They made sure to clear the set. No extras. No crew. Just Sofia Pablo, the camera, and a scene where she was meant to be dragged into darkness.
The shot was ready. The corridor empty. Or so everyone thought.
When the camera moved, something moved with it.
“Noong nagpa-pan ‘yung camera, nag-cut, kasi may dalawang (taong) nakatayo. As in kita po talaga sa video,” related Sofia.
She instinctively turned to check, even asking her personal assistant who was nearby, about it.
“Sabi ko, ‘mama may tao ba doon?’” she recalled.
The answer came quick, certain: “Nak, wala talagang nakatayo doon the whole time.”
With the lens insisting otherwise, Sofia got jumpy.
“Natakot na ako siyempre,” Sofia admitted. “Kasi kitang-kita talaga e… isa pong nakapaa, at isa pong naka-black figure…Tapos parang umatras sila bigla—e, wala na silang aatrasan kasi wall na ‘yon.”
The set buzzed after. Nervous laughter filled gaps where explanations should have been.
“Uy umamin… umamin na kayo,” they joked. But no one stepped forward. No one could.
Of course, the cameras rolled again. Fear, like any good take, had to be controlled.
Ever the trouper, Sofia simply got on with it.
“Hindi na ako nagpadala sa takot. Ginawa ko na lang ‘yung work ko.”
Around her, the cast and crew clung to lightness—banter, jokes, anything to keep the shadows from settling too close.
In the end, they got the shot. What they didn’t get was an explanation.
From GMA Pictures and Mentorque Productions, “Huwag Kang Titingin” taps into a different kind of fear—the kind that begins as a game. A ritual revived online. A challenge gone viral.
Director Frasco Mortiz describes it as “a Gen Z-focused horror tale filled with jump scares, mystery, and emotional depth.”
“Huwag Kang Titingin” opens in theaters April 15.
