Dementia (Percival Intalan, 2014)

Mara (Nora Aunor) is suffering from dementia. Her caring cousin Elaine (Bing Loyzaga) convinces her to return to their home province of Batanes. Maybe the months-long vacation will help in bringing back memories. It seems to be a good suggestion as we see Mara guiding her kin to her home. There's no hesitation at all with the route she takes. The pathways are as familiar to her as an old glove or first love.

From the outside, the stone house seems to be small. But, it is surprisingly humongous and well-kept. Roaming through the house, Mara stirs up her worst memories. The restless ghost of the past torments her. That's the problem with reliving memories, some ought to be forgotten forever.

The audience experiences the horrors of Mara's imagination. From the boat ride up to the cliff side scene, it had been a dark journey into the deep recesses of Mara's mind. The cinematography brightens up a few notches after the Mulholland Drive-tinged plot ends with a freefall dive. The muted colors clear up as the plot's final jigsaw puzzle piece is unveiled.

I will remember Dementia not for the plot twist but for the wondrous performances of Bing Loyzaga and Jasmine Curtis-Smith. Nora Aunor gives her usual stellar performance but her younger co-stars exceed themselves. I especially remember the look of annoyance on the face of Rachel (Jasmine Curtis-Smith) as she hops on to the tricycle of a distant male kin.

Bing Loyzaga is so good as the cousin of Mara. She doesn't need to raise her eyebrows or raise her voice to be noticed. She just fits to a tee her role of an altruistic kin. There's something simple with her actions that make her so effective. I also loved her in another horror film, Celso Ad Castillo's Bahay Ng Lagim. Now, that house is something I will return to in a flash.

Patayin Mo Sa Sindak Si Barbara (Celso Ad Castillo, 1974)

The smart and pretty accurate title says it all! This classic is really a terrifying chiller of a movie.

Nurse Barbara Enriquez (Susan Roces) comes back to the Philippines to attend the wake and interment of her stepsister, Ruth Martinez (Rosanna Ortiz). She extends her stay in order to help her niece Karen cope with the loss of her mother. Meanwhile, strange things begin tormenting the members of the household.

Director Castillo utilized mirror and glass reflections to enhance the visual appeal of the film Patayin Mo Sa Sindak Si Barbara. He also came up with distorted shots and Dutch angles to heighten the terror index.

I can’t forget the cemetery scene involving Ruth and Barbara. I remember Rosanna Ortiz from her films with Dolphy. I never imagine that she can be this effective in portraying a vengeful woman. The piercing glances of Ruth are diabolic. The scorned woman is really bent on killing people who have hurt her. From that point on, the suspense goes on full throttle until the end of the movie.

One of my favorite scary moments sees Fritz Martinez (Dante Rivero) approaching Barbara at the fountain. You can feel Barbara is uncomfortable talking to Fritz. The audience is left wondering if they indeed had an affair. There is unbearable icy tension because Ruth may chance upon them. When the doll appeared, I nearly jumped from my seat. The excellent music score played a big part in setting the mood.

The only false note in the film is Barbara's attempt to calm down Karen by reciting the Apostle's Creed. Susan Roces' delivery bordered on campiness. That was the only thing that marred Roces' otherwise fine performance.

I hope Cinema One includes this horror classic in its annual film festival/competition. It deserves to be seen in a darkened movie theater. Try to imagine ogling the eyes of the vengeful Ruth on the big screen. Whew! That ought to be a spine-tingling movie experience.

Original online posting in October 2010

How to Disappear Completely (Raya Martin, Cinemanila 2013 Digital Lokal Best Picture)

I'm happy to see two award-winning films being screened outside the film festival circuit. Lav Diaz's Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan have had at least 10 blockbuster screenings so far at regular movie theaters. Raya Martin's How to Disappear Completely got a handful of screenings at UP Film Institute's Videotheque.

I was wary about Raya Martin's dabbling into the film horror genre. His previous works do not suggest an expertise in horror films. Playing a big part in my apprehension was Brillante Mendoza's horror film Sapi. I had high hopes for Mendoza's film because his Kinatay was a fantastic chiller. Unfortunately, Sapi is as boring as my bookish university professor.

On the other hand, How to Disappear Completely is your usual delicious Raya Martin film. It is a bit difficult to digest but the implosion of wonderful flavors linger.

A couple of genuinely funny moments intermingle with spooky scenes. The father (Nonie Buencamino) has an excellent scene telling the story of a royal couple who was blessed with a son. That son gave rise to a courageous breed of warriors. The father then knelt and pleaded before a cocky warrior. The kneeling harks back to a drinking session joke about a man kneeling to get back his girl.

The dinner table spat between the father (Buencamino) and the mother (Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino) is a delight to behold. The acting chemistry between the two actors is sublime. Meanwhile, their characters' daughter is in full view of the ongoing jousting. We seldom hear the reticent tween speak. But, once we get to peek into her young mind, she is brutally frank and as loud as your neighbor belting out an Aegis song in the middle of the night.

The poster, inspired by the iconic image of a peeping tom in Scorpio Nights, hints of sensuous goings-on in the film. The mother does a reading of how the daughters of Lot conspired to have sex with their father. That biblical story clouds the viewers' perception of the film's father and daughter relationship. Every interaction between the two reeks of suspense and foreboding. The viewers think of incest when there is none.

The masturbation scene of the daughter is steamy because the viewers felt like they were there at the bedside. Martin sets up viewers with a camera shot showing the room with widely-opened windows. Outside the house, we see trees and imagine several night creatures looking at the girl. Then, the camera cuts to the girl inserting her hand inside her shorts. A further cut shows the girl's orgiastic face. The viewers end up not only as voyeurs but also trespassers who have violated the privacy of her room.

The trespassing goes to a higher level. We get to enter the mind of the girl. We see the desperation of the girl to cut relations with her drunkard father and pious mother. One horrifying scenario of the girl reminds me of a real-life horror story. The missing students get me to thinking about the fate of female students kidnapped by bandits in Nigeria.

The first scene showing the girl threatening to kill all of them sets the whole tone of the film. I begin to imagine deaths in scenes even where there is none. The set-up shot of the Islands showing hundreds of coastal houses had me thinking of the destructive wrath of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).

Raya Martin is so good in setting up viewers for a scare. Stories told by characters send the viewers' imagination to run amuck. He is also good in setting up viewers for a hearty laugh. I can't hardly wait for him to dabble in comedy films.

Bahay ng Lagim (Celso Ad Castillo, Sineng Pambansa 2013)

Sineng Pambansa National Film Festival is an excellent showcase of the filmmaking skills of 12 acclaimed directors. I've seen eight films and majority of them are movies worth seeing again. Even the clunkers have their unique assets and possibly have their own legion of backers.

The sleeper hit of the festival is the special entry Bahay ng Lagim by horror master Celso Ad. Castillo. It is a super-duper chiller to the core. A young lady named Fatima (Karel Marquez) has recurring nightmares of a girl asking for help. But, when these pleas begin to bug her even during waking hours, she seeks the help of a healer, Sister Sophia (Bing Loyzaga).

The whole segment leading to the delicious, wonderful credits is high-level suspense. When the names of the cast appear onscreen, I had a gleeful smile while being at the same time shivering from the chills. There I am slinking in my seat with my head down because I had a feeling someone possessed will sneak up on unsuspecting people. The fear factor won't ebb down for another 45 minutes. 

Sister Sophia's fight with the beast is another highlight of the film. Who says you cannot teach old directors new tricks? The hideous monster magically comes alive via computer graphics.

I was wary when I learned that the horror film was being prepared for the fest without the guidance of Castillo. The late director was supposed to create a new film specifically for the festival but he died of heart attack in November 2012.

Followers of the late director decided to spruce up an unreleased film, Bahay ng Lagim. They did an amazing job. The film is a masterpiece of Castillo and a worthy inclusion to the All Masters Edition of Sineng Pambansa.

Blood of the Vampires (Gerardo de Leon, 1966)

I would have loved to see the original version of this film, which is also known as Curse of the Vampires and Ibulong Mo Sa Hangin. But with the sad state of the Philippines' film preservation efforts decades ago, I'll take whatever version is out there. At least the film didn't disintegrate like Daigdig Ng Mga Api, which is allegedly the masterpiece of maestro director Gerardo de Leon. 

The horror film's English-dubbed version, which I've seen, is from a video transfer. Blood of the Vampires is the video release title although I think Curse of the Vampires, its international release title, is the better and more appropriate English title. 

The Escudero family is under the spell of a curse. Every family member, excluding the patriarch, will become vampires. The matriarch, long thought to be dead by her two children, wakes up every night thirsting for human blood. A near death experience convinces the Don to modify his last will. In the event of his death, the evil-possessed mansion will be razed down to the ground!

There are some gaping holes in the plot. What triggered the intense hatred of Daniel for Eduardo? Who or what killed the matriarch? How was she killed? These gaps lead me to believe that the running time of about 80 minutes is a truncated one.

The dubbing is another matter. There's no dialogue that connects to the original title, Ibulong Mo Sa Hangin. In what context was the title line uttered? Was it uttered at all? The English dialogues don't amplify enough why Amalia Fuentes won the Best Actress award from the FAMAS group. The make-up though was a knockout. The transfiguration of the evil Leonore to the good beautiful lady is a stunning one. I can't help but noticed the resemblance between Amalia Fuentes and Hilda Koronel. 

The film Blood of the Vampires is unfairly lumped along with so-called B-movies of our national artists, Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero. It is more than a mere horror chiller. The script, by Ben Feleo and Pierre L. Salas, alludes to the Philippines' colonial relationship to Spain. The Spanish mestizo Eduardo Escudero (Eddie Garcia) commands utmost obedience from his indio wife-slave. The blood-thirsty Escuderos, bearers of the shields, are vanquished not by sunlight but by a cataclysmic fire. The resource-sucking Spanish colonizers, caught up in a sweeping conflagration of war among nations, eventually succumbs to the United States of America. 

The odd mix of disparate elements make the movie a unique viewing experience. The mise-en-scene reminds me of Francisco Coching's detailed illustrations. The use of authentic dungeons, and eerie lighting effects add a creepy feel to the proceedings. There's also a tinge of incest in the affairs of the Escuderos. The English dubbing, though, sticks out like a festering wound. I almost forgot the reprehensible use of black-faced servants. Why the need to portray them as blacks? 

A recent news article has a Japanese web site ruing the loss of a Filipino-made film titled Batman Fights Dracula. If the film is as good as the Dolphy starrer James Batman, then indeed it is a quite a tragedy. Film buffs are left with no recourse but to look forlornly at the poster. Meanwhile, they can check out James Batman and Blood of the Vampires. The latter may not be a top-rate de Leon film but it is good enough to earn a slot in movie scare-athon plans this Halloween break. 

Pridyider (Rico Maria Ilarde, 2012)

Wow! If the cooooool trailer whetted your appetite, then check out the coooooler film in its entirety. 

The ravishing Tina Benitez (Andi Eigenmann) is a balikbayan planning to establish a restaurant and iron out chinks from her mysterious past. She has been away for two decades. With great haste, she spruces up the old family house into a serviceable one. House lights are working. The humongous refrigerator is humming and, yikes!, still observing surreptitiously not unlike the demented Hal computer from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Pridyider is based on a classic Shake Rattle & Roll episode directed by Ishmael Bernal. The premise of that short feature is that the refrigerator imbibes and acts out the evil thoughts of the house residents. The fridge becomes, among other things, a filthy pig, a lustful voyeur, and a vengeful killer.

Ilarde's pridyider (refrigerator) is way more malevolent. It is a cursed portal to an infernal pit for lust/food gluttons. The film seems to target late night snacking (in the dining room and the bed room). Among the recent additions to the hell hole are two women who steal and feed on the love of another woman's husband, a stray black cat, and an obese thief who partakes of food in the ref. Tina finds a way to rid the refrigerator of the curse. With the help of her childhood friend, she descends courageously to the pit and plants an anti-curse bomb.

Andi Eigenmann can give Solenn Heussaff a run for her money for meaty action/adventure roles. The former gave a surprising strong performance as Tina, a rashly daring woman in her mid-twenties. A flashback reveals how she took on bullies during her early grade school years. This kick-ass attitude served her well in her encounters with a mysterious figure and supernatural beings. I loved that she doesn't hesitate to confront stalkers. The way she handles the knife shows that she is her mother's daughter.

The film Pridyider is a lavish, sumptuous buffet of delicious performances, visual treats, and hearty chuckles. Ilarde outdid himself with this tongue-in-cheek chiller. Tiktik, watch out because this movie has a firm hold, tentacles and all, on the 'best horror film of the year' tag.