The Shake, Rattle & Roll has become a sort of MMFF tradition – the staple horror film of the season – and it makes its return to the festival with its 17th installment Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins. As per usual, the film is divided into three shorter films, an anthology of horror films, usually by three different filmmakers (some earlier installments were directed by only one or a pair of filmmakers). But this time, there’s a twist. For the first time ever, the three stories are sort of interconnected; telling stories from three different timelines but with a narrative link.
The first film, set in 1775, is set in a cloister, where a mysterious crate arrives and holds a dark evil within. If the darkness within isn’t terrible enough, the nuns have their own issues to deal with, including the harsh, rigid leadership of Madre Juana (Janice De Belen).
A lot of the nuns and novitiates have a dark past, and even one is held captive (Carla Abellana) for her prophetic visions. Director Shugo Praico amps up the claustrophobia, keeping the scares in tight spaces and in the darkness of candlelight and lamplights. What makes this segment unwieldy is how the dramatic set-up feels better suited for a full-length.
The film is probably less than an hour but there are so many characters – played by Loisa Andalio, Ysabel Ortega, Ashley Ortega, Elijah Alejo, Arlene Muhlach, and Ara Mina – and each with their backstory, the film gives us all this narrative material but never really gets to explore these before the evil is released and begins wrecking havoc.
There are some really frightful scenes and its share of jump scares but the narrative is too bogged down by all its characters. It doesn’t help that the nun’s habit only gives us the faces of the actors that it’s quite difficult to tell them apart in some scenes. The dramatic set-up and each novitiate’s backstory is really something that they could have explored more and could fill up a full 90 minutes.
The second segment, set in 2025, is the strongest of the three and is a lot of fun to watch. Historically, the second segment of ‘Shake, Rattle & Roll’ is usually a comedy horror, and while ‘2025’ does have its share of laughs, it operates more in the realm of the thriller and the slasher film.
Set during a Halloween masquerade ball in the basement of some unidentified structure, teens have to survive when they are attacked by a vicious cult, who need human blood and sacrifices for a demonic ritual. DirectorJoey De Guzman stylizes his scenes for a hypnotic aesthetic amplified by the excellent score by Mikhail Ali Hooshmand but still manages to take the time to really allow us to get to know our protagonists – Faye (Francine Diaz) and Sky (Sassa Gurl) – who are gatecrashing the party so they can steal from the rich kids at the rave.
But Faye catches the eye of Sean (Seth Fedelin), a rich kid with some issues with his father who is a politician. Along with DJ Elle (Fyang Smith) and James (JM Ibarra) and a few others, the survivors of the initial attack must now play a deadly game of hide and seek all over the underground complex to find the elevator to get them out of this death trap.
Joining them is Faye’s parents, Malena (Manilyn Reynes) and Bano (Alex Calleja), who are catering for the party, who have access to the other parts of that complex.
‘2025’ is a fun, slasher film with Diaz and Fedelin showing strong chemistry and handling the genre very well. As actors, they hold your attention and get you to care. Reynes is always a strong actress and elevates the piece by giving Faye and Sky someone to really care for but it’s Sassa Gurl who really stands out and elicits the strongest laughs.
Sassa Gurl’s Sky becomes more than just a comic relief and her interactions with Francine Diaz’s Faye also helps the audience to invest in these characters – which is so important in a slasher film.
The final segment, directed by Ian Lorenos, is set in the future. Entitled ‘2050,’ the film is set in a post-apocalyptic Manila where aswangs have ruled the earth and the remaining humans are in hiding.
Edris (Ivana Alawi) is in search of a woman who may have the key to stopping the aswangs for good and comes across a small community of survivors: Rosdan (Richard Gutierrez), his brother Riel (Dustin Yu), Dong (Matt Lozano), Dong’s younger sister Drea (Celyn David), and Rosdan and Riel’s aunt Malena (Manilyn Reynes).
‘2050’ relies heavily on CGI to reimagine a ruined Manila while the film takes on the action and horror genre. While the film serves well as the finale for this trilogy, this film can also be adapted for a full-length but the screenplay by Noreen Capili and Gina Marissa Tagasa keeps it simple so that it can hold on its own at its shortened length. What burdens the film is that the action sequences can be quite messy and chaotic, that we don’t get to feel the full force of the spills and thrills.
While Gutierrez is very comfortable in the action genre from his previous work, the others don’t do as well so it sometimes feels that Lorenos is directing around the limited capabilities of some of his cast.
It could hit harder, could be shot with a little more clarity of the choreography so we can enjoy the full range of action that the film offers. There are enough moments to get the audience to scream but this could have been tighter and more stronger.
Surprisingly, Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins is a lot more gory and brutal than I remember the franchise to be – probably an influence over our times – but it has the DNA of a proper Pinoy horror flick.
My Rating: 2.5 Stars
Check showtimes now and catch Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origins on the big screen. This MMFF horror staple is best experienced where the screams are loudest.
