The Reds’ reinvention of the Lilith myth

A parricide, escape into the woods, where an evil cult awaits to feast on human flesh as sacrifice and ritual. Mikhail Red continues his exploration of horror cinema with “Lilim,” based on the mythological she-demon Lilith, Adam’s other wife banished from Eden and here transposed to Philippine setting, particularly in the forest of Mt. Makiling.

While it is hardly his best work, with “Birdshot” and the multi-awarded “Deleter” notable standouts in the past, the recent project benefits from having Red’s father, the indie pioneer Raymond Red who is no stranger to the mountain fastnesses of Makiling having spent high school there, holding the camera while another Red, Mikhail’s brother Nikolas co-wrote the script.

This then probably makes it a family affair, though “Lilim” cannot ideally be considered as wholesome family viewing, employing the stock in trade of eerie nuns, a weird cult based in a convent, slasher blood and gore complete with cannibalism, dismemberment and spilled entrails.

Yet, all this is set in a picturesque even pastoral ambience, you can almost smell the greenery and hear the echo of your footsteps, unassuming counterpoint to the brewing mayhem about to disrupt this idyll past the hour mark.

The lead Heaven Peralejo as the prodigal daughter Issa delivers the goods, though not in any event inspiring, but what is there to inspire in a situation replete with demons, the odds stacked up against her from the start?

Child actor Skywalker David as the little brother also is quite the revelation in underacting, or maybe he’s just shy this being his first film.

The supporting cast especially those damned nuns who in themselves are quite lookers, do not make you think that maybe all this is a waste of time, with a bald and tattooed Ryza Cenon a personification of sexy tropical gothic, and Eula Valdez as the mother superior sure to inhabit even the most discreet nightmares.

Of course, there has to be representatives from the real, sane world and this is done through the Mon Confiado character police detective and his equally unfortunate deputy played by a Siguion Reyna, and spoiler alerts aside we counted around five or six deaths in the course of the movie and a small bag of popcorn, not even tallying the skulls and bones and other smelly artifacts deep in the bowels of that convent.

We can almost see the blurbs in some netizen reviews or impromptu tabloid-like comments that sprout on the internet: Weird as weird can be! What an amazing if cynical march of evil in a beautiful forest! Nakakatacute ang sinapit ni Heaven!

How is it that the scions of indie giants have turned to horror filmmaking for comfort, as aside from Mikhail, there’s Topel Lee of the Lee clan of Bicol who are also pioneers of alternative cinema.

Is it true then that all that is necessary for evil to triumph in this world is for good filmmakers to be controlled by the big studios? “Lilim” is produced by Viva films, and for what it’s worth uses all the tricks in the book and then some: the golpe de gulat sound factor to further instill shock and awe, shower of blood as if from a busted sprinkler, monster eating man or it the other way around, with yet another unpredictable twist at end.

The Reds know their horror well, know their deeply foreboding plot lines enough not to be altogether manipulative, even as Mt. Makiling serves its purpose as backdrop and something wicked this way comes.

“Lilim” may not win awards, may be considered corny or bitin by true blue enthusiasts of the macabre, but it has its niche and could one day even be a cult favorite — cult not necessarily being the operative word — much like the secular “Boso” by another Red, Jon, a sexy dark comedy of another time and place. Earth knows no fury than when woman is banished from it.