FILMMAKER + COMPOSER
Shake Rattle and Roll XV offers a mixed experience through Ahas, Ulam and Flight 666
by Mark Angelo Ching
Mere jump scares and gore do not make a good horror movie. The best horror flicks use a mix of story and atmosphere to create a sense of dread that lasts until the viewer is out of the cinema.
Case in point: Ulam, the second segment in Shake, Rattle and Roll XV, the newest entry of Regal’s horror franchise for the 2014 Metro Manila Film Festival.
Ulam tells the story of Henry (Dennis Trillo) and Emmy (Carla Abellana), a married couple who moves with their young daughter to their deceased grandmother’s ancestral house, now maintained by an old maid Linda (Chanda Romero).
Emmy is hesitant to settle in, recalling that Henry’s relatives do not approve of their
marriage. Her hesitations are later on proven true when her family gets mired in a deadly revenge plot.
The segment is executed brilliantly. The story is told slowly to keep viewers intrigued,
building an atmosphere that bleeds from the screen to the whole theater. Kudos should go to Jerrold Tarog, Ulam’s director. The multiawarded indie director also directed Punerarya from SRR 12, which this reviewer called the “best local horror film” in 2010. (I would say the same of Ulam for 2014.)
And like in Punerarya, Carla Abellana’s performance in Ulam should be commended with a best actress nomination. Dennis Trillo should get a citation, too.