People deem this rainy season cuddle weather, but me? I prefer to call it the perfect season for watching our own horror movies! Filipino cinema has had its gems and flops, but if there’s one genre people can automatically have a connection with, it is the horror genre.
Horror, after all, should scare people. It can deal with the known and unknown - to rouse and connect with their hidden fears, in their past, culture, and history.
As such, I’ve compiled a short list of four (4) horror movies that you can enjoy in this cold weather!
Sukob
Sukob’s premise takes us to the old Filipino adage and belief that members of the same family cannot marry within the year that their family member dies. This causes bad luck. Sandy (Kris Aquino) plans to get married to Phil, her boyfriend; both of them are overseas Filipino workers in Dubai. On returning home, her mom, Daisy tells her what happened to her friend, Helen, whose luck is far worse than you’d expect in the best online casino.
Helen had proceeded to get married after her father died during the same year. Yet misfortune hounded her; her father died in a plane crash and Helen died in a bus accident while Helen’s mother disappeared. During Sandy’s wedding, strange things occur - a nosebleed and a ghostly flower girl. Little does she know, her family has secrets…
This movie was fresh off the success of Feung Shui!
Violator
Violator is an atmospheric thriller about the incidents that happen in Manila. Violator is different from a lot of the offerings we have today because of its atmospheric horror. The story is short, straightforward, but its stylistic choices separate it from the rest. This is the work of film critic turned filmmaker Eduardo “Dodo” Dayao. The film has attracted festival mileage and is separated in two halves, where one is set in a stormy police station at midnight.
The performances are a knockout; Dayao is a director who excels at setting up a chilling and atmospheric story while delivering a payoff. In between scenes, intercuts of a cult committing suicide are interwoven with gruesome imagery.
The movie is compelling and works as a strong horror debut. Gym Lumbera and Albert Banzon knock it out of the park with the cinematography. The actors are amazing! Lastly, the score Marcushiro Nada and Ace Cada is crunchy.
Feung Shui
This is a Kris Aquino classic that works so well because of its resonant themes. Feung Shui’s horror is rooted in the fear of the middle class. The characters' aspirations are relatable because of their middle-class backgrounds: wanting to earn enough money to give their family a decent life, safety, floods, and other recurring themes. It’s a great horror and thriller, although the cheating plotline could have been avoided.
Kris Aquino is at her best here, and Chito Rono is also at her best. Feung Shui stands out because of its solid filmmaking despite the technological limitations of the time and the horror of Lotus Feet.
Kampon
Kampon is a cerebral horror movie that works best in an indie showcase despite its debut in the Metro Manila Film Festival. The wide-angle lenses and angles are effective. Sadly, when the film needs emotion, it tends to hold back. It follows a couple, played well by Derek Ramsay and Beauty Gonzalez, who suffer under the pressure of society for couples to have children. When a child knocks on their door asking for Clark, things begin to spin into chaos.
Wrapping Up
This rainy season is the perfect time to watch, sit back, and enjoy the terrors this movie has to offer! These are some of the finer, more refined horror movies you can watch. Enjoy this rainy season!