After the success of horror film “Deleter,” actor Nadine Lustre and filmmaker Mikhail Red have teamed again on genre film “Nokturno.”
“Nokturno” revolves around a curse brought on by Filipino folklore characters known as Kumakatok, who are tall, thin and have long, pale fingers. They wear veils that obscure their faces and come knocking in the dead of the night. Those who answer the door are cursed to die or lose a loved one in three days.
Lustre plays Jamie, an overseas Filipina worker who returns to her isolated home province when rumors of mysterious killings brought about by a primal curse begin to circulate. She must reunite with her estranged mother Lilet, played by Eula Valdez (the lead in Red’s 2018 Rotterdam title “Neomanila”), and face her family’s troubled past in order to survive the curse of the Kumakatok.
The cast also includes Bea Binene, Wilbert Ross, J.J. Quilantang and Ku Aquino with whom Red worked on “Birdshot” (2016) and Netflix’s “Dead Kids” (2019).
“Nokturno” is written by Mikhail Red, his cousin Rae Red, who co-wrote “Birdshot” and “Eerie,” and co-written by Nikolas Red, Mikhail’s brother and editor.
The success of “Deleter,” which is one of the highest grossing Filipino horror films, allowed Red to set up Evolve Studios, a new studio outfit in partnership with “Buybust” producer Viva Films, which will primarily focus on producing genre films yearly for the regional audience. “Nokturno” is the studio’s maiden film, targeting an end of 2023 or first quarter 2024 release.
“This film is very different from ‘Deleter,’ although both are horror films. With ‘Nokturno’ I wanted to delve into Filipino folklore and reintroduce an ancient monster to a newer generation with a modern lens,” Red told PvNew. “We follow the character of Jamie who is progressive and a skeptic and has lived her life away from rural society. And now she must return home and come face to face with the traditional, conservative family she left behind. She begins to realize they hold a dark secret. Primal powers threaten to upend all her beliefs and her family’s dark past will catch up to her as she confronts the mysterious entity called the Kumakatok. This is a story about the inescapable and the inevitable – family and death itself.”
“It has been a fun and collaborative set working with talented actors and some of the best crew and staff in Filipino genre. I look forward to releasing our first film for Evolve Studios and hope we can also share this with an international audience as we explore distribution opportunities,” Red added.
Watch the teaser here:
