MANILA -- “Blood, sweat and tears.”

That was how award-winning actress Nadine Lustre described working on her first, full-length horror film, director Mikhail Red’s “Deleter.”

“After shooting ‘Deleter,’ I discovered it was really tiring to do a horror film,” Lustre told ABS-CBN News. “But even though nakakapagod siya, sobrang fulfilling. After every scene, we could see okay si Direk and he’s happy with the scenes. We enjoyed doing the film.”

The Urian best actress awardee was very surprised when “Deleter” even made it to the official list of entries in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) this December.

“At first, wala siya sa plan, but we’re really, really excited and looking forward to the MMFF,” Lustre said. “Filipino tradition na ang mga tao pupunta ng sinehan, manonood, mag-attend ng parade.

“Ang feeling ko this time around, more people will flock to the theaters because they are all excited. Looking forward sila to attend events. We’re very proud of this film. We’re very confident.”

This is Lustre’s second time to participate in an MMFF entry. The first one was Vice Ganda’s “Beauty and the Bestie” (2015).

“I’m really looking forward to see ‘Deleter,” said Lustre. “Nakakatuwa din na this time around, I will see myself again on the big screen. Sobrang excited akong makita ang pelikula namin. I will dub pa lang.”

“Deleter” is a psychological horror film about a content creator, Lyka (Lustre), who plays the character of Lyka. She has to watch countless videos that are uploaded online. She serves as a frontliner for the videos and she has to choose whether to accept or delete a video.

One night, she deletes a horrific video which happens to be the suicide of her officemate. After she deletes that video, strange things start to happen and a presence starts haunting her.

“Deleter” is Red’s latest film, after churning out such previous works as “Birdshot,” “Eerie,” “Block Z,” “Rekorder” and “Dead Kids.”

Red also wrote the script of “Deleter” with his younger brother, Nikolas, who worked with him in “Dead Kids” (2019).

“I want my films to reach a wide audience,” said Red. “Especialy ‘yung ganitog subject matter as ‘Deleter.’ I can’t wait for the local audience to really watch this film. Ang exciting ng feeling na kami lang ang horror, so may captured market na agad ang ‘Deleter.’

“This is also something new. Hindi ang usual nating nakikita sa horror na very pop and rollercoaster. ‘Deleter’ also has all the scare elements and scare factors.

“Pero may kakaibang atmosphere dito. Very modern siya. It deals with technology and society. Exciting talaga.”

For Lustre’s co-star, McCoy de Leon, this is his first time to have an entry in the MMFF, although he has done a horror film previously, Red’s “Block Z” (2020), with Julia Barretto and Joshua Garcia.

“Sobrang nakakatuwa,” De Leon said. “Kung ano ang na-expect namin na resulta ng ‘Deleter,’ nag-exceed pa nga. Ako, magda-dubbing pa lang. Nakakatuwa ang feeling. Bonus na sa amin na napasali pa sa MMFF.”

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