Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids
Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids[1] is an upcoming Philippine fantasy martial arts film directed by Vincent Soberano and is costarred by Soberano and Monsour del Rosario. The feature film is based on the 2016 short film, Blood Hunters.
| Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Vincent Soberano |
| Produced by | Elaine Carriedo Lozano |
| Written by | Vincent Soberano |
| Starring | Vincent Soberano Monsour del Rosario Sarah Chang |
| Music by | Tamara dela Cruz |
| Cinematography |
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| Edited by | David Benjamin Ignacio |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | IndieGo Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | Philippines |
| Language |
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Synopsis
Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids revolves around a bid of a secret organization to kill the Queen of the aswang, an "underworld species" with the intention of using her blood to revive deceased humans back to life as aswang beings.[2]
Cast
- Feature film[2]
- Monsour Del Rosario
- Vincent Soberano
- Sarah Chang
- Ian Ignacio
- Conan Stevens
- Temujin Shirzada
- Roxanne Barcelo
Short film
Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids, a feature film was derived from a short film entitled Blood Hunters by the same film production team. The feature film was described by its director, Vince Soberano as an expanded version of the short film. The story of the film will "pick up" from the short film. The short film was awarded the best short film at the 2016 Cinemax HBO Action Film Competition and the Urban Action Showcase and Expo. The short film featured an all-Filipino cast.[3]
Soberano, also directed the short film remarked that people thought that filming techniques similar to what is used in Hollywood were devised in the making of the short film but said that the production team used cheaper and improvised equipment such as using cigarette boxes as cushion instead of mattresses. He also remarked that the production team can't afford to rent Arri Alexa or Black Magic digital camera systems or to use cable wires for the short film's production due to a limited budget. He attributed the short film's success to what he calls "Filipino ingenuity" and said that the team refused to compromise the film's quality despite time constraints.[3]
The short film was shot entirely in Bacolod and features a group of people labeled as aswang. An all-female cast portrayed the group were characterized by Soberano as a misunderstood and "kinda witches" who has an ability to transform themselves which they do to scare but not kill people. They are depicted as protectors of the forest, scary-looking and vegetarians – not carnivorous like the aswang.[4]
Feature film
Production
Director Vince Soberano is also the writer and producer of the film and one of the film's starring actors along with Monsour del Rosario. A martial artist himself along with Del Rosario, Soberano made the film to promote awareness on Filipino martial arts. He noted that the fighting method was used in foreign films such as John Wick, Jason Bourne, Frankenstein but said that Filipinos are not aware of its use since it was practiced by Hollywood actors.[5]
Concept
The film have both fantasy and action elements. Aside from Filipino martial arts, the supernatural creatures known as the aswang will be featured in the film. The beings in the film according to Soberano will have different types of breed. The feature film will have Kumander Jun, a mercenary who injected himself with aswang blood, as protagonist. He characterizes the aswang in the film as beings who used to be predators but are now victims. He cites the phrase Don't judge a book by its cover, remarking that the aswang in his film must not be assumed as killers.[4]
Filming
The filming of Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids (then with the working title of just Blood Hunters) began in October 2016 in Morong, Bataan. By November 2016 filming was on halt and was scheduled to resume in January 2017. The film's cast will compose of actual practitioners of Filipino Martial Arts. Fight rehearsals were also scheduled in December 2016.[3] Scenes were filmed in a day while rehearsal lasts for a week. The cast rehearsed about 12 hours daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Soberano said that he has already planned the editing and set designing aspects of the film before working on the set.[4]
The last day of filming was done also in Morong on March 7, 2017.[5]
Release
On March 7, 2017, it was announced that the producers of Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids intend to participate at the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival. They were reportedly the first to express interest to participate in the annual film festival traditionally held every December, but was not selected to be shown.[5]
References
- Calderon, Ricky (17 March 2017). "A new era for Pinoy action films". The Freeman. The Philippine Star. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
- "About - Blood Hunters". Facebook. Blood Hunters. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
- Cruz, Marinel (28 November 2016). "What makes PH filmmakers a cut above the rest". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
- Donato, Jerry (25 November 2016). "Vincent Soberano's fresh take on action and aswang". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
- Bonifacio, Julie (11 March 2017). "MMFF pinakinggan ang mga suhestiyon ni Grace Poe". Bandera (in Filipino). Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 12 March 2017.