MANILA, Philippines—Yam Laranas, the Filipino filmmaker who remade his “Sigaw” as “The Echo” in Hollywood, has a new scream fest in the works: “Patient X,” under GMA Films, Viva, and lead actor Richard Gutierrez’s own RGutz Productions.

For Laranas, the trickiest part of “Patient X” was “coming up with a new twist on the ‘aswang’ myth ... which has been told a million times.”

Laranas teamed up with scriptwriter Aloy Adlawan, who also penned “Ouija,” in putting a fresh spin on a “uniquely Filipino” horror story.

“Aloy and I came up with never-before-seen characteristics for the creatures,” he noted. “The idea was: What if a ‘real’ aswang was captured? How would people accept the fact that aswangs are real?”

Reunion

“Patient X” also serves as his reunion with “Sigaw” actor Gutierrez.

“Richard has grown a lot as an actor,” said Laranas. “He was good in ‘Sigaw’ and he is much better in ‘Patient X.’ Everyone will surely notice that Richard’s commitment to his craft has deepened.”

His working relationship with Gutierrez has also evolved because the actor is a co-producer now.

“Richard is very hands-on,” Laranas related. “I like that; he was there from the script stage ... which helps in developing his character. He is very collaborative and knows exactly what he wants. I’m actually looking forward to see him become an actor-producer-director someday.”

In every project, Laranas said he seeks to work with the best creative minds.

“I had that during the making of ‘Patient X.’ GMA, Viva and RGutz gave me everything I needed,” he noted.

Case in point: “We used two cameras every single day: Arriflex 35mm cameras: 535B and 235. I shot on film, but did post work using the Digital Intermediate process at Optima.”

He has high hopes for his new thriller. “We are eyeing major festivals next year. The producers and I are also working on an international release, which will include North America. We are already in talks with a US company; hopefully, we will finalize the deal soon.”

Needless to say, his experiences on “The Echo” have taught him a lot. The remake, which languished in limbo for over a year, is finally in local theaters (since last week).

Laranas, who also directed the first all-Filipino documentary (“Asia’s Titanic”) for the National Geographic Channel, enumerated the lessons from his Hollywood sojourn: “Do not overwork everyone on the set. Creative minds need to rest. Stay focused on the story. Be careful who you sign up with as distributor. Promises may not be real.”

Still, he’s delighted that local audiences are finally seeing “The Echo.”

“It feels like a homecoming,” he said.

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com