Shake, Rattle & Roll hits its 'lucky 13'

MANILA, Philippines - Regal Films’ Shake, Rattle & Roll holds the distinction of being the longest-standing Filipino film franchise.

Nevertheless, when the franchise released its first installment in 1984, Regal Films matriarch Lily Monteverde never thought it would reach its present 13th edition, but she knew that the concept would find a following. “Deep inside, I knew it would click with Filipino audiences because of its concept and theme,” Mother Lily told The STAR. 

The same belief is shared by her daughter, Roselle Monteverde-Teo. The executive producer believes it is the concept of Shake, Rattle & Roll (SRR) that made it last this long, becoming a “tradition” for many a Filipino moviegoer during Christmastime when the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) unreels.

“Maybe because it’s different from the regular horror fare because there are three different stories in one movie. We also try to satisfy viewers in every edition that we do. We do our research, etc. With the directors, we give them all the freedom (to) deliver a good material, great storytelling within a reasonable budget,” she said.

SRR has presented some of the most iconic monsters now in Philippine cinema. 

Through the years, we have seen evil in various incarnations, as immortalized in cinema history by SRR. You have the mysterious, old and possessed refrigerator that abuses attractive but hapless women in the 1984 SRR episode Prigidyer, which was directed by the late Ishmael Bernal, and starred Janice de Belen and the late Charito Solis.

Then monsters can even assume the form of the people around you via the episodes Yaya, Ate, Guro and Kapitbahay from the SRR films of 1991 and 1992 featuring the directing tandem of Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes. Then you have horror right smack in the city, with a midnight train leading to nowhere and with a hungry meat-eating monster waiting to pounce and devour its unlucky 13 passengers in the LRT episode of the 2006 SRR helmed by Mike Tuviera.

According to Teo, the most unforgettable monster character out of the SRR franchise, however, is Undin from the Nanay episode of SRR 3 in 1991, co-directed again by Gallaga and Reyes.

Jay Manalo (left) and Eugene Domingo in Rain, Rain, Go Away. (Inset) Water demons trying to break free in the episode

Starring Manilyn Reynes, it tells the story of a sea creature called Undin who runs amok and goes on a killing spree after her eggs are disturbed and removed from their habitat. Undin would hide and creep out of toilets then eliminate victims by spurting acidic saliva onto their bodies.

Teo said that this year, it’s another set of monsters — from creatures in the forests, to ghosts, to witches — in what has been said to be the final SRR film.

In SRR 13’s Rain, Rain, Go Away, moviegoers will experience dread and fright brought about by the demons in a pool. To heighten the tense atmosphere, its director Chris Martinez chose to utilize live special effects, not computer-generated visual images.  

The episode required a lot of water scenes, and for the episode’s star Eugene Domingo, shooting them in a specially-constructed giant pool gave her the creeps. “Takot na takot ako sa ginawa ko. Feeling namin, katapusan na ng buhay namin habang nakikipaglaban kami sa ilalim ng tubig. Without telling you the whole story, the episode ay may connection sa Ondoy at sa mga nabiktima ng Ondoy.”

In the episode titled Tamawo, a new breed of rural creatures is introduced, terrorizing the episode’s stars Zanjoe Marudo and Maricar Reyes, who play a married couple, after they uncover a dark secret in their new home. Tamawo is an Ilonggo term for evil creatures and the episode is megged by Ilonggo director Richard Somes.

In the Parola episode, on the other hand, bad elements roam free in a cursed lighthouse. A gang of youngsters accidentally ends up in the lighthouse, and it has been said, that whoever finds himself there, is damned for life as well.

The makeup and costumes were so realistic, said Dimples Romana, one of the cast members that also include Kathryn Bernardo and Sam Concepcion, that even when she knew that it was all makeup, she still screamed at the sight of her co-stars. The episode is directed by Jerrold Tarog, who also directed last year’s Punerarya episode.

An MMFF entry, Shake, Rattle & Roll 13 opens on Christmas Day, Dec. 25.