A gripping tale of strange experiences caught on camera

A group of amateur celebrity ghost hunters is embarking on an adventure where the real and reel as well as the natural and supernatural worlds intersect.

- By JERRY DONATO

Each is bringing his or her fears and courage to document and discover what exactly inhabits an abandoned and haunted health care facility.

They may have an idea, but it remains a figment of their imagination or a product of what has been said by the previous daring visitors until they step into the main setting, a specific time and place, of "Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital."

The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry, described as a meta, found footage horror film in which actors portray themselves and capture their collective stories through GoPro cameras, is a unique horror tale that one must consider and watch.

It's not strange, but it's not that frequent to look at the setting of a story as another "character" that may support the human characters in fulfilling a goal, let's say, to give viewers compelling content or chase clout and fame, or in preventing them from achieving it.

It's like a "disembodied," non-human character that has limitless knowledge of the place and plays the emotions of its guests.

The setting is crucial in any narrative, for it affects the mood of the characters and the mode of their movements and actions.

It's not surprising why "Strange Frequencies" producers Dondon Monteverde, filmmaker Erik Matti, and actor Enrique Gil decided to film their MMFF movie, now showing in theaters, in Taiwan to give authenticity to it.