Horror is more than just gore

Carlos directed “Regal’s” third episode titled “Elevator,” which stars Alex Gonzaga, Edgar Allan Guzman, Angel Jacob and Bobby Andrews.

Creating a good horror movie or TV series has become increasingly challenging in the last two years, even with advances in filmmaking technology. Director Rahyan Carlos noted that it’s now harder to scare viewers.

Inclined toward silent horror styles, the filmmaker said one of the pitfalls in doing horror these days is the tendency to rely on special effects or gore.

“The more digitally mastered and advanced our technology, the more we need to go back to the basics of horror, which is all about playing with emotions and creating a roller-coaster of scare tactics. More than anything, it’s the background and the inner stories of the characters… what the story is really about,” Carlos told the Inquirer during the recent press con for TV5 and Regal Multimedia Inc.’s remake of the ’80s horror series “Regal Shocker.”

Carlos directed “Regal’s” third episode titled “Elevator,” which stars Alex Gonzaga, Edgar Allan Guzman, Angel Jacob and Bobby Andrews. He’s also the head writer of the series.

In recreating “Regal,” Carlos made sure to retain some of the elements that made the original a success—but expanded and updated them to suit the taste of this generation’s crop of horror viewers.

“We used the same musical score and, of course, you have the character Kamatayan,” he said. “The show won’t just be about Filipino folklore and mythological creatures. We’ll feature the horrors of everyday life.”

While the original series relied on Kamatayan to narrate and weave the stories’ meaning and lessons, the remake’s “redemptive values will be more inherent in the episodes.” “Dapat may puso rin ang horror,” he added.

Favorite scary movies

Carlos, who directed the horror movie “Pamahiin” and an episode in “Shake Rattle and Roll VIII,” recalled being a 6-year-old kid in the ’80s and watching “Regal” every week.

“I will never forget the episode in which Ricky Davao played a character who sold used caskets. He was being haunted because of that,” he said.

His current favorite horror movie is the US adaptation of the Swedish drama-horror “Let the Right One In.”

In local horror, Carlos said he was most impressed by Ishmael Bernal’s “Pridyider” in the first “Shake Rattle and Roll” and Peque Gallaga’s “Aswang” in “Shake Rattle and Roll II.”

“I just love horror! It was my childhood hobby back in the Betamax days,” he said.

“Regal Shocker” airs Nov. 5 after “The Jose and Wally Show: Starring Vic Sotto.”