Day 1 - two heavy meals of heavy Filipino slow cinema, and a rather stale Thai horror dessert
1. Imburnal / Sewer (Sherad Anthony Sanchez, 2008, PHILIPPINES, 196 minutes)
2. Now Showing (Raya Martin, 2008, PHILIPPINES, 279 minutes)
3. See prang / 4bia / Phobia (Banjong Pisanthanakun/Paween Purikitpanya/Yongyoot Thongkongtoon/Parkpoom Wongpoom, 2008, THAILAND, 112 minutes)
Day 2 - Lav Diaz' heavy sadness; Filipino vampires and Thai ghosts
4. Melancholia (Lav Diaz, 2008, PHILIPPINES, 446 minutes)
5. Kulay dugo ang gabi / Blood is the Color of Night / The Blood Drinkers (Gerardo de Leon, 1964, PHILIPPINES, 87 minutes)
6. Suay Laak Sai / Sick Nurses (Piraphan Laoyant/Thodsopol Siriwiwat, 2007, THAILAND, 82 minutes)
Day 3 - Blood Island, and Kung-Fu fighting Snake Woman
7. Brides of Blood (Gerardo de Leon/Eddie Romero, 1968, PHILIPPINES , 97 minutes)
8. Mad Doctor of Blood Island (Gerardo de Leon/Eddie Romero, 1968, PHILIPPINES , 89 minutes)
9. Beast of Blood (Eddie Romero, 1970, PHILIPPINES , 90 minutes)
10. She yao jing / Devil Woman / Bruka, Queen of Evil (Felix Villar/Chi-Lien Yu, 1973, PHILIPPINES /Hong Kong, 95 minutes)
Day 4 - more from Eddie Romero & John Ashley; and worse
11. Beast of the Yellow Night (Eddie Romero, 1971, PHILIPPINES , 84 minutes))
12. The Twilight People (Eddie Romero, 1972, PHILIPPINES , 81 minutes))
13. Vampire Hookers (Cirio H. Santiago, 1978, PHILIPPINES , 80 minutes)
14. Primitif / Savage Terror (Sisworo Gautama Putra, 1980, INDONESIA, 85 minutes)
Day 5 - Four domestic horrors, four female protagonists, four countries
15. The Maid (Kelvin Tong, 2005, SINGAPORE, 89 minutes)
16. Chanthaly (Mattie Do, 2012, LAOS, 99 minutes)
17. Cô Hâu Gái / The Housemaid (Derek Nguyen, 2016, VIETNAM/South Korea, 104 minutes)
18. Chermin / Mirror (Zarina Abdullah, 2007, MALAYSIA, 94 minutes)
Day 6 - Indonesian crazy schlock duo
19. Pembalasan Ratu Pantai Selatan / Lady Terminator (H. Tjut Djalil, 1989, INDONESIA, 81 minutes)
20. Dangerous Seductress (H. Tjut Djalil, 1992, INDONESIA, 94 minutes)
Day 7 - early Lav Diaz
21. Serafin Geronimo: Ang kriminal ng Baryo Concepcion / The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion (Lav Diaz, 1998, PHILIPPINES , 112 minutes))
22. Burger Boy's (Lav Diaz, 1999, PHILIPPINES , 104 minutes))
23. Hesus, rebolusyunaryo / Jesus the Revolutionary (Lav Diaz, 2002, PHILIPPINES , 114 minutes)
Day 8 - 3 genre films, 6 directors, 3 countries
24. Shutter (Banjong Pisanthanakun/Parkpoom Wongpoom, 2004, THAILAND, 92 minutes)
25. Shake, Rattle & Roll (Emmanuel H. Borlaza/Ishmael Bernal/Peque Gallaga, 1984, PHILIPPINES , 125 minutes))
26. Perawan di Sarang Sindikat / Virgins from Hell (Ackyl Anwari, 1987, INDONESIA, 93 minutes)
Day 9 - just a couple more so-so horrors from the Philippines and Thailand
27. Lumaban ka, Satanas / The Killing of Satan (Efren C. Piñon, 1983, PHILIPPINES , 93 minutes)
28. Nang Nak (Nonzee Nimibutr, 1999, THAILAND, 101 minutes)
Day 10 - bad schlock, good schlock, bad "remake" of good schlock
29. Demons of Paradise (Cirio H. Santiago, 1983, PHILIPPINES , 87 minutes)
30. Ratu Ilmu Hitam / The Queen of Black Magic (Liliek Sudjio, 1981, INDONESIA, 90 minutes)
31. Ratu Ilmu Hitam / The Queen of Black Magic (Kimo Stamboel, 2019, INDONESIA, 96 minutes)
Day 11 - serious gore, and another original/remake, all from Indoneisa
32. Darah / Macabre (Kimo Stamboel/Timo Tjahjanto, as "The Mo Brothers", 2009, INDONESIA, 95 minutes)
33. Pengabid Satan / Satan's Slave (Sisworo Gautama Putra, 1982, INDONESIA, 96 minutes)
34. Pengabid Satan / Satan's Slave (Joko Anwar, 2017, INDONESIA/ South Korea, 106 minutes)
Day 12 - 5 intense features from Mike De Leon
35. Itim / Black / The Rites of May (Mike De Leon, 1977, PHILIPPINES, 106 minutes)
36. Kakabakaba ka ba? / Will Your Heart Beat Faster? (Mike De Leon, 1980, PHILIPPINES, 107 minutes)
37. Kisapmata / In the Wink of an Eye (Mike De Leon, 1981, PHILIPPINES, 98 minutes)
38. Batch '81 (Mike De Leon, 1982, PHILIPPINES, 106 minutes
39. Sister Stella L (Mike De Leon, 1984, PHILIPPINES, 104 minutes)
Day 13 - two early Filipino features
40. Forbidden Women (Eduardo de Castro, 1948, PHILIPPINES, 61 minutes)
41. Genghis Khan (Manuel Conde, 1950, PHILIPPINES, 77 minutes)
Day 14 - Thai voodoo
42. Khon len khong / Art of the Devil (Tanit Jitnukul, 2004, THAILAND, 96 minutes)
43. Long khong / Art of the Devil 2 (a shitload of directors, 2005, THAILAND, 97 minutes)
Day 15 - more 50s Filipino cinema
44. Sanda Wong (Gerardo de Leon, 1955, PHILIPPINES, 97 minutes)
45. Badjao / Badjao: The Sea Gypsies (Lawrence V. Avellana, 1957, PHILIPPINES, 91 minutes)
46. Biyaya ng lupa / Blessings of the Land (Manuel Silos, 1959, PHILIPPINES, 110 minutes)
Day 16 - Thai ghost stories (mostly)
47. Pen choo kab pee / The Unseeable (Wisit Sasanatieng, 2006, THAILAND, 93 minutes)
48. 3 A.M. 3D (Patchanon Thammajira/Kirati Nakintanon/Isara Nadee, 2012, THAILAND, 96 minutes)
Day 17 - 2 just-different-enough horror films from Indonesia and the Philippines
49. Kuntilanak / The Chanting (Rizal Mantovani, 20016, INDONESIA, 95 minutes)
50. Seklusyon / Seclusion (Erik Matti, 2016, PHILIPPINES, 85 minutes)
Day 18 - Filipino shorts and one more 60s horror flick
51-53. SHORTS 25+25+30+13+6+13+39+31= 182 minutes
a) Ang magpakailanman / Eternity (Raymond Red, 1982, PHILIPPINES)
b) Kabaka / Enemy (Raymond Red, 1983, PHILIPPINES)
c) Puting Paalam / White Funeral (Sari Raissa Lluch Dalena, 1997, PHILIPPINES)
d) Anino / Shadows (Raymond Red, 2000, PHILIPPINES)
e) Long Live Philippine Cinema! (Raya Martin, 2009, PHILIPPINES)
f) Waiting Shed (Ely Buendia, 2009, PHILIPPINES)
g) Walang alaala ang mga paru-paro / Butterflies Have No Memories (Lav Diaz, 2009, PHILIPPINES)
h) Prologo sa ang dakilang desaparacido / Prologue to the Great Desaparecido (Lav Diaz, 2013, PHILIPPINES)
54. Ibulong mo sa hangin / Blood of the Vampires / Curse of the Vampires (Gerardo de Leon, 1966, PHILIPPINES, 82 minutes)
Day 19 - an odd Thai high-concept horror-mystery-comedy
55. 13 game sayawng / 13 Beloved / 13: Game of Death (Chookiat Saveerakul, 2006, THAILAND, 108 minutes)
Day 20 - a Vietnamese ghost story
56. Muoi / Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait (Tae-kyeong Kim, 2007, VIETNAM/South Korea, 94 minutes)
Seems ghost stories are the thing in this region and this century - or maybe I've just happened to stumble on more than my fair share of them. This one is all right I guess, with a vaguely interesting concept - a young Korean writer travels to Vietnam both to reunite with an old friend and more importantly to research and write about the myth of Muoi, a wronged woman (lots of wronged-dead-women-seeking-vengeance-on-the-living in these cinemas for sure) who came back and murdered her lover and etc etc, I suspect you'll know the drill when you start to see the fractured relationship between Yun-hoi and Seo-yeon, and learn that a man came between them once, and now Yun-hoi (the writer/protagonist) is having spooky visions. There's some stuff here about identity that seemed interesting - Vietnamese/Korean specifically, and I think one of the characters was supposed to be mixed-race but either I wasn't paying close enough attention of it simply wasn't made clear enough for this westerner - but overall it's nothing special. This is the second Vietnamese/Korean co-production I've seen this month and there are a couple of other possibilities I've found; seems Korean money and Vietnamese locations have been a nice match-up for a few filmmakers recently.
Day 21 - A Filipino ghost story - ghosts, why did it have to be ghosts?
57. Eerie (Mikhail Red, 2018, PHILIPPINES, 101 minutes)
Yet another ghost-from-the-past-affecting-the-living story, and yet another involving religions somewhat heavily - this takes place in the Catholic girls' school in 1995, with one teacher, the school guidance counsellor, who is not a nun, and who right from the get-go is suspicious as the reliable protagonist, as one of the students she counsels is in fact a ghost, Erika, who was apparently abused decades before and is now seeking revenge, yadda yadda. Too many of these films over a short span of time for me! But this one overall is decent - it's nicely shot; even if it's anchored in a sort of muted green-yellow palette that I tend to despise in a lot of low-budget digital filmmaking, the lighting is interesting and the mise en scene and editing keep things attractive and somewhat unusual; several of the outdoor courtyard shots in particular are pretty cool. And Bea Alonzo, a fairly big star taking a little detour from the couple dozen romances she'd done in the previous 15 years, is pretty solid in the lead, though it becomes increasingly hard to care about what's going on when you can see the inevitable resolution that she's actually dead herself coming from a mile away. Overall, like the previous day's film, all right and borderline recommendable, but that's about all I can say.
58.
Tatlong taong walang Diyos / Three Years Without God (1976,
PHILIPPINES, 125 minutes)
59.
Pangarap ng puso / Demons (2000)
PHILIPPINES, 95 minutes)
60.
Babae sa Breakwater / Woman of Breakwater PHILIPPINES, 128 minutes)
Mario O'Hara was born in 1946 to a large middle-class family of mixed Irish-American, Spanish and Filipino heritage in Zamboanga City; because of his father's family, he was eligible to apply for American citizenship, which he rejected - and watching these films, particularly the first, one can see why. He began training as a chemical engineer but gave it up early on to focus on writing for radio dramas, and writing was also his entry into film when he met the slightly older Lino Brocka in the late 1960s; he ended up writing the original stories and/or screenplays for several of Brocka's notable early films, including
Weighed But Not Wanting and
Insiang, before making his own directorial debut in 1976. He made over two dozen films through 2010, and also worked extensively in TV, before dying of leukemia at 66 in 2012.
O'Hara's concerns are not dissimilar from those of Brocka (unsurprisingly) or Mike DeLeon - poverty, violence, inequality, and the long and often seemingly hopeless struggle of the Filipino people under successive periods of foreign domination - and their own authoritarian leaders. His films have a bit more melodrama and are a bit more willing to dispense occasionally with strict realism than DeLeon's I'd say - looking at his horror film from this group,
Demons and comparing it to DeLeon's
Itim is instructive; O'Hara verges on the surreal and unknowable, DeLeon is more grounded. And I think his characters are sometimes a little more hopeful - though their hopes are often clearly unrealized and fantastic. He has a fairly sanguine view of religion I think though after one viewing of each of these - and only these three - I can't say for sure whether he's a skeptical believer or something else. His visual style is typically fairly straightforward but there are several unusual uses of quick montage in the first two films and odd camera angles at times that shake matters up - shake the audience up, perhaps - and his narratives while clear are just a touch askew, particularly the ending of
Demons.
Three Godless Years is about the three years of World War II and the Japanese occupation, from December 1941 through the spring of 1945, as experienced by one family who aren't really part of the fighting themselves but experience all kinds of "collateral damage" as the bloodless bureaucrats would call it. 23-year-old Nora Aunor had already made over 75 films since her early teenage years, so she was well equipped for the demanding role of Rosa, around whom the whole plot really revolves. What is most interesting in the film - not precisely novel, but something that is rarely developed as well as it is here - is what it means to be a "collaborator" in a situation where one often isn't given a choice apart from that, or death for one or one's family - and how unforgiving so many people are that one didn't choose death, though they might not have ever been in that situation themselves. To say much more would be in spoiler territory; suffice it to say that Rosa's plight - being forced into something, then growing to accept it, very grudgingly, and the humanity with which the main "enemy" Japanese character (Christpher De Leon, Aunor's real-life husband for a time) is treated, lift this pretty close to greatness. And as I mentioned above, the treatment of Japan vs America is angry and does not come down exactly on the USA USA! side - but it's also fairly thoughtful and rational in the context of the film. A very powerful film overall though as this was my first O'Hara film his particular way with melodrama and sentiment was just a little - really, very little - offputting in such a dark story. And it was far from a flawless copy, as most older Filipino films that I've seen - I also wonder at the ORT, there are moments that feel a bit awkwardly edited, like it may have been a little longer, though nothing I've seen says anything about that.
Demons is kind of a horror-fantasy in a political-coming-of-age context, about a young girl, then young woman (there's a 10-year transition at about the 1/4 point in the film) very, very slowly coming to the realization of how privileged she is - and how much that privilege impacts the very poor boy/man who is a large part of her life. This is a hard film for me to get at because of it's focus on the particular politics of the times, but there's still enough there to get the basics, and enjoy it for what it is. The "demons" of the title are really the demons of greed, injustice and intolerance, and the particular ways they manifest, mostly at the very beginning and ending of the film, are through dream/nightmare which, I think, we are eventually to see infecting the real world of our would-be couple Nena - daughter and granddaughter of influential and wealthy poliitcal/landowning elites and Jose - who dives for fish on her family estate - and making life without dealing with their meaning impossible. The best copy of the three though not exactly perfect; still, good enough to see some really masterful photography in some of the night scenes in particular, and the first little bit of surrealism, as Nena goes into the forest alone as a child could come right out of a (quite Grimm) fairytale.
Woman of Breakwater seems a bit more conventional than the previous two films, and it's also the one with the simplest story and thematic character overall, a portrait of the lives of the very poor and homeless who live by the breakwater in Manila Bay, and in particular the love that grows between prostitute Paquita and country-boy Basilio, under the shadow of Paquita's limping, angry pimp Dave. Both Paquita and Basilio dream of better lives - especially when they are about to bring new life into the world - but of course everything conspires against them. This is a solid and engaging film, and maybe in the end a bit more hopeful than the two previous works, but it feels it's length and was less cinematically engaging - although to be fair, that's part of the point, it's supposed to be kind of tough viewing, not something that should make complacent western viewers like me say "that was fun". In any case I did like it but overall not quite as much as the first two. Still very much looking forward to more from O'Hara and as always, to being able to someday get these films in the quality they deserve.
6299 minutes total
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