RICO MARIA ILARDE wrote and directed “Pridyider”, originally just an episode in the first “Shake, Rattle & Roll” (1984) trilogy directed by the late Ishmael Bernal. “This is not a remake or a sequel of the original,” he says. “It’s more of a re-imagining. When I wrote the story, I only have a vague memory of the film as a copy is not commercially available. It was written by the late Amado Lacuesta who meant it as a social satire on consumerism. Dito, walang ganung subtext. What I have is a reinvention of the material. Doon, there’s no explanation why the pridyider is killing people. Dito, we have a back story explaining why it is haunted. Andi Eigenmann was raised in the States by an aunt, Lui Manansala, without knowing what happened to her parents. Upon her return home, she meets their neighbor, Venus Raj, and a detective, Ronnie Lazaro, who tell her the gruesome story of what happened in their old house. JM de Guzman is her love interest who happens be her childhood friend in their neighborhood.”
He pitched the material to various producers but it was Regal’s Roselle Monteverde who gave it the go signal. They spent a lot for the special effects of the monstrous creatures coming out of the pridyider. “The CGI was done by Blackburst, a new company with whiz kids in visual effects. Everyone who has seen ‘Pridyider’ is amazed by the fine quality of the CGI that helps the movie to be more scary. Hindi talaga tinipid ang special effects dito kaya tiyak na viewers will scream with fright when they see them.”
