The Reds' Reinvention of the Lilith Myth

Mikhail Red's 'Lilim' may not win awards, may be considered corny or bitin by true blue enthusiasts of the macabre, but it has its niche and could one day even be a cult favorite — cult not necessarily being the operative word — much like the secular 'Boso' by another Red, Jon, a sexy dark comedy of another time and place. Earth knows no fury than when woman is banished from it.

- JUANIYO ARCELLANA

A patricide, escape into the woods, where an evil cult awaits to feast on human flesh as sacrifice and ritual. Mikhail Red continues his exploration of horror cinema with "Lilim," based on the mythological she-demon Lilith, Adam's other wife banished from Eden and here transposed to Philippine setting, particularly in the forest of Mt. Makiling.

While it is hardly his best work, with "Birdshot" and the multi-awarded "Deleter" notable standouts in the past, the recent project benefits from having Red's father, the indie pioneer Raymond Red who is no stranger to the mountain fastnesses of Makiling having spent high school there, holding the camera while another Red, Mikhail's brother Nikolas co-wrote the script.

This then probably makes it a family affair, though "Lilim" cannot ideally be considered as wholesome family viewing, employing the stock in trade of eerie nuns, a weird cult based in a convent, slasher blood and gore complete with cannibalism, dismemberment and spilled entrails.