A fresh new take on Shake, Rattle & Role

MANILA, Philippines - Fans of horror movies are in for a treat as Regal Films’ Shake, Rattle and Roll XI (SRR XI) offers three unique, scary stories told from the strong, fresh points of view of three first time, yet very talented directors — Jessel Monteverde, Rico Gutierrez, and Don Michael Perez.

“We all want to offer viewers with a unique horror viewing experience, so we really had to look for the most exciting storylines and tap the most promising, young directors to be at the helm of the three SRR XI episodes,” says producer Roselle Monteverde-Teo. “I am very sure that viewers will enjoy the works of these three young directors. I am proud that they all made their debut movies in SRR XI.”

Tasked to direct the Lamang Lupa is Jessel, who studied Film Direction from the prestigious University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). He returned to the Philippines after graduation and immediately worked on numerous music videos and commercials.

With Monteverde as his last name, Jessel admits that it is much harder to prove himself as a director because people tend to think that he got his assignments just because of his connections. He is Mother Lily’s nephew and Roselle’s first cousin.

“It’s a challenge, and I welcome it,” says direk Jessel. “What is important is that we, Roselle and I, being the next generation of film stalwarts, are doing our part to improve the craft of moviemaking in the country.”

Jessel is mighty proud of his work in Lamang Lupa saying that during the editing of his episode, he still gets his palms sweaty and nervous because of sheer excitement. He also notes that working with his young cast was a blast noting that they (Jennica Garcia, Rayver Cruz, Iya Villania, Bangs Garcia, Dominic and Felix Roco) were all very good and professional.

Lamang Lupa tells the story of a group of friends who went camping only to find themselves relentlessly pursued by ferocious creatures called lamang lupas.

From being at the helm of television shows and commercials, direk Rico Gutierrez makes his debut movie in the Diablo episode of SRR XI. In the said episode, he employed techniques being used during TV commercial shoots like “storyboarding,” where his whole episode was mounted using graphical representations. He also sought the help of renowned Tatum Torres to design the look of the diablo, which will surely haunt the viewers for many days.

Direk Rico also sought the help of friends Eugene Domingo, Andoy Ranay and Pen Medina to complete the Diablo experience.

“You can see that the director really went out of his way to make this episode truly special. It is evident that he gave his 200 percent effort,” says Roselle of Rico’s work in Diablo. “He knows the story very well and the movie reflects it. One good thing about Rico is he doesn’t want to copy someone else’s work, so you can expect that this work is really fresh, original.”

Diablo pairs Maja Salvador with Mark Anthony Fernandez. It follows story of Claire (Maja), a young doctor-intern at a provincial hospital is haunted by demonic visions after she encounters a female patient who is suspected of carrying a deadly flu virus. Claire’s aunt brings her to Fr. Ronnie (Mark) who turns out to be Claire’s ex-boyfriend.

Don Michael started out as a writer before being TV director to toprating series like Dyesebel, Darna, among others. For SRR XI, Don makes his film debut in Ukay-ukay, which reunites Ruffa Gutierrez with erstwhile boyfriend Zoren Legaspi.  It tells the story of Kayla and Harold whose wedding plans are deterred by a “possessed” gown from ukay-ukay.

According to direk Don, viewers must watch-out for the sequence where Ruffa will battle the “possessed” gown, which runs for three minutes. Also in the cast are John “Sweet” Lapuz and Megan Young.

“It is really heartpounding,” assures direk Don. “I really took Roselle’s directive to make the heroine stronger by making her fight the possessed gown.”

Shake, Rattle and Roll XI opens Dec. 25 in theaters.