iWantTFC’s “The Gatekeeper” Is a Must-Watch for Halloween

When decades of research goes into making a film, it’s only appropriate to celebrate its release. Such is the case for iWantTFC Original Movie The Gatekeeper, which is set to come out on October 19. It stars Pinoy Big Brother alum Shanaia Gomez and Dean Rosen, who is actually also co-directing the film with his father, Matthew Rosen (best known for the 2018 historical drama Quezon’s Game).

The cast was revealed last September 11 in a press-exclusive event where more details about the behind the scenes process were shared. “I was very lucky to have my dad,” said Dean. “We co-directed this together. So there was a lot of the film that I sort of had to let (my dad) take care of because there was a lot of acting at the time.” The Rosens also shared how they were excited to have Shanaia as part of the project, largely because of her theater background.

On Shanaia’s horror debut

While Shanaia is known to be multi-talented as an artist (even gracing the stage in 9 Works Theatrical’s current Once on This Island production), this is actually her first time doing a horror film. In the movie, she plays antique store owner Cita Mendoza, whom she described as very palaban.

“More than anything, I’m just so grateful for it,” said Shanaia of the chance to do the film. “There are so many talented people out there. I have to make sure not to waste this opportunity.” She shared that she doesn’t try to dwell too much on whether or not she feels like she deserves it. Her main hope, she said, is simply to make everyone around her proud—and of course, to be able to actually scare viewers.

On the real-life encounters on set

As it turns out, the horror aspect of the movie translated off-screen as well. “There’s these rumors daw,” shared Shanaia, “(that) if you film a horror movie, scary stuff starts happening on set. And parang totoo nga.” 

Apparently, the Rosen directors had meticulously checked the filming equipment for “the longest time (they’ve) ever tested equipment for any production (they’ve) ever done.” And Shanaia said it wasn’t until the crew started filming the “scary stuff” that odd moments started happening. Cameras would stop working all of a sudden, unexplainable technical mishaps would occur—and the fact that they filmed in a real antique store might have been another reason, according to Shanaia. Dean said they still don’t know the specific reasons why it all happened. 

The equipment didn’t seem to work especially when they were in close proximity with a specific prop that was used in the film. “In the end,” said Matthew, “we got a priest to come and bless it.” That actually fixed things, they said—for about a few hours. 

“One of the things that makes this movie scary is that a lot of the facts in the movie are real,” added Shanaia. She showed appreciation for how this film had been in the making for around 30 years, with Matthew researching intensely for it. 

On the art of Philippine horror cinema

Shanaia also feels like this odd layer of truth is what makes local horror films great, in general. “They say no one does horror like the Filipinos,” she said. She added that even though she knows how they’ve shot everything in the film, she still gets scared watching it all back. 

The iconic Filipino horror scream was actually something she said she struggled with. “Nahiya ako, kasi siyempre merong sound people, tapos naka-headphones sila,” Shanaia shared. “There is an art to yelling the perfect horror scream.”

Matthew Rosen echoes this, saying that as directors, sound is at least 50% of the movie. He also said that the soundtrack for the movie is “really something special,” which audiences can look forward to. It truly puts the audience in that specific eerie space. If anything though, the aspect of the film that the Quezon’s Game director appeared to be most proud of is the acting. 

“You have to see this movie just to see these two actors,” said Matthew about Shanaia and Dean. “If you want to see some really good acting, you have two fantastic actors here.” 

The Gatekeeper is streaming on iWantTFC this October 19!

Text by Tim Marasigan

Lead photo from @riseartistsstudio