Salt Supremacy

Pssst... Your hair.

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Chito Roño’s T2 (Tenement 2) has the right qualities of a horror story that is uniquely Filipino. It’s script written by Aloy Adlawan derived the story from local myths and folklores. I remember in my Sundo review that our culture itself could ignite inspiration for a good horror story and this is what T2 is all about. This film is neither an all-out gore fest film treat nor does it aim for the usual creepy eerie plot. The film elevates and defines how fright was derived and combines it with supernatural phenomena that are still prevalent in our belief-conscious society.

T2 was able to articulate the film’s story wherein other factors of fear could be felt. In the story, Claire (Maricel Soriano) is forced to deal with a trial separation prepared by her husband Jeremy (Derek Ramsey). She is distraught and maddened by the completion of all the legal papers concerning that matter and decided to replace a fellow volunteer at Save an Orphan Foundation by bringing a young boy to Samar. On her way back to Manila, mysterious events occur when they get to stay at a nearby orphanage. Claire meets Angeli (Mica dela Cruz) a young girl who exhibits strange aspects surrounding her behavior. She has this mannerism to look someone straight in the eyes. In that way, she will know if someone is either good or bad.

T2 is about the Engkantos. We might not be aware but in the film, it was depicted that we live side by side with them unnoticed. There are also local beliefs that are used within the film which for me are interesting. There are a couple of scenes that hit the eye of reality scare. First, the stairways scene works for mechanical reasons. Secondly, the unknown traps and accidents which occurred in the film leads to an assumption that it was the Engkantos who caused it. I could not complain for some artificial computer-based effects on the film. What matters is that the effort is there and the story they are telling is an interesting story.

Claire may have negligible beliefs concerning the world of Engkantos. And if she might have given some curiosity to it, she would still end up dumbfounded. It’s interesting to notice that there she is currently experiencing an emotional dilemma on the present status of her marriage with Jeremy. The tension between the couple boils even more since she constantly rejects all forms of communication. The fear Claire shows has a base to make it believable for someone who has no interest with myths and the unknown.

The film is also well supported by characters that make the story more credible, such as details that some writers miss. Elias played by Eric Fructuoso engages with his comic relief antics while the urban enchantress Rita played by Tetchi Agbayani has brief moments of thrill and importance. Dela Cruz as Angeli gives out a good portrayal as a child haunted with a mysterious past. Soriano of course is a fine actress. She’s able to portray a woman who’s confronting her panic of a failed relationship and the fear of the unknown mystery she’s forced to face with.

Scares build up along the way and even the trifling events are well placed and it tries to make you feel more emotionally distressed. This film mixes reality with the lives of Engkantos. And these Engkantos tries to contrive our lives through their power. It is really incredible since a horror story is not only layering drama but actually stressing real emotions and distress to people. It is an interesting mix and it gives credibility to a story that might exist through our imagination and create the fear of something we could not perceive.


Charlie Koon's Rating:

Just a Coincidence?

Race to the finish line

Padyak is not a very bad film nor is it very a good film either. What you will expect from Padyak is a different film narrative. The film is derived from a Palanca Award winning literary piece; therefore it explicates the peculiarity of the story structure. The good side of encrusting the film with epigrammatic interconnected stories makes the entire film experience stimulating. But there is also a fallback. The variety of stories offered by the film is too lengthy. It demulsifies the idea they had in mind and in effect, the crust of the story becomes loose. This creates a stigma to the audience that once they are beginning to be cranky, they detach their selves to the possible ‘feel’ for the film.

Noel (Jay Aquitania) is a pedicab driver that wishes to study with the help of his earnings and the love and support of his mother Pacita (Irma Adlawan). One day, he helped a customer named Helga (Katherine Luna) with her groceries up to her condominium unit. They have a chat about anything under the sun. Soon enough, Noel gets information that Helga fell from the building. Noel seems to have been struck with the awareness that life could end and contemplates the meaning of his own existence.

The film has other meatier stories within it and there is a hint that it is related to Noel’s life: A bloody ménage-a-trios affair of a drug addict (Rita Avila) and her younger lover (Arnold Reyes) who is in love with the maid (Mercedes Cabral), a somewhat silly children’s cooking segment where Angel Jacob (reprising her role as a cook?) has a semi-dysfunctional family, and a schizophrenic geeky wanker played by Baron Geisler.

Padyak lingers towards the genre existentialist film, with a probable background of social realist pragmatism. There are insights on Noel’s life who he thinks his way of life could not be substantiated to have meaning but rather opts to reflect on the shortcomings it has given to him. To justify his importance, the writer concocts unfamiliar people that might coincide to the aim of this parable.

I have no qualms with how Aquitania has freshened up the character. He gives rawness and excitement to this ordinary guy. I am also amazed with the risks made by Avila. She deserves to be applauded for her uncanny portrayal of a sadistic junkie. Although Geisler gives out an invigorating yet campy portrayal of a person suffering from dual personality, the attitude is there but the direction could have been more polished.

As the story progresses, I sensed something could have been wrong with the film. There is a need to reassess the story treatment. The pacing is just slow and downright sprawling. The way the scenes unfold might have been composed for non-linearity’s sake but as an audience, there could be more ways to make it cohesive (not on a technical way of writing) but to make a right kind of flavor to the interrelated scenarios. There are films that has done multi-layer stories and it must decide from the very beginning what they really wanted to point further.

At the end of the film, we are reminded that our existence makes this world a better place. We are unaware of this as we human beings are living our own lives. Seeing the world turn makes it meaningful and if ever there are doubts, we begin to see the gray side of coincidence. But this ordinary guy seems innocent to skeptics and philosophers. Doing what is right is natural to human behavior. Although there are numerous mishaps within the film, Padyak has the persona of a human full of flaws. It might interest viewers if it could have been made with a more careful rendition.

Charlie Koon's Rating:

Nothing Scary

I see ghosts, people!

Sundo could be compared to a kind of bomb that explodes quickly. It merely tries to scare and once the fright passes, you’ll say: that’s it? I am not after the explosion as it vanishes into thin air. What the film lacks is the ideal anticipation within the story. They could have exploited this element as this could be its strength. Apparently they are aware of this but they used it in a wrong sense. It is not the bomb explosion that would give the scare. It is how they will hide the bomb, move it, displace it before detonating it that even the keenest of the spectator will go berserk once it shows up.

What I am talking about is that the anticipation for the horror phenomena to happen is too uninspired. They are trying this effect every now and then in the film but it does not give out the scare. It’s too derivative from other horror features and the slightest feeling of anticipation might never transpire. To create a story is not only having the potential to scare (whatever you call it) as fear itself is a primal emotion in its quiddity. But the director must constantly find means of extracting the viscera from the audience in ways that are culturally and temporally relevant.

The story is about Romano played by the ever robust action-star Robin Padilla who recently got a terrible accident in a military operation. After he was healed, he goes back to his hometown in Baguio to live in seclusion. Things changed after Louella (Sunshine Dizon) pays a visit and offers a peace offering (due to a family feud years back) by helping Romano’s sister Isabel (Rhian Ramos) for her eye operation. He accepts the offer and they go to Manila with Louella.

The strength of Sundo is rendered through its cinematography. It is well thought off and could be an achievement on a technical aspect in making horror films. The screenplay could have the similar formulas of Asian Horror films that have proliferated in the past decade. If it could have layered the story more, it is possible to have more edge especially if it will be compared with its contemporaries. Actually, it is not entirely the story that could be the problem with the film. The style is there, but obviously, the execution of the film is just too lethargic to each horror scenario.

In the story, the horror started during their travel to Manila. Romano has a premonition that their van will encounter a horrific accident. So Romano has made all means to stop it from happening and he now sees ghosts every now and then. They seek help from a local necromancer and it is confirmed that the ghosts Romano sees are their ‘sundo’ and they could not get away from their macabre fate.

If they could have played more with our local beliefs, the film could have been more interesting. I am not getting frightened and I am bored to death with what is happening within the story. I think the audience too will agree with how the film has delivered and going back to the worth of what they paid for in this film, they should be offered half the ticket price. Sundo certainly disappoints in most aspects (except for the cinematography). Its promise of terror did not reach my expectation as a viewer who wants to be flabbergasted with how rich our culture could possibly inspire a good horror story.

Charlie Koon's Rating: