Director Mikhail Red returns to 1980s Philippines for Rotterdam horror entry ‘Lilim’

Red intended Lilim to be an ode to classic horror movies, the likes of midnight specials or grindhouse films, but still suffused with commentary on Filipino society and spirituality. The horror legends in Mount Makiling also motor the film’s vision. 

“Lilim is about fear and fanaticism,” explains Red. “About people escaping oppression, isolating themselves, and finding solidarity. However, they ultimately succumb to fear and end up echoing the outside horrors they try to run away from.” 

“In a way, Lilim is a ‘what if?’ film that tries to show how a dangerous era can be the perfect cover for a secret ritualistic and sacrificial cult,” he adds.

As Rotterdam concludes and ahead of the movie’s local theatrical run, I spoke to Red about working on the film as a family affair, his references, and what’s next for Evolve Studios. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Lilim marks your first collaboration with your father Raymond Red. What was that experience like?

I’ve always wanted to work with my father but we could never find the right project. Lilim was perfect because it is set in an era he is familiar with; being a veteran cinematographer, his style gave authenticity to the atmosphere and classical look that we are going for, and he is also an alumni of the school set in Mt. Makiling and is familiar with the legends and locations. It was fun collaborating with him and my brother since we all grew up with the same influences and watching the same films. They can understand my references and instructions, and we’re all introverted soft-spoken geeks, so our set had a very peaceful, nurturing, and exciting environment despite shooting a very dark and oppressive movie.

As a follow-up to that, is there still pressure being raised in a household of filmmakers and storytellers? What’s the most exciting thing about it?

I don’t really feel any pressure since we all went on our own distinct paths. My father does a lot of avant-garde experimental cinema for his personal work and is very deliberate in choosing projects so it takes time for him to make a movie; his bread and butter is advertising, teaching, and TVCS. On the other hand, I really enjoy the versatility of exploring different genres. I love rediscovering the process when trying a new style, or story or new tones. I am obsessed with the craft and love trying to create accessible stories for a wide audience, both local and international and that has a lot of distribution potential. 

I have established our own studio to sustain our passion and continuously finance more genre work, especially those that are rarely greenlit by typical mainstream studios. In fact, the next project that we will be producing is my younger brother’s, Nikolas Red, debut feature Posthouse, which already won multiple awards in international project markets, and is also a horror film that combines elements of silent cinema.

What was the visual motivation for Lilim?

As I mentioned earlier, we wanted to make a film that can fully commit to classical horror. Nowadays there are a lot of modern horror films that blend elements of heavy social drama and a contemplative mood, and there’s nothing wrong with that since it has its own growing audience, but what we wanted with Lilim was to make a horror film that could wear its influences proudly and commit to the shock, the gore, the scares and the terror. 

It has a distinct classical look, with most of the setting lit by candlelight and firelight and we used special lens filters to create flares and glows you would see and recognize in older horror films. I teamed up with production designer Analou Sanchez to come up with the period aesthetic and almost gothic feel of the orphanage. Our inspirations were films like Suspiria mixed in with other horror media, particularly classic games like Silent Hill, Fatal Frame or Rule of Rose where we follow an almost Alice in Wonderland-like protagonist as she ventures into a mysterious secluded location that has its own mythos and secrets, slowly unveiling an ancient evil beneath it all.

How was it having Heaven Peralejo as your lead, as well as working with stars like Eula Valdez, Mon Confiado, and Ryza Cenon?

They are all great actors. I really admire Heaven’s dedication to the role and how she easily transitioned from doing mostly cute romantic films and series, and suddenly we have her screaming, and frightened and shooting challenging scenes at a different pace and setup (since genre film sets are wildly different from shooting local series). We had to shoot things nonlinear sometimes and do multiple angles on one scream or emotion and that definitely takes its toll emotionally and physically, plus imagine all the stunt work, and prosthetics and keeping continuity, only an experienced professional like Heaven can truly make that experience easy for all of us. 

The same goes for Mon Confiado and Eula Valdez who I’ve worked with in other genre, stunt-heavy projects like Neomanila and Arisaka. They are seasoned professionals who understand the filmmaking process in front of and behind the camera, and as a genre filmmaker, that helps a lot, and of course when it comes to the dramatic scenes and even horrific intense scenes like death and torture, you can imagine how much energy and emotional range they need to make it believable. I always like working with them. 

Ryza Cenon has been a big surprise for me too. It’s my first time working with her but I’ve always been interested since I saw her performance in Prime Cruz’s Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B. I personally chose her for the role and was happy that she accepted it enthusiastically. We were all surprised when she showed so much admiration for the role that she shaved her head to help her truly immerse in the role of a psychotic cult leader. It was fascinating working with such a passionate actress. I can’t wait for people to see her transformative performance in the film, and would definitely work with her again. 

I also want to commend the orphans in the film since most of them are new to acting in film, especially Heaven’s co-lead Skywalker David, who was one of the youngest on set and who we discovered during our open auditions. I always try to diversify my cast by combining new talent with seasoned actors and watching their chemistry unfold.

What’s next for Lilim post-Rotterdam? Will it tour the international film festival circuit?

There are more international film festivals that have invited our film! Unfortunately, we cannot announce this yet until their official press releases, but I’m very happy and excited that the international festival circuit really appreciates the film and can provide a great platform to proudly showcase Filipino genre cinema, especially films that are made for a wide Filipino audience. The international audience can get a peek at what these films are.

As the founder of Evolve Studios, what can we expect for the production company’s 2025 slate?

For Evolve Studios 2025, we will be producing Nikolas Red’s Posthouse, a horror film about a film editor who is working to restore a recently recovered silent Filipino horror film and discovers the dark secrets hidden between its frames. [In the] midyear, I will also be making another feature, a sci-fi horror/thriller to be announced. We are also developing a movie about Filipino fencing from the perspective of female athletes as well as developing a series titled Deleters, which is a spinoff of the film but focuses on multiple perspectives of different internet content moderators as they decipher the “dead internet theory” and its connections to a cryptic obituary website.