"This dichotomy, this strategy of placing the gorgeous next to the grotesque is what makes The Road worth a look."
The Road (2011)
A troubled man with an unspoken history returns a decorated police hero. A group of typical teenagers go joy riding...and run into a sinister supernatural situation. Spirits rise and secrets are revealed. It all collides along an abandoned stretch of tarmac which has an unsettling legacy involving a decades old missing persons case. Thus we have the set-up for Philippine writer/director Yam Laranas' gloomy ghost story The Road. Reminiscent of the better J-horror efforts from the '90s, this sectional spook show has mood and atmosphere to spare. While the story doesn't always live up to the filmmaking, the overall effect is stark and suspenseful.
When a car full of kids go missing in a notorious section of street off the metropolitan beaten path, newly promoted policeman Luis (TJ Trinidad) is put in charge of discovering what happened. He has also been given a notorious cold case from 12 year before that follows a similar fact pattern. Suddenly, we shift back in time to the original crime. A clearly disturbed young man lures a pair of sisters into his rundown family home and proceeds to torture and torment them. We then move even further back into the past to learn how this casual psychopath became so unhinged. The truth, and its connection to the current crimes will link heritage with horror in a way no one can anticipate.
At first, The Road plays like a dozen other Asian fright films. It offers bloody spirits, paranormal peculiarities, spooky visions, and a real sense of superstition and family fear. As we move from the present to the past, we learn of horrific abuse, unnatural acts, and a linage of lies that lets one man slip through the system. Though the narrative is never as clear cut as to explain things outright, the results do speak for themselves. Over the course of 109 minutes, Laranas leads the viewer through a maze of unsettling questions and even more disturbing insinuated answers. Again, nothing is spelled out specifically ala the standard Hollywood genre film. Instead, Laranas believes in the power of his visuals to disturb and delight - and for the most part, they do.
Where the movie bogs down a bit is in the middle act. Here, we learn of the 12 year old cold case that more or less defines everything and it's a bit overwrought and unfocused. Perhaps Laranas wanted to make us feel as uneasy and frightened as the kidnapped girls. Maybe, when put in a situation where a killer plays cat and mouse with his victims, he realized he didn't have much to work with. If there is a point where The Road could lose a few minutes to more easily conform to our typical ideas of terror, it is here. Instead, Laranas indulges his desire to work within dark, disturbing areas and the movie is really no better for it.
Luckily, the bookend sections are sensational - well managed and manipulated for maximum viewer reaction. The trio of teens play their parts perfectly, offering a nice combination of disorientation and naive determination. Similarly, the origins of our situation are handled in an unusual combination of brightness and the bizarre. One minute, a little boy is watching an attractive relative, surrounded by butterflies, as she washes clothes. The next, he is being scolded and stuck in a cupboard by his clearly deranged mother. This dichotomy, this strategy of placing the gorgeous next to the grotesque is what makes The Road worth a look. It might not be traveling down any new horror highways, but at least in this case, the path taken is polished enough to work...and work well.
At first, The Road plays like a dozen other Asian fright films. It offers bloody spirits, paranormal peculiarities, spooky visions, and a real sense of superstition and family fear. As we move from the present to the past, we learn of horrific abuse, unnatural acts, and a linage of lies that lets one man slip through the system. Though the narrative is never as clear cut as to explain things outright, the results do speak for themselves. Over the course of 109 minutes, Laranas leads the viewer through a maze of unsettling questions and even more disturbing insinuated answers. Again, nothing is spelled out specifically ala the standard Hollywood genre film. Instead, Laranas believes in the power of his visuals to disturb and delight - and for the most part, they do.
Where the movie bogs down a bit is in the middle act. Here, we learn of the 12 year old cold case that more or less defines everything and it's a bit overwrought and unfocused. Perhaps Laranas wanted to make us feel as uneasy and frightened as the kidnapped girls. Maybe, when put in a situation where a killer plays cat and mouse with his victims, he realized he didn't have much to work with. If there is a point where The Road could lose a few minutes to more easily conform to our typical ideas of terror, it is here. Instead, Laranas indulges his desire to work within dark, disturbing areas and the movie is really no better for it.
Luckily, the bookend sections are sensational - well managed and manipulated for maximum viewer reaction. The trio of teens play their parts perfectly, offering a nice combination of disorientation and naive determination. Similarly, the origins of our situation are handled in an unusual combination of brightness and the bizarre. One minute, a little boy is watching an attractive relative, surrounded by butterflies, as she washes clothes. The next, he is being scolded and stuck in a cupboard by his clearly deranged mother. This dichotomy, this strategy of placing the gorgeous next to the grotesque is what makes The Road worth a look. It might not be traveling down any new horror highways, but at least in this case, the path taken is polished enough to work...and work well.
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