Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids (2020) [Film Review]

Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids (2020)

     There was a huge explosion. Then we saw a huge-ass fireball shoot out of that village. We decided to check it out, then... we found you.

An indie Filipino production that is actually a horror martial arts film? Needless to say, I was quite surprised when I heard about Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids (2020). When I received the screener, I had fears that it may be just another B-movie, generic, vampire-hunt mash-up. Thankfully, the film surpassed my (initially low) expectations.

Release Info

Directed by: Vincent Soberano Starring: Sarah Chang, Monsour Del Rosario, Vincent Soberano

Language: English Original Title: Blood Hunters Runtime: 70 min

 

Synopsis

The Philippines suffered from an invasion of aswang (a special breed of shape-shifting monsters from the Filipino folklore). In the course of fighting with the aswang, special human/aswang hybrids emerged who are now a threat to humanity. Gabriela Chen (Sarah Chang) is an ex-cop hell-bent on hunting down the hybrids in order to avenge the death of her son and husband. She joins the group of the so-called “Slayers”. The group leader, Monte (Monsour Del Rosario), together with fellow hunters, Max (Ian Ignacio) and Kali (Roxanne Barcelo), as well as a rogue hybrid Bolo (Vincent Soberano), prepare to attack the monsters’ hideout. Their aim is to take down three formidable foes: Naga (Temujin Shirzada), Gundra (Mekael Turner), and Queen Maya (Mayling Ng).

 

Folklore Inspirations and Gruesome Monsters

Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids immediately captures the viewer’s attention by the usage of comic-book form of narration. I very much enjoyed the visual transitions between different subplots as if each scene was a separate comic-art panel. This helped move the story, especially in view of the fact the first 15 minutes of the picture contain heavy exposition.

 

Evidently, some of the supporting actors seemed a bit inexperienced in front of a camera, but I did not mind this in view of the ambitious effort taken up by the director/writer/star of the film, Vincent Soberano. Some of the shots during training/fight scenes look absolutely gorgeous, so my praise goes to Takeyuki Onishi for great cinematography. In addition, the fighting sequences (which basically consume the whole second half of the film) clearly indicate the hard work of the stunt team.

 

Production/costume design (helmed by Fritz Silorio and Mona Silorio) does not look cheap or low-budget at all. I especially liked the Slayers’ costumes, but the monsters looked intimidating as well. Speaking about the main characters, I liked their personalities and motivations. The main cast did a very good job. Sarah Chang was definitely the biggest highlight of the film.

 

With regard to disadvantages, I would only say that the film relies a bit too much on comic-book transitions. Additionally, the runtime of just 70 minutes leaves the viewer wanting to see a bit more. The film ends with a lead-in for a sequel, so here’s hoping that we will get to see more of Blood Hunters.

 

Recommendations

If you like horror and martial arts, then Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids is certainly worth your time. I hope that I will see the cast and crew doing greater things in their future projects. For more information about the film, please refer to the official Facebook page. TriCoast Studios graciously provided me with the screener. The company will distribute the film through their DarkCoast label on digital platforms, on the 17th of March, 2020. See the trailer below.

Overall score: 7/10