A haunting Holy Week in ‘Biyernes Santo’

CEBU, Philippines —  Growing up, director Pedring A. Lopez was drawn to the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, a famous American writer of weird and horror fiction. With films, he devoured Asian horror, specifically those of Japan and Thailand. Hong Kong’s ‘80s action cinema also hugely influenced him, and this ultimately played a major part in his decision to pursue filmmaking as a career.

“Japanese, Thai horror, hindi ka gugulatin, but sa environment pa lang matatakot ka na,” Direk Pedring tells The FREEMAN and other media in a digital conference.

This style of frightening viewers by creating an ominous atmosphere as opposed to mere jump scares is what the director of such films as “Maria”, “Binhi,” and “Nilalang” tried to achieve in his latest film, “Biyernes Santo,” just in time for Holy Week.

“Iniwasan ko yung sobang gulat. It’s more atmospheric, the colors, the darkness. Feeling mo may lalabas pero wala. It’s more on playing with the mind,” he said.

In “Biyernes Santo,” now streaming on Vivamax, ex-Senator Roy Asuncion (Gardo Versoza) brings his traumatized daughter Aurora (Via Ortega) to a rest house in a distant province for the Holy Week, one year after he lost his wife in a gruesome supernatural attack. He enlists the help of his distant cousin and a young, talented spiritual healer Grace (Ella Cruz) to protect Aurora from dark forces that has been haunting his family every Holy Week.

As the Holy Week progresses, Roy, Aurora, and Grace lock themselves inside the rest house which had been prepared to protect them from the demons that begin to make their presence known. The spiritual attacks intensify on Good Friday – the day when Jesus died. Roy and Grace do their best to overcome their personal differences in order to protect Aurora. But Grace discovers the secret Roy has been hiding from her and it is too late for her to get out of the rest house and to escape from the devil.

“It’s really not the Biyernes Santo itself, but what the spirits do. You have angels, demons, but what do they normally do?,” he explained of the film’s plot. “Ang demon ba masama talaga? Ang angel ba mabuti talaga? We don’t really know.”

“Because of the Catholic faith in the Philippines, I think there’s more to it than what we see. In the film we also touch on the Muslim faith. May kasabihan tayo na Good Friday, patay ang Diyos. So the story revolves around the journey towards Good Friday. The actual story happens in a week, from Monday to Friday. Friday, it stops. That’s the ending of the story. It’s spirits – demons and angels. It’s a fight between good and bad, but in the story we don’t know who is good or bad.”

Also starring Mark Anthony Fernandez (as an angel out to eradicate anti-Christian believers) and Andrea Del Rosario (Gardo’s wife), “Biyernes Santo” employed a spiritual adviser – his friend’s wife Vanessa Tan – to guide them on the ritual scenes and assure that they do not summon malevolent spirits while filming.

“While doing the script, we consulted with the spiritual adviser kung okay ba ito gawin, hindi ba delikado, wala ba kaming magagambala na spirits, tama ba ang ginagawa ni Ella. We wanted it authentic enough without inviting the spirits on set,” he shared.

Ella, 2019 Cinemalaya Best Supporting Actress for the highly-acclaimed film “Edward” and christened Millennial Dance Princess by Viva, was understandably terrified of her healer role. She is too scared to watch any horror films, but has ironically been assigned many scare flicks by Viva, such as “Dark Room,” also helmed by Direk Pedring.

“I can do extreme sports, I’m brave with that. But when it comes to horror films, I never watch one. Hindi ko talaga kaya,” shares Ella.

“I was scared while reading the script. Doing the rituals means waking up or shaking the spirits around, whether I believe it or not. That’s what scared me. I wore a St. Benedict pendant all throughout for protection, hindi na pinatanggal ni Direk. I cried a lot before a ritual scene. Naka-lock in din kami sa bahay mismo. We slept in same spooky house. I survived filming, but I don’t know if I can watch the film.”

Fourteen-year-old Via, in her debut movie and groomed by Viva to be a pop star ala Sarah Geronimo, was called by Direk Pedring a revelation in the movie.

Gardo, for his part, thanked the director for venturing into projects that the actor and current Tiktok King feels can be at par with those of Hollywood. “When I saw the trailer on Instagram, hindi sa nagbubuhat ng sariling bangko, but pwede isabay sa Hollywood. Napakaganda nung lighting. Asawa ko, trailer pa lang, hindi kaya panoorin,” said Gardo.

The actor said that when tackling a vile role, or being in a horror film itself, he makes sure to recite extra prayers than usual.

“Before any role, I see to it na humingi ng basbas sa Panginoon. Kung nasa bad side yung role mo, magdagdag ka ng extra prayer dahil minsan – I don’t know with other actors – but there is a tendency that you will bring home the character, or you enjoy it too much, natatagalan kang bumitaw, yung power ayaw mo bitawan that it becomes unhealthy. To be safe to everyone, whether the role be bad or good, it’s better to pray about it. I may not have a third eye, but I try to be sensitive kung may nararamdaman akong iba. On set, meron daw yata nagpa-piano na walang ulo. Dapat kapit na kapit ka sa faith mo para meron kang kaagapay. You won’t be swayed easily.”

For Andrea, having a daughter in real life aided her greatly in tackling scenes, especially in one where “I was going to lose her.” The chill vibe on set was very helpful too, she added.

Direk Pedring shared, “Doing it was very light. Nakakatakot yung story but it doesn’t mean dapat tinatakot namin yung sarili namin. Magagaling kasi yung mga artista kaya kaya nila. The magic happens in prep and after the film. And making the film as light as possible during a pandemic, I think it also helped push the actors to deliver a very good performance.”

The pandemic restrictions made filming a very different experience for all, but they are proud to have pulled through. “We shot everything in less than 15 days. My first time to shoot something like that in a pandemic, so that was difficult enough,” Direk Pedring said. “And it delves on spirituality which a lot of us are questioning now because of the pandemic.”