CinemaBravo

From Filipino filmmaker and martial arts action star Vincent Soberano comes action-fantasy film Blood Hunters which is expected to set the stage for a new era of Filipino action films with its strengths in reaching an international audience. It has recently won Best Short Film (2016) at the prestigious Cinemax HBO Action Film Competition and the Urban Action Showcase.

According to Soberano, who produced and directed the film, “They’ve used Filipino martial arts in blockbuster action films like John Wick, Jason Bourne, Frankenstein, and a huge list of other films, but no one knows its Filipino because its always portrayed by Hollywood stars. It’s about time I did.”

Various Filipino martial arts are the highlight of this film as collaborated between Taekwondo Olympic medalist Monsour Del Rosario and Soberano who is a Muay Thai world champion.

An interesting mix of action and fantasy, Blood Hunter is based on an adrenaline-packed screenplay triggered by the personal interest of Soberano in comic books and supernatural stories. He even noted that a good blend of fantasy, action and martial arts makes a good universal theme for commercial films, evident in box-office hits such as Blade, Matrix, Frankenstein, Warcraft, Assassins Creed, Man with the Iron Fist, and other hard-hitting blockbusters.

“The martial arts action sequences are so unique and have never been seen in action cinema before,” he stressed out. “This is a big factor in the film’s success. That, and the introduction of ancient Filipino folklore and superstitions, with characters such as aswang, duwende, kapre, multo, and diwata. A cultural, martial arts, fantasy action film is always a great combination if done right. This is the perfect blend that we have achieved”.

Soberano and Del Rosario began training martial arts at the age of 8 in their hometown in Bacolod City. Lead actress Sarah Chang, on another hand, started learning with the supervision of Jet Li’s former teammate at the age of 7 in her hometown in Virginia, USA.

From an award-winning short film to a full-length feature, “Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids” is founded on an original tale with exciting stories and relationships inside. In line with a good story are the fight choreographies that are based on top experts of different forms of Filipino martial arts and also influenced by Soberano’s personal learnings.

Coming to Philippine theaters soon, “Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybirds” is a production of IndieGo Pictures.