The Road (2011)

Simply Ghastly and Disturbing
The ROAD Review
by Reymundo Salao

THE ROAD is a story about the ghostly hauntings in an abandoned road, and the disturbing killings that occurred there 10 to 20 years ago. This film is directed by one of the very few really good directors working on mainstream Philippine cinema: Yam Laranas. Laranas has been known for “Sigaw” which was later given a Hollywood remake, directed by Laranas himself, entitled “The Echo”.

THE ROAD is top quality, must-watch for those who love horror movies. It’s a solid combination of a well-made storyline and script, refreshingly dynamic concepts, and topnotch direction. As expected from a Yam Laranas movie, you get magnificent cinematography, even for Hollywood standards. This movie has plenty of simply astounding visuals, we can clearly see Laranas’ mastery of Light, Shadow, and Color, as if he could easily capture and manipulate life with a camera. The story and the direction create a movie that can be added in to what may be one of the finest ghost story movies ever made.

Patient X

NOT VERY HEALTHY
By Reymundo Salao

Synopsis: Dr. Lukas Esguerra comes home to his rural hometown and finds that one of the suspects in the brutal murder of his brother and his family was caught by the police and was able to sustain multiple gunshot wounds. But then this suspect is still alive, and apparently cannot die. The police locked up this suspect in the basement section of a hospital, because of the suspect’s involvement in the recent massacre that resulted to the deaths of the family of the police chief. On the evening of Dr. Esguerra's visit, the sinister and mysterious companions of the suspect has come knocking on the hospital doors and is bent on freeing their companion locked up inside, even if it kills everybody on the way.

According to press releases for this movie, Patient X shows us director Yam Laranas' take on the Aswang folklore, and puts it in the storyline that asks "What if we ever caught one of these aswangs?" The movie does show that, but it quickly becomes this survival horror about a group of people stuck inside a rural hospital that is being attacked by a group of aswangs.

PATIENT X is a movie that many Pinoy horror audiences will definitely enjoy. Preferably for the same audiences that had made movies like Feng Shui or the Shake Rattle & Roll movies a hit at the box office. Because Patient X does provide the jumps, the scares, and the monsters, all enough to make its mainstream audiences scream. It is the kind of movie that will preferably be enjoyed by a large mainstream crowd (preferably not film critics) who just want to have a good time, brains left outside the theater doors preferably.

Now that is the extent of what little praise I have for the movie. I am really sorry to say this because I am a fan of his works, but Patient X is probably Yam Laranas' weakest movie. The movie has a good premise to begin with. The idea of an aswang held in captivity is something that can create a far more interesting film than what was made. The story never does a good job in covering its loopholes. For instance; none of the characters seem to think of using their cellphones or their mobile radio communicators to call for outside help. This error just makes the film's characters look like idiots. The policemen in the movie felt like cardboard horror victims, their characters are almost too cartoonish. It’s like they all wore a bright yellow t-shirt that says "filler character" or “victim no.1”. The flow of the film is oozing with predictability. One could even easily guess the sequence of who dies first and who survives at the end.

I feel that the monster design on the aswangs looked awkwardly-placed. It was as if they just came off a Halloween Party, what with faces too white and outlandish. Sure their make-up was intricate, but there were moments that they looked silly. It was also a bit inconsistent that at an earlier scene the aswangs could talk to each other coherently, and the next scene, they appear and act orc-ish (communicating in growls and snarls and acting animalistic. Even though one could justify that they were in their "aswang mode" it still felt so inconsistent with their earlier scenes. As if they were taking on a completely different character all of a sudden). But this is just a very minor factor, because what really made a difference in the movie was Richard Guttierez's acting, which is really unbearably bad.

I felt that it really is unfortunate that Guttierez plays the lead role in this movie. No matter how many times he's had movie and TV appearances, it seems to never have any progressive effect on his acting. His performance looks like it is only equivalent to some high school actor in a classroom play. In some scenes he looks like he's too conscious of how he looks, and in most of the scenes, I feel like the director should inject him with some heavy narcotics just to get him to do some real acting. Somebody better either get him into some military-type acting workshop or get him into substance abuse. But then again, some people are just born to be really bad actors.

Despite these bad factors that plague Patient X (pun intended), the film does have its great points. A Yam Laranas film always looks great. His direction makes sure that the cinematography is outstanding. As harsh as my review seems to be, I still urge true lovers of cinema to watch this because of how Laranas executes beautiful lighting and stylish scenes. His use of the lightning effects on some characters, the use of shadows and darkness in a scene, the blurry silhouettes that gives way to creeping anticipations. These are things that make Patient X worthwhile to watch despite its flaws. I also love the concept of how the aswangs hold their victims using their mouth, as if how a wolf carries around their victims: held tightly in their mouth.

Critiquing Laranas is not a simple task because his skill has already gone beyond just local filmmaker borders. Laranas is to be judged alongside international mainstream-friendly directors, like Paul Anderson (Event Horizon, Resident Evil), James Wan (Saw, Death Sentence), and even Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Drag Me to Hell). You just can’t compare Laranas’ works to the typical Viva, Regal, Star, GMA films. Patient X is not a movie that I liked. But at least in comparison, this was a great, spectacular horror movie compared to what is usually released by the mainstream local film industry. As I have said earlier, this is a film recommended for mainstream audiences, preferably in large crowds. If you and your barkada are out to watch a movie where you can just scream or maybe laugh at, this is for you.

The ECHO to be released (FINALLY)

The ECHO opens October 16. Finally. No more delays.
After having been postponed for almost more than twice, the Hollywood Remake of the movie SIGAW, entitled THE ECHO, is to be released this coming, plus, a promise of "No More Delays" for the screening/opening of the movie.
the Manila Bulletin recently talked to a source from the Viva Entertainment, Inc., which distributes “The Echo” locally through its affiliate, Viva International Pictures. Read their full article here.
You can read about our previous report on The Echo's delay here

The Echo

A Ghost Story
By Reymundo Salao

The ECHO is the Hollywood remake of the Filipino horror movie from director Yam Laranas entitled “Sigaw” which is also released in the international market with the similar title “The Echo” The story begins when a young ex-con comes home to the apartment where her mother who passed away, lived. He curiously tries to find out what happened to her and why she died. He discovers that the apartment he lives in is having strange occurrences. He finds drops of blood, hears noises of things that are not there, and at the same time, he is also concerned about his apartment neighbor; a mother and daughter who is being victimized by an abusive live-in partner. All these things that haunt him soon affect his life, his work, and his relationship. He even begins to question his own sanity. Soon enough, he must face these things so that it will bring him peace.

Yam Laranas is one of the very few mainstream Filipino directors who have a real serious eye for film. His movies look magnificent and the stories he tell actually make perfect sense (unlike the many local mainstream directors out there who make cartoonish serious movies). It is actually very deserving for him to direct a Hollywood version of his own classic “Sigaw”. And yes, he did accomplish a fine feat with “The Echo”.

Supposedly one that should be categorized as something which is more of a Ghost Story and Psychological Drama, THE ECHO is rich in stylistic visual images. An artful blend of bleak beauty in terms of cinematography and atmosphere, with the eerie vibe created by its storyline. The moments of horror may not be too bloody (except perhaps for one scene that had me biting my own finger) but they indeed transmit the sense of gloom well into its audience.

Jesse Bradford obviously did a better performance than Richard Guttierez (in the original). His fear and sense of paranoia can communicate well with the audience. Iza Calzado is as haunting as she was in the original. I actually felt that the movie needed more focus on Iza whose role in the original was underlined well, and was very relevant with real world issues of abuse.

The Echo takes a lot of time to build up the horror. The slow build-up is reminiscent of old horror movies like The Exorcist, which takes its time to make its characters whole and establish a familiarity with the audience before it spills out the full extent of the horror.

The minor problem with The Echo is that if you have already watched the original Echo movie which is known locally as "Sigaw" and you already have an idea what these hauntings are all about and why they occur, you might feel that it tends to drag and bore, because the surprise is already spoiled for you. Much of the movie’s appeal relies on not knowing why these things happen.

As much as my heart goes out to the director, though, I am sorry to say that I felt that the build-up just dragged too slowly. Some sequences felt like it was just an exercise of waiting for something to happen. I feel that this needed to be re-cut, just to delete off the sequences that are horribly unnecessary. The subplots in between the horror sequences sometimes feel uninteresting. There is a good pay-off at the end but its pay-off is not as satisfying as, say, The Exorcists' final act which all goes off to hellish chaos. Instead, its pay-off is still storyline-based. It does not go off in a whimper, no, it does unleash some hell. But not enough to get it off its track, as it maintains its disciplined pace, leading to an appropriate end which makes the story go full circle. You will soon realize that this is NOT the Exorcist; this is a Ghost Story.

If you watch this movie, do not expect this to be like your run-of-the-mill slasher flick or torture horror; you should just expect a good ghost movie. There is some violence and gore in it, but this is no monsterfest. It is never goofy and it treats its own story in a very serious manner. It feels like something that may have happened in reality. That is actually its beauty because many other horror movies out there tend to overblow their stories to a point that it feels bogus and cartoonish. The Echo takes its time and is more or less grounded in reality. Quiet, but eerie. Just like the ghosts that live around us.

The Echo release cancelled

Sad news for local cinema; the screening of the movie THE ECHO seems to have been canceled and moved yet again. Apparently, according to the official facebook account of the movie The Echo, as stated in one shoutout status: "QED the international distributor is showing how inefficient they are. The material needed for the prints needed for the Manila screening did not arrive. We wonder - if we take out QED in the equation - things would have been different." QED is a production company which has been responsible for films like District 9, A Perfect Getaway, and W, they are the distributors of The ECHO. And it seems that the delay for the film was due to the non-arrival of film prints. In addition, according to the facebook account, the film has officially been canceled in Davao citing "lack of print". Sources around the net also revealed that there was only one print that was available, and it was the print used in the premieres.

The ECHO will be showing this week

The ECHO is here!
By Reymundo Salao

The long wait is over. The Hollywood remake of the tagalog horror movie SIGAW, which is entitled ECHO is now going to be released in Philippine movie theaters. SIGAW was directed by Yam Laranas, whose directing skills really are impressive in terms of coherence in its storytelling, matched with great cinematography. Yam is not only a master in visual beauty, but also prefers to tell his stories in a very orderly fashion, one that makes his movies be at par with good foreign films. When he made SIGAW, the film became a success and probably has come up to become the best horror movie to come from local cinema. The reason for this, is not because of the popular actors and actresses in it, but because of Yam’s vision. His concept of horror that slowly builds up from creeping you psychologically and into a fiesta of terror. At the time it was released, SIGAW was marketed to be an Angel Locsin and Richard Guttierez movie. But their performances were actually sort of satisfactory, because the actress that truly has pushed the movie into being a great film is Iza Calzado, who plays as the ghastly apparition that dwells the apartment compound which is the setting of the movie. Joemari Yllana is also the other actor that was the driving force of that movie, as he plays an abusive policeman whose cruelty reflects real life horror characters that unfortunately exist in every day life.

When SIGAW was marketed internationally, the film gained popularity among horror aficionados around the world. Just like the popularity of Japan’s The Ring, Ju-on (The Grudge), and Hongkong’s The Eye, SIGAW which is entitled internationally as The ECHO was then taken interest by Hollywood to do an American remake of. Vertigo Entertainment, which is responsible for the Hollywood remakes of The Ring & The Grudge, had acquired from Regal Films the rights to The ECHO (SIGAW) and to produce a remake for the movie. Much to the pride of Filipinos, they wanted Yam Laranas himself to direct the movie, in addition, Iza Calzado was also included in the remake, reprising her role as the ghastly apparition. The film also includes Jesse Bradford, Amelia Warner, and Kevin Durand in their cast.

The remake was done in 2008 and made a good run at various prominent film festivals around the world. Unfortunately, due to the recent recession and also the way Hollywood has been working (if you ask me, Hollywood has been devolving, slowly becoming more and more commercial and becoming less focused on real cinema), the film would not be having a North American theatrical release. On a lighter note, The ECHO had great success in its theatrical run in South Korea, which has become the recent bastion of Asian Cinema (what with the success of films like The HOST and THIRST). The ECHO was able to enjoy basking in the top ten at the South Korean box office during its release. A clear indication that The ECHO is not something to be underestimated upon.

Now the work of Filipino Yam Laranas has come home to be released on its home country. It is to be released here in Iloilo City and nationally on October 7, 2009. Now this is one movie watch out for. My only problem is that the local media is not giving it much attention. Hey! THIS IS A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE MADE BY A FILIPINO! Heads up, man! I am upset because; just because this film is not under the hands of companies affiliated with the two giant local networks, they’re not giving it enough attention. Well, spread the word, because this is one Hollywood movie us Pinoys should be proud of. Mark the date. October 7. See you at the theaters!

The ECHO to be released in the Philippines FINALLY

The LONG wait is over. The Hollywood remake of the Filipino horror film SIGAW is now going to be released in our country. Here is the news article from The Philippine Daily Inquirer about it:

Good and bad news about Laranas’ ‘The Echo’
By Ruben V. Nepales
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:38:00 09/03/2009

LOS ANGELES—First, the good news: Yam Laranas’ “The Echo,” his US remake of “Sigaw,” will finally be shown in movie theaters in the Philippines on September 23.

The bad news: “The Echo” is not going to get a North American theatrical release. We came across announcements on the Internet that “The Echo” will instead be released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 10.

This is certainly a disheartening development. It was unprecedented that Yam was given the opportunity to direct the American version of his own Tagalog hit from Regal Films. Everyone also welcomed the news that Iza Calzado was going to reprise her role. When we visited the set in Toronto in 2007, we were proud to see a Filipino director calling the shots. Ever since Yam wrapped up filming “The Echo” in Toronto, we all eagerly awaited the movie, which stars Jesse Bradford and Amelia Warner, to be shown in theaters.

US theatrical release
When Yam finished the film’s post-production, the US theatrical release seemed imminent. But the wait turned into months. Fans and readers of Yam’s blog began asking: “When?” In the meantime, “The Echo” was shown to potential distributors at the Cannes Film Market in May last year. In July, also last year, the film was screened at Fantasia, the Montreal, Canada fantasy and genre film festival. Last May, “The Echo” got its first international theatrical release in South Korea.

Amazon.com is now offering a pre-order price guarantee of $24.99 for each copy of “The Echo” on DVD or Blu-ray. The package art shows a girl with menacing looking eyes behind a door engulfed in flames. It virtually screams that this is a horror movie. We would have preferred the teaser poster that Yam posted on his blog, the one showing Jesse Bradford listening into a wall with a girl ominously appearing by a door in the background. It captures the quietly eerie and therefore more suspenseful mood that Yam was probably aiming for in “The Echo” (and which he effectively did in “Sigaw”).

We’re happy that “The Echo” will get a theatrical release in the Philippines. Even with the movie’s release on disc in November, we think many Filipinos would still want to experience “The Echo” on the big screen. In an e-mail interview, Yam pointed out: “The experience of seeing it on the big screen literally amplifies the scares. Although the mood of the film can be appreciated in any screen size, nothing beats the impact of the film inside a dark theater.”

As for what’s in store for moviegoers, especially those who saw and loved “Sigaw,” Yam said: “I think they will enjoy this new version. It is much scarier than the original. But fans of the original will also see that the original story line is intact. The mood and paranoia though is heightened in ‘The Echo.’”

On Iza, the filmmaker said: “I’ve always believed that Iza’s talent is world class. ‘The Echo’ is a testimony to that. She played her role with utmost commitment and sincerity. We are all proud of her.”

Yam explained about “The Echo” not getting a theatrical distribution in America: “The market has changed for all independently produced films. It all started in Cannes and the American Film Market and all the way to Sundance and Tribeca. Nobody was buying. We are among the casualties. There are also legal issues that our investor and distributor are trying to sort out. Yes, I feel bad about it but I need to see the realities of Hollywood. This is not a unique case and there are worse stories out there.”

Screenings abroad
On the movie’s distribution in other territories, he said: “As far as I know, there have been screenings in Russia, Bulgaria and Poland. The film will most likely be shown simultaneously in the Philippines and Southeast Asia since the prints come from Thailand. We are also set to be released theatrically soon in several countries in Europe.”

Yam e-mailed us from Montalban, Rizal where he is filming “Patient X” which reunites him with his “Sigaw” male lead, Richard Gutierrez. “Making movies is a passion of mine,” he said, sounding happy to be directing a feature film again. “I have another unique story to tell and I wanted to work with Richard again. We work well together. Shooting ‘Patient X’ is making me high!”

‘Aswang’ twist
“Our lead actress is Cristine Reyes,” he added. “The movie is a new twist to the aswang (vampire) myth. I am confident that this is something that Filipino and international audiences will truly appreciate.

On our quibble with “The Echo’s” package art, he commented: “I always had an issue with that kind of ‘sell.’ ‘The Echo’ is not J-Horror (Japanese horror genre). And it is not ‘horror’ per se. But the distributor would know better. I only hope that the audience will see something else in the film. Yes, it is a very scary film—really horrifying—but it is also a character driven piece and has a lot of emotional rides.”

SOURCE: Inquirer.net