Sineserye Presents: Maligno
Format	Horror, Suspense-Thriller
Created by	Celso Ad Castillo
Directed by	Wenn Deramas
Starring	Claudine Barretto, Kim Chiu, Diether Ocampo, and Rafael Rossell
Country of origin	Philippines
Language(s)	Filipino, Tagalog, English
No. of episodes	20 Episodes
Production
Executive producer(s)	Joan Del Rosario
Running time	45 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABS-CBN
Picture format	480i SDTV
Original run	April 28, 2008 – May 23, 2008
Chronology
Preceded by	Patayin Sa Sindak Si Barbara
Followed by	Florinda

Maligno (lit. Supernatural) was an ABS-CBN primetime horror-thriller adapted from the movie of the same title originally starred by Susan Roces in 1977^[1]. This is the second installment of Sineserye Presents: The Susan Roces Cinema Collection.^[2]

[edit] Overview

[edit] Origin

It is based on 1977 film starring the Queen of Philippine Movies, Susan Roces, that won her second FAMAS Best Actress trophy.^[3] The 1977 movie was directed by the late Celso Ad Castillo, who also wrote the original screenplay together with Dominador B. Mirasol.

The film starred a group veteran actors such as Dante Rivero, Celia Rodriguez, and Eddie Garcia.

[edit] Production

After the highly-successful primetime drama Walang Kapalit together with Piolo Pascual, Claudine Barretto returns to Philippines television after giving birth. The series was also casts the return of Diether Ocampo and of the successful Sana Maulit Muli loveteam, Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson to the small screen.

The series is described by the critics as "If you liked the first remake (Patayin Sa Sindak Si Barbara), this one will thrill you 'much' more".

The director of the television remake of Maligno, Wenn Deramas, said that they made sure to stay true to the original film adaptation as much as possible. "Yung kwento ng Maligno, yun talaga yon. Masasabi natin na 100% ginawa namin yung kwentong yon. Ang binago lang namin ay yung treatment kung paano muling ikwekwento yung kwento ng pelikulang Maligno."

[edit] As second installment

After Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara, which starred Kris Aquino, "Maligno" is the second installment of Sineserye Presents: the Susan Roces Cinema Collection. Tapped to make special appearances in Maligno are Ms. Susan Roces and Ms. Rio Locsin, who plays the mother of Angela Cortez (Claudine Barretto).

[edit] Synopsis

Angela was separated from her mother when she was just a baby because she is being hunted down by a satanic cult. Her parents want to be free from the cult but Angela is too precious for them to lose. Angela grew up to become a famous reporter who overly sensationalize her stories, one of which led to fatal results. Her life started to take a weird turn when one obsessed fan, Lucas, forced himself on her. He was caught by the authorities but she realized she was already pregnant. She tried to abort the baby but her doctor, Hector gave her reasons not to commit another mistake. When the baby is born, Angela despised him at first, but loved him as time passes by. But the baby is not an ordinary baby, since his parents are not ordinary either. Angela is the prophesied mother of the spawn of the devil. The forces of good want to kill the infant, the forces of darkness want to use him to spread evil. What will be Angela's decision? Will it be for the greater good or just for herself?

[edit] The Chosen Carrier

After leaving her baby girl at a convent, Selya and her three companions die in succession while trying to escape a satanic cult. Later on, Selya’s daughter is adopted by a wealthy but childless couple and is christened as Angela. However, her adoptive father never learns to love her and becomes more even distant when his wife dies during labor.

Despite her lonely childhood, Angela later becomes a successful newscaster. Her staff even throws a surprise party for her to celebrate the nomination of “Kulam”—a story featured in her news magazine show—for an Emmy Award. But instead of bursting out with joy, Angela is shaken by the news. As it happens, that particular episode makes her feel guilty because the woman who was accused of witchcraft in her scoop was later killed by her neighbors, leaving her daughter alone in the world.

Worse, her show will be reformatted and improved only on the condition that she makes a follow up piece on the story. Still upset by these developments, she retires to her office for some peace and quiet, only to encounter a crazed man whose lusting after her. When she is about to call the guard for help, the man suddenly disappears. Angela quickly brushes the incident off as a hallucination. But when she arrives home, she discovers her maids are dead and she gets raped by the devil himself.

[edit] The Cult

A Satanic worship is being emphasized in the story, the cult is believed to worship the devil and does everything their leader tells them, they also believe that the Time of the Birth is coming. The cult also altogether keeps the group a secret, in every death that was believed to be done by the devil, they're the ones who cleans up and make the scenes like an accident.

[edit] The Curse of the Son

The son Angela's being taken care of is believed to be carrying a curse, whoever tries to stop the destined life of the child or sometimes for no particular reason, the person dies.

List of deaths from the series that were related to the prophecy, Lucas, Angela, and Angelo.

[edit] Cast and characters

[edit] Credited Main cast

[edit] Extended Cast

[edit] Guest Cast

• Gee-Ann Abrahan as Eliza's Roommate
• Susan Roces as Introducer
• Rio Locsin as Selya - Angela's Mom
• Debraliz Valasote as Doctora
• Jojit Lorenzo
• Susan Africa as Gladya
• Jorge Ochoa as Student
• Steven Fermo
• Angel Sy as Young Eliza
• Bodie Cruz
• Gerald Madrid
• Mylene Dizon as Liz Pascual

[edit] DVD Release

A DVD containing all 20 episodes of Maligno was released by Star Home Video on June 20, 2008.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Sineserye Presents:
  Maligno at the Internet Movie Database