MANILA, Philippines?Topel Lee and Mike Tuviera have done three and four episodes, respectively, for the popular ?Shake Rattle & Roll? franchise, now in its 10th incarnation.

While Tuveria is a self-confessed horror fan, Lee gets easily scared watching thrillers.

Both young directors, however, look up to Wes Craven as a true master of the genre.

As a graduate student at the University of Southern California, Tuviera applied as intern in Craven?s production company and worked as bit player in the latter?s 2005 film, ?Red Eye.?

Lee, for his part, seemed born to direct horror flicks because his real name is Christopher Lee?just like the British actor who played Dracula in a slew of scream fests.

In ?Shake, Rattle & Roll X,? Lee directed ?Class Picture? and Tuviera took charge of ?Emergency? and ?Nieves the Engkanto Slayer.?

Did you follow the ?Shake? series?

Mike Tuviera: When I was young, I recall seeing the first one with the refrigerator and the manananggal. That was a classic.

Topel Lee: My favorite is the first one also. I also remember Direk Manny Castañeda?s ?Impakto? in ?Shake 5,? the episode with the Shadow. That was cute and funny.

What?s the challenge of doing ?Shake? this year?

MT: For ?Nieves,? a big challenge was (lead star) Marian Rivera?s injury. On the set in Antipolo, she got scared of our kapre, ran and tripped on the root of a tree. She sprained her foot before the shoot of the climactic fight scene. We had to use all the tricks in the book to finish the scene. As for ?Emergency,? the sheer size of it was taxing. There were lots of characters?both human and aswang?involved.

TL: Now, the biggest challenge for us is how to improvise so that we can come up with something new. That?s the tricky part. Also, the ghost in ?Class Picture? is a nun. I come from a very religious family. I haven?t told my parents that the nun in my movie is a crazy murderer! (Laughs.) I might get excommunicated at home.

Is it accurate to say that you don?t like using too much computer-generated imagery (CGI)?

TL: There are some, but we prefer live effects.

MT: Practical effects.

TL: Our problem during the shoot was that we might not have enough time for CGI. In any case, I get more scared with blood and gore.

MT: Practical effects are more organic. The human eye doesn?t reject them, unlike CGI which we immediately question. But for me, choosing between CGI and practical effects depends on whatever is most practical, in terms of budget and time.

Will we be seeing a more realistic ?Shake? this year?

MT: ?Nieves? is based on a true story. The mom of my brother-in-law is a real herbolaria who drives out engkantos in the province.

TL: While watching the rushes of a chase scene, we noticed a shadow peeping from one of the pillars. We couldn?t figure out if it was a crew member or a ghost!

What scares you?

TL: Zombies. That?s why I love the movies of George Romero and Zack Snyder.

MT: Nothing supernatural. Anything happening to my family ? now, that?s scary.

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