Enrique Gil declines to ‘use’ Liza Soberano to promote his MMFF movie
Enrique Gil (center) with Dondon Monteverde and Erik Matti (right) at a recent media conference for their MMFF 2024 entry “Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital.” | Image: INQUIRER.net/Jessica Ann Evangelista
While Enrique Gil is one excited man for his 2024 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry, “Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital,” he declined to entertain questions about his former on-screen partner Liza Soberano, which he said would give the impression that he’s using the latter for promotion.
“I don’t wanna use Liza for any promo or anything. I’m just here to talk about the film,” he told reporters when asked about Soberano in a recent media conference.
Gil previously shared that he and Soberano were in talks to collaborate on another horror film as they both pursued film-producing roles amid breakup rumors hounding them, which both parties have yet to confirm or deny.
Aside from co-producing the film, Gil is also starring in “Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital,” which the Philippines’ first meta found-footage horror film.
“I think it’s the first in Philippine cinema that was shot this way. I think it’s also cool that we as actors play ourselves, as Enrique. I think that’s pretty cool, and I haven’t done anything like that before. Something very interesting for this film, and I’m super excited for that. Hopefully the fans and the audience will really like and enjoy it as well,” he said.
Joining Gil in wearing the producer’s hat are Dondon Monteverde and Erik Matti, who said they want to give the viewers a “kind of freshness” in their horror film.
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“The reason why we chose it is we want to inject a kind of freshness into horror movies natin sa Pinoy. Kasi ang Pinoy may style tayo na tungkol sa probinsiya or multo sa bahay. This one, it’s a bit of a modern take on it,” Matti explained.
“Tapos ang sinasabi niya is right smack to the relevance ngayon ng mga bata, which is clout-chasing, live streaming. And if you watch the movie, we are excited to show the movie to everyone. Iba ‘yung energy niya, iba ‘yung rhythm. Hindi siya tipikal pero Pinoy na Pinoy,” he added.
“Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital” is the Philippine adaptation of the South Korean box-office hit “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum.” In the film, the cast members play themselves, where they vlog their exploration inside the haunted hospital.
Aside from Gil, the film also stars Jane de Leon, Alexa Miro, Rob Gomez, beauty queen MJ Lastimosa, real-life tarot reader Raf Pineda and content creator Ryan “Zarckaroo” Azurin.
The film is directed by Kerwin Go and will premiere in local cinemas on Dec. 25 alongside other nine MMFF entries.
