''Haunted Forest'' is a 2017 Filipino

supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common them ...

directed by Ian Loreños, and starring

Jane Oineza Elizabeth Jane Urbano Oineza (born July 22, 1996), better known as Jane Oineza, is a Filipino actress, commercial model and singer. A former child star of ''Goin' Bulilit'', she gained local relativity on ''Pinoy Big Brother: All In''. Oineza a ...

, Maris Racal,

Jameson Blake Jameson Andrew Blake (born June 17, 1997) is a Filipino American actor, dancer, and model based in the Philippines. He is best known for his roles in the films '' 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten'' (2016), '' So Connected'' (2018), and ''Ang Babaeng Allergic ...

and

Jon Lucas Jonathan Lucas (born October 29, 1975) is an American film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his collaborative work with Scott Moore, which includes ''The Hangover'', '' 21 & Over'' and ''Bad Moms''. Life and career He is a gradu ...

. It tells the story of a teenager who is forced to leave her life behind when her estranged policeman father is reassigned to the province. The film deals with supernatural mythical creatures, among them is the "sitsit," a creature that preys on women at night and is believed to be the cause of sudden disappearances and deaths of women in the subject town. ''Haunted Forest'' was released in Philippine cinemas as an official entry to the

43rd Metro Manila Film Festival The 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is the 43rd edition of the annual Metro Manila Film Festival held in Metro Manila and throughout the Philippines. It is organized by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Metropolitan Manila Devel ...

, on December 25, 2017.

Plot

The story revolves around Aris (Raymart Santiago) and his estranged daughter, Nica (Jane Oineza). When Aris was reassigned, he immediately starts on a case investigating a murder which is staged similarly to the death of a childhood friend that haunts him. While her father is away, Nica, her cousin and her local friends went for an outing where she started to get weird things happen to her. She tries to shake it off at first, but it gets worse day after day.

Cast

Main cast

as Nica *

as RJ * Maris Racal as Mich *

as Andre

Supporting cast

Raymart Santiago Raymond Martin Legaspi Santiago (born July 20, 1973) is a Filipino, TV host, actor, and comedian. Career After making his movie debut in Viva Films' youth comedy ''Estudyante Blues'' (''Student Woes''), Santiago became a Viva contract artist an ...

as Aris *

Joey Marquez Joselito Perez Marquez (born Artemio Perez Marquez Jr.; October 7, 1957) better known as Joey Marquez, is a Filipino actor, comedian, politician and former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He was born to ...

as Nardo *

Jerald Napoles Jerald Napoles (born March 2, 1983) is a Filipino theater actor and comedian known for his role as Tolits in the musical stage play ''Rak of Aegis''. He is a talent of Triple A Management and has worked in the GMA Network as a host in the weekly ...

Myrtle Sarrosa Myrtle Abigail Porlucas Sarrosa (born December 7, 1994) is a Filipina actress, cosplayer, host, singer, songwriter and gamer who rose to prominence after being declared the '' Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition 4'' Big Winner. Sarrosa started her ...

as Lorena *

Miho Nishida Nishida Miho (born December 16, 1992) is a Filipino-born Japanese television personality, who became the Big Winner of the Pinoy Big Brother: 737 – Part 2, second batch of ''Pinoy Big Brother: 737'' housemates in 2015. Early life Nishida Mi ...

Betong Sumaya Alberto Sermonia Sumaya Jr. (born November 21, 1975), popularly known as Betong Sumaya, is a Filipino comedian, actor, and former production assistant for GMA Network, where he is also a part of the network's talent agency. He graduated with ...

*Beverly Salviejo as Merly *Fiona Yang *Kelvin Miranda

Production

''Haunted Forest'' was produced under

Regal Films Regal Entertainment, Inc. (formerly and more commonly known as Regal Films) is a Philippine film production company based in Pasig. It was founded by Lily Monteverde on August 19, 1962. It has produced movies of all genres; and is the oldest s ...

and is directed by Ian Loreños. Loreños described the direction of the film as a mixture of Regal Film's "usual style" on horror and his own take on the genre. He said that the production team decided to put more "organic horror" elements in the film aside from relying on scaring the audience by surprise while adding that the film had "story" and "lessons". He stated that his film as an all-in-one film being a horror, family story, and love story while making sure the film won't have the impression of being a "mishmash".

Release

An official trailer for ''Haunted Forest'' was released by December 4, 2017. The film was premiered in cinemas on December 25, 2017, as one of the eight entries of the

2017 Metro Manila Film Festival The 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is the 43rd edition of the annual Metro Manila Film Festival held in Metro Manila and throughout the Philippines. It is organized by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Metropolitan Manila Devel ...

Reception

On January 4, 2018,

Lily Monteverde Lily Yu Monteverde, nicknamed Mother Lily (born August 19, 1938), is a Filipina film producer and businesswoman. She is the first and many Filipina Movie producers who produced the boom of blockbuster films in different genres in the 70s and 80 ...

was satisfied of the box office gross of the film despite describing the then undisclosed figure as "not overwhelming". It was later reported that the film grossed about and was the fourth most sold team during the official run of the

References

External links

* {{MMFF 2017 films Philippine haunted house films Philippine ghost films Philippine supernatural horror films Philippine teen horror films Regal Entertainment films 2017 horror films Philippine horror films Films directed by Ian Loreños