Mikhail Red’s ‘Deleter’ bags Grimmfest 2023’s Best Scare prize

MANILA, Philippines – The Mikhail Red-directed horror film Deleter received another accolade as it won the Best Scare Award at the Grimmfest 2023 in Manchester, United Kingdom, on Tuesday, October 31.

Grimmfest is an annual film festival known for spotlighting horror and genre films around the world.

The Best Scare Award of the film festival is said to be highly contested, with judges deliberating among intangible frights, goosebump-inducing jumps cares, and other quintessential aspects of a horror film.

On Grimmfest’s website, they stated that “the eerie, unsettling mood and atmosphere of the film as a whole” was what moved the jury to choose the film for the Best Scare Award. Director Mikhail Red shared news of the feat on his Facebook page.

This comes just as the 46th Gawad Urian Award nominees were announced. Deleter is a contender in multiple categories in the prestigious awards ceremony, earning nominations for Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Actress (Nadine Lustre), and Best Director (Red).

Deleter is a techno-horror film centered on online content moderator Lyra, played by Lustre. Alongside her co-workers at a content moderation office, she is tasked to delete and filter graphic posts and uploads on social media platforms. While desensitized to the gruesome content she sees daily, Lyra hides a darker sense of trauma caused by deleting her co-worker’s own suicide video.

The film made its debut at the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), where it also won numerous awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Lustre, Best Cinematography for Ian Guevarra, and Best Director for Red. It was also the film festival’s highest-grossing film for that year.

Aside from Deleter, Red is also known for the films Eerie, Block Z, Birdshot, and Neomanila, as well as the Netflix series Dead Kids. The 31-year-old filmmaker has been on the receiving end of numerous accolades, including wins at the MMFF, the Tokyo International Film Festival, and the Vancouver International Film Festival, among others.

Deleter‘s lead actress, Lustre, is an award-winning actress known for roles in local television series and films. She has received extensive recognition from the Philippines’ top award-giving bodies in the entertainment industry, including the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences or FAMAS, and the Gawad Urian Awards.

Red is gearing up for another spooky release with Lustre in the folk-horror film Nokturno. – with reports from Ally De Leon/Rappler.com

Ally De Leon is a Rappler intern.