Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital is a “GoCam-horror” and “meta found footage” film that is part of the 50th Metro Manila Film Festival. It features many jump-scare scenes and nerve-wracking thrills.
Several GoPro cameras were mounted on the actors and content creators for the 90-minute movie set in Taiwan’s most haunted site, Xinglin Hospital, located in Tainan City’s West Central District. Most scenes, filmed within the hospital’s dark and eerie interiors, are packed with suspense and guaranteed to elicit screams from Filipino audiences.
This “experience horror” genre is a first among the usual choices of films shown at the annual MMFF and is expected to fuel moviegoers’ worst nightmares.
Xinglin Hospital has been abandoned for more than 20 years and is considered a condemned building in Taiwan. Rumors abound regarding the atrium of the 7th floor, where many claim to have seen the ghost of a wailing old lady said to be roaming the corridors.
In the first installment of Strange Frequencies, five real-life celebrities and two online personalities from the Philippines enter the notorious Xinglin Hospital to investigate its paranormal activities and the unknown. The objective is to hit millions of views by feeding their online audience a live stream of themselves exploring the different floors of the building and discovering if the rumors of ghost sightings truly exist.
Unfortunately for the seven amateur ghost hunters, they are not the only ones inside. Soon, each of the characters will experience various frightening and life-threatening encounters in the darkness, and what starts as mere banter between friends quickly turns into unknown terror, with screams replacing their laughter.
The film was produced by the “Master of Horror” Erik Matti and veteran filmmaker Ronald “Dondon” Monteverde of Reality MM Studios (the producing duo behind 2016’s box office hit Seklusyon and 2019’s Kuwaresma) in partnership with actor Enrique Gil, who stars in the film as the leader of the seven.
The project was brought to Reality MM Studios by Creative Leaders Group 8 CEO BJ Song (Taxi Driver, Boys Over Flowers, Princess Hours). The film is the Philippine adaptation of the Korean box office hit Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, released in 2018.
Meanwhile, other cast members include actors Jane De Leon, Rob Gomez, and Alexa Miro. They are joined by beauty queen MJ Lastimosa and internet stars Raf Pineda and Zarckaroo.
Zarckaroo is a local video creator known for filming actual footage in some of the region’s most haunted places and offbeat locations. His YouTube account is followed by some 1.6 million subscribers, while his Facebook page has 1.9 million followers.
After the movie premiere held at Cinema 3 of SM Megamall on Dec. 19, actress Jane De Leon and tarot card reader Raf Pineda earned praise from the audience for their remarkable performances in the film.
Since the 1999 box office hit Blair Witch Project stoked first-person-based filming in the horror-genre documentary style, there have been other films that continued the trend, including 2007’s Paranormal Activity and the 2011 Canadian found footage film Grave Encounters.
Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital first captured the attention of Hollywood entertainment publication Variety on Oct. 28. It is the only MMFF entry to be recognized for its international appeal as well as the track record of Reality MM Studios in producing high-quality films.
