Strangely, in Ilocos

Barang should be an interesting, unexplored subject, given that it's very dark, very tropical gothic, and very visual! How can you go wrong with a horror film that features curses that would put cockroaches, worms, and other such creatures underneath a person's skin? How can you go wrong with a dark art that's stronger than the ordinary hexes of the mangkukulam?

Nana Ursula, skilled in the dark arts of barang, dispenses with her hexes by spitting out spider-like creatures at her oblivious victims or by way of the gifting them with a bowl of earthworms magically disguised as laing. Now, why laing, a dish decidedly Bicolano, instead of something more Ilocano, like papaitan for instance, which, more sinisterly than the shrimp, gabi leaves, and coconut milk of laing, is flavored by freshly squeezed bile? Is Nana Ursula Bicolano? The movie doesn't say. And if so, what's she doing in a tiny little nipa hut in the outskirts of Vigan, which is at the opposite side of Luzon? Barang, directed by Neal "Buboy" Tan (whose filmography includes such films as Takaw-tingin, Tag-init, Karelasyon, Check-Inn, Puri, Kalabit, and Marital Rape), is the initial offering of Chavit Singson's Northern Star Productions. I just had to watch it for a number of reasons, apart from my being a horror nut: the supporting cast list is impressive, it's shot in Vigan (and, since it's produced by Singson, I thought he'd have something new and interesting to show about his turf apart from its famous tourist spots), it's the first film of a newbie outfit (which I always naively assume to be a breath of fresh air), and, well, it's perfect for Halloween.

The film opens with Igna (Juliana Palermo) dying out of a mysterious ailment that leaves her a severely disfigured corpse. There are loud whispers (literally) that maybe she was a victim of barang, but despite spooky appearances of Igna's ghost, nobody really cares to investigate. Nana Ursula then proceeds to hex another man, whose wife calls in Ramona the manghihilot (Jaclyn Jose) who has sells her potions, oils, and related concoctions, with the help of her son Tikboy, outside the town church. It is then established that Ramona had tried to help Igna, but failed. Such is the power of the mambabarang, I hear. No ordinary manghihilot can dislodge her curse.

Meanwhile, a group of Manileños (I assume) make their way to the town. One of them, Thalia, is an old friend of Igna. They haven't seen each other in eight years. Thalia has no idea her friend is dead (and I'm not sure if she knows Igna was sick either), so when they finally arrive at the Singson mansion (which served as the setting for Igna's home), she receives the second shock of her Vigan stay.

As if the aswang that ran their car into a tree on the way wasn't traumatizing enough (I should think it was, since they totally forgot they left one of their friends in the "haunted" forest when they sped away), one of them, Olga (Christine Reyes) earns the ire of Nana Ursula and proceeds to convulse and vomit green goo. Enter Ramona, this time armed with a buntot ng pagi the town fool unexplainably gave her to her son. She beats Nana Ursula and her hexes away. The movie should have ended here, but what were Nana Ursula's motives?

Cue the entrance of the disfigured Lumen (Ma. Isabel Lopez), who just out of the blue happens by the mansion and tells everyone the story of how Igna, the fervent church-goer that she was, turned out to be such a bitch towards Nana Ursula's adopted son Elmo (Jay Manalo), who was in love with her. Igna cattily turned him down, and the slighted Elmo hung himself, and thus, the chip on Nana Ursula's shoulder. Now what does that have to do with Thalia? Nothing really, except that it explains Igna's death.

But wait, there's more for Thalia to discover, and while it really has nothing to do with the mambabarang this time, the director and scriptwriter apparently saw it fit to devote a third of the film to a diary, a necklace, and Thalia and Igna's secret familial connection. (I'm thinking this is where Elizabeth Oropesa should have appeared; because even if she is credited, I swear I can't remember where!). Obviously, I find the story convoluted. This is unfortunate because barang should be an interesting, unexplored subject, given that it's very dark, very tropical gothic, and very visual! How can you go wrong with a horror film that features curses that would put cockroaches, worms, and other such creatures underneath a person's skin? How can you go wrong with a dark art that's stronger than the ordinary hexes of the mangkukulam?

Moreover, while I appreciate Singson's promotion of his turf, it didn't help the film any because of two reasons: first, the movie didn't even fuse itself to the folklore and mythology of Ilocos, so viewers just get glimpses of a beautiful place instead of being treated to the effects required of a proper setting; and second, there was really nothing Ilocano about it, not the food, not the people, not the language, and, yes, not even barang. Email your comments to [email protected]. Or you may post them at http://channelsurfing-freeman.blogspot.com.