Arts & Leisure
Posted on December 28, 2015 04:55:00 PM
By Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman, Reporter
The recycled Haunted Mansion
Movie Review
Haunted Mansion
Directed by Jun Lana
Produced by Regal Films
It’s not déjà vu. Haunted Mansion is simply just recycled.
When Regal Films announced that its staple entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival, the perennial horror anthology Shake, Rattle, and Roll (the 15th of which was shown in 2014) would give way for Haunted Mansion, moviegoers were hopeful that the horror flick directed by Jun Lana would bring something new to the table. But it didn’t. The only fresh things on the screen were the new faces of lead actors Janella Salvador, Marlo Mortel, and Jerome Ponce.
Haunted Mansion is simply the story of a group of high school friends and their adventure at a retreat house which turns out to be haunted. End of story.
If the main objective of any horror movie is to scare, then Haunted Mansion fails -- although it tries. When BusinessWorld watched, there were initially a few screams of shock from the audience, composed mostly of groups of friends (barkadas). But after a while, the audience members could guess what would happened next.
Haunted Mansion epitomizes the frustrations of Filipino writer Bob Ong in his satirical book, Lumayo ka nga sa Akin (Stay Away from Me), which points out how dumb some of traditional Pinoy movie scenes are. It questions, among others, why protagonists never die despite their bullet wounds and being slashed by glass. Not to spoil the fun, but one character in Haunted Mansion seems to have nine lives.
Suffice it to say, the outdated character stereotypes do not help elevate the film’s storyline.
Its lead actress Ms. Salvador (star of TV series Be Careful With My Heart) plays Ella, a goody-two-shoes who has a “third eye” (the ability to see things from the next plane). As in any traditional Pinoy teleserye (soap opera) the protagonist is poor yet beautiful and kind. She has two leading men vying for her attention, Adrian and Jacob, played respectively by newcomers Mr. Mortel and Mr. Ponce. The film builds up the cheesy love triangle before the horror scenes start in the latter part of the two-hour movie.
It cannot be all hearts and horror for there are contravidas (villains) in the movie. Newcomers Ingrid dela Paz, Devon Seron, and Eliza Pineda played the three mean girls (who happen to be cheerleaders). Echoing Mr. Ong’s frustrations, why do bitchy girls in movies always come in groups of three, are pretty, and are cheerleaders?
And because Haunted Mansion follows the traditions of Pinoy horror movies, there are the ever-present characters of the katiwala and mayordoma (the male and female housekeepers), played by Archie Adamos and Vangie Labalan.
But it seems that the Filipino audience is not yet tired of Pinoy horror. Or perhaps, they don’t just have enough good options. According to the most recent reports, Haunted Mansion is among the top four highest grossing films of the festival, together with My Pabebe Love, Beauty and the Bestie, and All You Need is Pag-ibig, in no particular order.
Not to spoil anything, but the movie tries to up the game with a twist in the end, but it’s not enough.
MTRCB Rating: PG
Haunted Mansion is simply the story of a group of high school friends and their adventure at a retreat house which turns out to be haunted. End of story.
If the main objective of any horror movie is to scare, then Haunted Mansion fails -- although it tries. When BusinessWorld watched, there were initially a few screams of shock from the audience, composed mostly of groups of friends (barkadas). But after a while, the audience members could guess what would happened next.
Haunted Mansion epitomizes the frustrations of Filipino writer Bob Ong in his satirical book, Lumayo ka nga sa Akin (Stay Away from Me), which points out how dumb some of traditional Pinoy movie scenes are. It questions, among others, why protagonists never die despite their bullet wounds and being slashed by glass. Not to spoil the fun, but one character in Haunted Mansion seems to have nine lives.
Suffice it to say, the outdated character stereotypes do not help elevate the film’s storyline.
Its lead actress Ms. Salvador (star of TV series Be Careful With My Heart) plays Ella, a goody-two-shoes who has a “third eye” (the ability to see things from the next plane). As in any traditional Pinoy teleserye (soap opera) the protagonist is poor yet beautiful and kind. She has two leading men vying for her attention, Adrian and Jacob, played respectively by newcomers Mr. Mortel and Mr. Ponce. The film builds up the cheesy love triangle before the horror scenes start in the latter part of the two-hour movie.
It cannot be all hearts and horror for there are contravidas (villains) in the movie. Newcomers Ingrid dela Paz, Devon Seron, and Eliza Pineda played the three mean girls (who happen to be cheerleaders). Echoing Mr. Ong’s frustrations, why do bitchy girls in movies always come in groups of three, are pretty, and are cheerleaders?
And because Haunted Mansion follows the traditions of Pinoy horror movies, there are the ever-present characters of the katiwala and mayordoma (the male and female housekeepers), played by Archie Adamos and Vangie Labalan.
But it seems that the Filipino audience is not yet tired of Pinoy horror. Or perhaps, they don’t just have enough good options. According to the most recent reports, Haunted Mansion is among the top four highest grossing films of the festival, together with My Pabebe Love, Beauty and the Bestie, and All You Need is Pag-ibig, in no particular order.
Not to spoil anything, but the movie tries to up the game with a twist in the end, but it’s not enough.
MTRCB Rating: PG
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