Faux Blood Almighty

Promise, I'll visit you.

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I am actually covering my face in some scenes in the film Dalaw. For that, I have to apologize. To be honest, I am not really fond of watching scary films because I palpitate right away. It’s not because I am scared but more with the calculated horrifying apparitions that come up every now and then. Dalaw has a lot of it and most of it has no freaking logic. I think it’s not entirely new to Asian Horror film-maniacs since they are used to the careless shock approach. But if we will look carefully, it really has no congruency to the story.

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The story starts with Laarni (Katrina Halili) visiting an abandoned house. She is trying to make a fabulous documentary for the TV show ‘Ikatlong Mata’. After a few negotiations with the spirit to show up, she screams endlessly. After a few days, she is now in a state of shock and is in her sister’s (Matet de Leon) care. Her sister views the video footage and we are now introduced to the life of the ghost who is known as Estella. She shows some erratic behaviors and somewhat has a dual personality. She cares for his father like a husband. One day, her mother (Glydel Mercado) died after being slapped by his father (Tonton Gutierrez). A fatal slap, how scary is that. Guilty of the incident, his father locked Estella in the room before hanging himself.

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There are hints when Estella appears or when something gruesome might happen. When she is still alive, while having a severe pain in her menstruation, someone dies. There are local hearsays that ladies having menstruation will be visited by Estella. But the film incorporated this haphazardly. The ghost has really no purpose with all her emergence, whose prime aim is to scare the audience without solid connection to the scenarios. It appears to me that the particular ghost can appear to almost anyone as long as it is being recorded by the camera. She is just shocking but not really scary. The ghost is wearing a white gown wearing a pale make-up and semi-long wavy hair. And why is her mouth and eyes wide open by the way? Maybe they just want to scare without entirely conscious if the script is seamless or not.

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I have noticed in Joven Tan’s film that the cinematography is quite superior, helmed by Romy Vitug. This is also the case in his film Tutok. But both stories are sickening. Dalaw is too impulsive to shock. Even if they try to establish the scenes with the use of flashbacks, it lacks a sophisticated approach to make even the illogical things acceptable to the viewers. They have already tackled tell-tales and ghost legends so it’s really on their hands to infuse the story with more convincing contraptions. The character of Estella as a ghost has really lost a better purpose. Why is she appearing in awkward ways? Is she making revenge through scaring people? Oh please, we are not kids to be tricked. They have to dig to the core of her apparitions.

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Just like in the film, Laarni is inspired to create the documentary that she read from a tabloid. Writers also do the same thing. We get inspirations from headlines, shocking events and tragedies. We fuse more devices and create impossible scenarios and give logic to each scenario and character for it to appear as wholly credible. Dalaw lacks polishing and even its inspiration has no substance to make it more compelling.

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Charlie Koon's Rating:

Point to the Ass

Oh pleazzz, don't shoot me. Oh pleazzz.

Tutok is the worst film I have seen so far. Joven Tan tackles media exploitation and rebellion in general. However, his rendition is too frail to be convincing. The rebels have neither clear objectives nor demands. Tantrums could be more descriptive of their grisly behavior. We as an audience would like to know even a gist of what they are fighting for. Sentiments are not sufficient for us to understand their cause. Another truism the film tackles is media sensationalism. I am sure that Tutok is a waste of money. But if you have lots of money, then go waste it.

The story is very simple which I think was inspired by the abduction of Ces Drilon months ago by the Abu Sayyaf. Although the film has no intention of showing humanity as it lingers more on the dark aspect, it could be classified as a noir film since all the characters are pessimistic and the subject matter itself is obnoxious. Roman (Emilio Garcia) is a paranoid news reporter who believes that he is always bypassed by his colleagues. He gets to view a video tape from rebels asking to be noticed through the killing of an innocent man. Although his superior has no belief in the material, Roman still goes to the jungle together with his faithful friend and cameraman Zaldy (Allen Dizon). He believes it is his chance to become famous with this death-defying act.

I could not be deceived with the films encroachment with sensitive topics and proclaim its artistry and significance. Tutok has nothing to offer since it even stays behind on the core of their ideas. Even the rebels are just too few for us to believe the significance of their ideologies. Ten rebels are alarming to our national security? Even the fickle-minded Roman would not even dare touch the topic. This is a part wherein noir elements in films must still have proper logic for the story to be credible enough. (But Tutok just rides on the bandwagon of noir without actually achieving it. It’s more of a faux noir.) The characters do not simply want a dream to take place. They could have at least added more extras as rebels just for film integrity. Anyway, they still lack the necessary thought for the rebels as a whole, they should have conceived more about their aims, motivations, drives and visions. Humanity is shown in the film by showing a rebel having oral sex with a fellow rebel, which could arouse the curiosities of their sexual desire.

It’s disappointing to watch a film that has big aims in covering thought-provoking issues but does not incite any hint of interest to its entirety. Even the acting is not synthesized well because the characters have no souls. They appear as caricatures of intriguing personalities, forgetting that these people also have hearts. The film itself should be shut-off as they don’t offer any value that could be worthy for your time and more so your hard earned money.

Charlie Koon's Rating: