A disappointing gothic horror from the Philippines
The movie reminds me of some of the old Hammer films, cheaply produced but entertaining. This production is not as entertaining but retains that same essence of gothic horror. That said it does come with some hefty warnings: Sexual violence towards women (mostly offscreen but acknowledged in the story), era-typical blackface characters (servants), and general violence towards women (mother vampire is whipped and imprisoned). If those things bother you I would avoid this film.Story (3.5/10): The story doesn't waste time with character development and instead starts on the mystery of the woman in the basement. The use of lighting as a story device is rather clever during the mother vampire's scenes but the use of red/blue lighting can be somewhat jarring to the viewer. There is a heavy emphasis on catholic imagery throughout the story that can feel a little heavy-handed at times. The story is mostly driven by bad decisions made by various characters so I would say the story can get a bit frustrating to watch and is very easy to predict.
Acting/Cast (4.5/10): There is an actor who plays a servant (during the scene where the father reveals the mother) that looks to have blackened his face for some reason. He sounds like an "Igor" character but I'm confused as to why the film found that necessary (budget constraints/cultural/era-typical racism?). It was repeated with several female servants as well. I'm new to Filipino-produced films and so I can't make any solid judgments or conclusions as to why they used blackface. So warning for potential racist blackface/racist undertones?
Many of the character's actions make them hard to like or emphasize with their struggle. In fact, the whole family dynamic is unhealthy and problematic. It made it hard to stay engaged with the movie. Their actions are sometimes for a lack of a better word, really dumb and it makes the fine irritating to watch at times.
Amalia Fuentes (Leonore) is perhaps the most interesting character to watch. I think this is mostly due to the actress being a decent acting talent. She has an emotional quality to her that makes her performances more intriguing to watch compared to several of the other main actors.
Romeo Vasquez (Daniel) is rather wooden for an actor trying to play a naive young hero type. I found his performance rather flat especially when paired with Amalia Fuentes. Eddie Garcia (Eduardo) did a decent job as a villain and his acting was more nuanced than Romeo Vasquez's but he isn't in any way likable and due to one of my prior warnings (sexual violence towards women) in the scenes with Rosario del Pilar (Christina) I was hoping he would be killed sooner than later.
Music (4/10): The music isn't awful but it is a rather large step down from the gothic horror soundtracks used by the popular horror film companies in the US during this era. This isn't surprising but I had hoped the music would help the film's pacing and tension. The dubbing is not great either. It was not synced very well to the film and some of the character's lines were hard to understand.
Rewatch Value (1/10): I had a hard enough time watching the entire film and found myself having to avoid hitting the fast-forward button several times. I doubt I will ever give this a second watch.
Overall (3.5/10): The only real part of the film that I found interesting was how the genre of gothic horror was treated in the Philippines during the 60s/70s horror movie era. It was not a very entertaining watch but it's definitely not unwatchable either. If you are determined to watch it I suggest having a remote handy or doing an additional activity like ironing or laundry.
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