What do you think oggs the flaw of the movie? The improvisational acting was good but I found the woman's monologue so long and dragging. The flashback scene could have been inserted there instead of that monologue.
Did you mean the espiritista, keating?
Ako naman, I agree it was kind of dragging at first but as soon as I got into its rhythm , I kind of liked that whole long scene. It's one of my favorite scenes from the movie, in fact. The monotonous gibberish was actually crucial bits of information about the characters, which was ultimately what the whole movie turned out to be about, but by having it all expressed in almost confused fragments with no visual aid, they seemed darker, more ambiguous and mysterious - - -the burial of the cat, the sex between the younger brother and the maid's daughter, the well with the babies, the carving of the name on the tree, the black wedding. I found myself concentrating more and doing a lot of imagining in my head. The flashbacks near the end, showing what the dead mother went through before she died, were interesting visually but sort of took away from what I was imagining happened to her, based on the first few nights', um, events.
If we must compare. . .
Feng Shui seems less of an Asian Horror clone than it is a Shyamalan Knockoff Clone and delights is laying out every single plot strand for the audience to nibble on, which is probably why it went over well. Most people don't relish ambiguity and don't really like to mull things opver.
Pasiyam is more Asian in its restraint, in its embrace of the slow burn, and very Val Lewton in the way it relies on suggestion more than actually showing everything, which is what Americans are so so fond of. That espiritista monologue is one example. Another is that almost incidental (though I don't think it is) shot of Roderick's back which tells you but doesn't really tell you something about his backstory.
It also hurdles the fatal mistake every so-so horror movie commits (including
Feng Shui and Joey Reyes' unremittingly dull
Malikmata) , there's something else going on between and besides the scares. And there's a lot going on in this one, some of which- - - like what was his mother's beef with Roderick's character (liked his
Blair Witch scene near the end , where he "talks" to the ghost) - - - are even more interesting than the ghost story.
I liked it. Visually, it's wonderful. And that house was a godsend. Man, what a terrific location. It's practically a character in itself, which is how it should be with gothic horror movies.
What I didn't much like was the ending.
SPOILER WARNING The ghost talking (and the so-so makeup) just took away from it being scary and the revelation , because of the gimmicy twist upon twist that preceded it, didn't feel revelatory anymore. And it felt severely truncated. Like it should've gone on for at least another ten minutes.
SPOILER WARNINGBut the set piece near the climax, that eighth(?) night where every one of them gets haunted, that was scary and beautiful.