On the "Shake, Rattle and Roll" tradition

So, to continue with an old Christmas tradition, my cousin Joey and I dragged my brothers and sister with us to watch Shake, Rattle and Roll 12 and Dalaw. We left a couple of hours after Christmas lunch, forgetting, again, that people do come out in droves for the Metro Manila Film Festival and that it would have been smart to reserve tickets in advance. I don’t know about you, but for me that’s a happy problem.

This year, like last year, we had to go to two malls. At the first mall, Shake, Rattle and Roll 12 wasn’t showing and tickets to Dalaw cost P500. I mean, I love Philippine cinema and I’m all for supporting it, but not that much just yet. So, off we went to another nearby mall.

At our second stop, the lines were so long, we didn’t even try. Thank God for Ayala Malls’ sureseats.com! The good news: We managed to book six tickets to Dalaw at 8:55pm and Shake, Rattle and Roll 12 at 11:30pm. The bad news: It was only 4pm. For my brothers, though, it was a happy problem.

 By the time we settled in our seats for the first film, we were tired from all the shopping and eating and walking around, but so ready to be entertained. That worked out great for the film franchise, because the contented little piglets we were, we were an easy crowd to please—and God knows Shake, Rattle and Roll 12 needed its audience to be nice!

The film still followed the old format of three-in-one, and, like the latter installments of the franchise, was infused with a dash of indie spirit—though not the sort that brings films to Cannes.

 The first segment, Mamanyika, was directed by Zoren Legaspi. It tells the story of an already dysfunctional family that finds itself haunted by a possessed monster doll that was found by the youngest daughter in a dug up grave. Big Sister (Shaina Magdayao) is suspicious of the doll from the onset and her suspicions are confirmed when she sees the doll move and talk. Unfortunately, nobody believes her right away, especially not Baby Sister, who’s incredibly lonely after their mother’s death. Most of the film’s energy is directed towards Shaina’s difficulty to convince her family that the doll was going to be the death of them, so when the doll turns vengeful monster on them (with lines like, “I’m your Mama Doll!”), it’s hard not to feel like the entire segment was like riding a rolling coaster’s final fall from its highest peak. Yes, that’s another way of saying, “It’s all downhill from the beginning.” I have to say, though, that Legaspi does a great job at composing scenes and building up suspenseful moments.

And one added treat is seeing Rita Avila play a role that’s close to her real life drama: In 2007, Rita lost the baby boy she prayed so hard to have after losing her firstborn due to a miscarriage; she was known for some time to have three stuffed dolls, Mimay, Popoy and Pony, that she took care of like children.

 The second segment, Isla, was directed by Topel Lee. I’m not sure how much of it Lee had a final say on, but it was the weirdest segment in the trio, not because of its story, but because of how the scenes were put together. But first, the plot: two party girls and their brokenhearted teenage friend go to an isolated island that, apparently, is home to an engkanto king that has a penchant for teenage beauties. He kidnaps the brokenhearted girl (the captivating Andi Eigenmann, who was a cut above the rest of her castmates and seemed to belong in another film, even when they were all in the same scene!) and the guy who once lost his girlfriend the same way comes to her rescue.

This segment’s strength lies in Andi’s acting, the film’s location and the special effects. The weakness? Nobody remembered to hire a continuity editor. If you pay attention to the many shifts from night to day in the film, you’d get a total of around 10 days—with three outfit changes! And that’s the least of it.

 Finally, the third segment, Punerarya is directed by Jerrold Tarog, who’s had some success in the indie scene. In this film, a group of aswang are trying to be legit by running a funeral parlor. They hire a tutor (Carla Abellana) for the two aswang children and their secret is suddenly threatened. This, by far, is my favorite Shake, Rattle and Roll segment in 10 years. It stays true to the aswang myth, makes good use of the element of “yuck” without trying too hard (watch out for the scene that shows dogs gobbling innards), and has a completely believable twist!

I’d rate this installment a 7 out of 10, compared to last year’s not so memorable one. But like I said, I was with a nice crowd.

I’m changing phone numbers, but in the meantime you can reach me at [email protected].