Maligno (TV series)
Maligno (transl. Evil One) is an ABS-CBN primetime horror-thriller which was the second installment of Sineserye Presents: The Susan Roces Cinema Collection.[1] The show is adapted from the 1977 movie of the same name which starred Susan Roces who makes a guest appearance in the television program. It premiered from April 28, 2008 to May 23, 2008 replacing Palos.[2]
| Sineserye Presents: Maligno | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama, Horror |
| Created by | ABS-CBN Celso Ad Castillo |
| Based on | Maligno (1977) by Celso Ad. Castillo |
| Directed by | Wenn Deramas |
| Starring | Claudine Barretto Diether Ocampo Rafael Rosell Kim Chiu Gerald Anderson |
| Country of origin | Philippines |
| Original language(s) | Filipino |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Joan Del Rosario |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Dreamscape Entertainment Television Star Creatives |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABS-CBN |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Original release | April 28 – May 23, 2008 |
Overview
Origin
It is based on 1977 film starring the Queen of Philippine Movies, Susan Roces, that won her second FAMAS Best Actress trophy.[3] The 1977 movie was directed by Celso Ad. Castillo, who also wrote the original screenplay together with Dominador B. Mirasol.[4]
The film stars included Dante Rivero, Celia Rodriguez, and Eddie Garcia. The film revolves about Angela after being impregnated by an evil force, she fears that her child will be the Evil One's offspring.
Synopsis
The Chosen Carrier
After leaving her baby girl at a convent, Selya and her three companions die in succession while trying to escape a satanic cult. Later on, Selya's daughter is adopted by a wealthy but childless couple and is christened as Angela. However, her adoptive father never learns to love her and becomes even more distant when his wife dies during labor.
Despite her lonely childhood, Angela later becomes a successful newscaster. Her staff even throws a surprise party for her to celebrate the nomination of “Kulam”—a story featured in her news magazine show—for an Emmy Award. But instead of bursting out with joy, Angela is shaken by the news. As it happens, that particular episode makes her feel guilty because the woman who was accused of witchcraft in her scoop was later killed by her neighbors, leaving her daughter alone in the world.
Worse, her show will be reformatted and improved only on the condition that she makes a follow up piece on the story. Still upset by these developments, she retires to her office for some peace and quiet, only to encounter a crazed man who is lusting after her. When she is about to call the guard for help, the man suddenly disappears. Angela quickly brushes the incident off as a hallucination. But when she arrives home, she discovers her maids are dead and she is raped by the devil himself.
The Cult
A Satanic worship is being emphasized in the story, the cult is believed to worship the devil and does everything their leader tells them, they also believe that the Time of the Birth is coming. The cult also altogether keeps the group a secret, in every death that was believed to be done by the devil, they're the ones who clean up and make the scenes appear like accidents.
The Curse of the Son
The son Angela's been taking care of is believed to be carrying a curse: whoever tries to stop the destined life of the child or sometimes for no particular reason, the person dies.
List of deaths from the series that were related to the prophecy, Lucas, Angela, and Angelo.
| Character | Cause of death | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| Max | A bus plows in him at a high speed, causing him to die. | Episode 1 |
| Larry | Minutes after Max's death, Larry tries to run and hide away from the cult who is chasing them, he hid under a flatter machine which automatically turned on and flattens him. | Episode 1 |
| Gladya | In fear, Gladya tries to kill herself by standing in a train railing but the train turns left and skipped her. Unfortunately, a "cross sign" nearby fell and impaled her in the head. | Episode 1 |
| Selya | Selya was killed by a cult member while in the car crying in fear, a man surprisingly appeared behind them, covered her in the head with a plastic bag and stabbed her in the head. | Episode 1 |
| The Cortez's unborn son | Precisely, the family who adopted Angela had a baby but on the birth time, the baby was dead when born. | Episode 2 |
| Angela's maids | It was believed that before Lucas raped Angela, he killed all her maids first. | Episode 3 |
| Marissa | Angela's supervisor while she was going home from work, she took the elevator but accidentally the elevator wiring cut off causing it to fall to the bottom floor and kill her. | Episode 4 |
| The Paparazzi | Found dead according to the local newspapers. | Episode 5 |
| Dra. Elena Castillo (Debraliz Velasote) | Angela's OB-gyn. She was killed when she was bit by a venomous snake. When the cult had reached the spot where the doctor's car was found, they pushed the car into the steep ground, carried the doctor by placing her inside the car and then crashed the car and the doctor into the ravine. | Episode 5 |
| The Priest | He was supposed to christen Angelo but was found dead inside a cabinet on the same day. | |
| Belen - The first nanny | Her head was cut off by a wire while she tried to run away from the devil. | |
Cast and characters
Main cast
| Cast | Character | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Claudine Barretto | Angela Cortez | A well-known newscaster, Angela is a host of A-List, a popular news show. She didn't know she is chosen to give birth to a demon child and although she tries to escape, destiny catches up with Angela who only then realizes that her son is doomed to become a satanic cult's chosen one. |
| Kim Chiu | Elaiza | An ambitious production assistant who goes up the ranks as a reporter to seek revenge on Angela due to her mother's death on the "Kulam" expose. |
| Gerald Anderson | Joaquin | Eliza's camera man and close friend, soon to be a love interest. |
| Diether Ocampo | Hector Salcedo | Hector is Angela's son's pediatrician, Angela and him met since before the baby was born, Hector suspects that the baby Angela is carrying brings a curse to everyone who hurts his career, even though he knows this he'll do anything to save Angela from being part of this cult. |
| Rafael Rosell | Lucas Satander | A strange painter who is obsessed with Angela (Claudine). As Lucas Santander, he turns out to be the man destined in a prophecy to be the father of the devil's son. In the end he is successfully stabbed by Angela as the lunar eclipse reaches its termination, destroying the entire Satanic Cult. |
Extended cast
| Cast | Character | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Carlo Lacana | young Angelo Cortez | The birth child of Angela Cortez, some characters suspect that the child was a son of the devil. It was believed that Angela was just chosen to resurrect him into this world and spread the darkness within. In the end he is finally set free from his demonic destiny. |
| Arlene Tolibas | Lagring | A creepy nanny who takes care of the child. Arlene Tolibas' character was supposed to be played by Eugene Domingo. |
| DJ Durano | SPO2 Damien Dumlao | A policeman who was believed to be a traitor and a member of the cult who worships Satan. It was said that he frames the deaths of people to cover-up the cult. At the end he begins to collapse to death along with the entire Satanic Cult due to the death of Lucas. |
| Empoy Marquez | Charlie | The gay best friend of Angela, he is always there every time Angela needs him, even though he's always near Angela's, it seema he's not being cursed by the child to death. |
Guest cast
- Susan Roces as Introducer
- Mylene Dizon as Liz Pascual
- Debraliz Velasote as Elena Castillo
- Rio Locsin as Selya
- Susan Africa as Gladya
- Angel Sy as Young Eliza
- Steven Fermo as Young Joaquin
- Gee-Ann Abrahan as Eliza's Roommate
- Jorge Ochoa as Student
- Jojit Lorenzo
- Bodie Cruz
- Gerald Madrid
DVD release
A DVD containing all 20 episodes of Maligno was released by Star Home Video on June 20, 2008.
See also
- List of shows previously aired by ABS-CBN
- Sineserye Presents
References
- Claudine Barretto returns to primetime television via "Maligno"
- Maligno (Film) imdb profile
- :: Malaya - The National Newspaper :: Archived 2008-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
- Anarcon, James Patrick (July 29, 2017). "BATTLE OF REMAKES: 25 Classic movies and their ABS-CBN TV adaptations". PEP. Retrieved February 19, 2020.