Janice de Belen and Dino Guevarra, with Miles Poblete, Than Perez, RJ Ariar, Jass de la Torre, Milli Marzo, Ghia Garcia, Bo Bautista, LA Santos and Raine Barretto.

The story of “Mantsa” was conceptualized by Bambbi in May last year. “From June until January 2025, we finished the script,” she said. “Then by January 2026, we started casting. It’s very timely that we talked about mental health in this film. I hope, in the future, when ‘Mantsa’ makes money, we can do more great films after this one, and the industry will be happier.”

Tine prefers to keep a positive attitude every time she ventures into production. “In this film, we can show what’s really happening to the young people these days,” Tine explained. “Laban lang. We really need to fight to push this film forward.”

“Mantsa” is a psychological suspense drama. “There are those elements that are thrilling and horror,” said screenwriter Krista Ann Taclan-Fuchs.

It took the cast and crew six days to wrap up the shoot of “Mantsa” in Angat, Bulacan.

Three decades of knowing each other made it easy for Gelli to readily accept the project that was offered to her by Bambbi. “The movie is dark,” Gelli said. “This is a psychological thriller. In the past, I got so used to doing romantic comedies or dramas. I think I’ve never done a psychological thriller like ‘Mantsa.’ I did a horror thriller before. This is different.”

“It’s dark and very quiet. It’s scary in a way because there are no ghosts to make you feel afraid or beings who are not from here. Being your own ghost is scarier. That’s what this movie is all about,” she added.

Pilar accepted the project that readily appealed to her. “It was something different for me,” she granted. “Sometimes, I get typecast (in) doing contravida roles. I thought, my role in ‘Mantsa’ is really different. I liked to project. It didn’t require me to talk too much.”

“This is not a talk-ish role for me. Mostly nuances. The expressions of the eyes, body language. It’s really a very interesting role. There are many facets to my character. That’s the reason I accepted the project,” she shared.

The part given to Khai is a dream role for him. “Shira and I are both Dragon babies,” he said. “Doing a horror-suspense role is a dream for me. I’m very proud to be given this project. The story is really beautiful.”

For Shira, doing a challenging role in “Mantsa” was something she did not previously expect to do. “As an actress, you are expected to try different kinds of roles,” she said. “The process of doing this role was what made me excited. Thank God, this was a success, and I super enjoyed doing this film. It was really challenging for me, but I’m glad I was able to finish the project.”

When she first learned about the big names in the cast that she would work with, Shira was immediately nervous. “At first, I had to prepare myself. There were many scenes to prepare for. You can’t just come to the set where you don’t know anything. You’ll be ashamed to work with your co-stars.”

Yet, filming was a challenge for Shira. “When we got to the set, I was nervous,” she said. “But we super enjoyed working on the scenes. Ms. Pilar and Ms. Gelli helped me while we worked on the set. I was super grateful and thankful to them. It made me grow as an actress. We worked on many scenes together. I had to prepare myself. I’m really proud of what I’ve done in this film.

“Our mantsa sa buhay really shapes us to what we are today. I believe that God will not let you go through a certain thing if you can’t do it. It’s up to you to handle it.”

Khai admitted he felt the stress while filming the scenes. “I really prepared for my character,” he said. “You need to be at par with the acting your veteran co-stars are giving. If not, you will perhaps be ashamed. But our veteran stars were very good. Even direk Louie. It was really an experience to work with them. I was glad I did the scenes well.”

The regular playdate of “Mantsa” starts Oct. 7.