Make Me Blush: Yam Laranas' The Road - Spinning Scary Yarns

Make Me Blush: Yam Laranas' The Road - Spinning Scary Yarns: It’s the detours that lead to the untrodden path. When Brian and Janine ( Derick Monasterio and Lexi Fernandez ) invite Ella ( Barbie Fort...

Todd’s Top 10 Movies You May Have Missed In 2011

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The Devil’s Double
While some people are quick to label stuff like “The Human Centipede II” as the most disturbing movie they’ve seen this year, I’m of the belief that director Lee Tamahori’s “The Devil’s Double” takes that honor. Even if a quarter of the brutally unsettling events portrayed in this visually stunning motion picture are true, it’s still beyond frightening. Dominic Cooper astounds as both Uday Hussein and his double Latif Yahia, the latter of whom went on to write a book about his life with the Saddam’s unbalanced offspring. Simply outstanding.

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Absentia
Don’t let Phase 4 Films’ awful DVD artwork fool you — writer/director Mike Flanagan’s drama isn’t an over-the-top supernatural thriller. In fact, “Absentia” is one of the few flicks this year that caused this seasoned review to shed a tear or two over the course of the feature. The story of a woman’s obsession with finding her missing husband is both eerie and emotional, a balance that is carefully managed by Flanagan’s intelligent script and steady direction. It’s movies like “Absentia” that make me glad that I write for a website like this.

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The Skin I Live In
Writer/director Pedro Almodóvar’s insanely abnormal melodrama seriously freaked me out. The film is oddly humorous, strangely erotic, and incredibly disturbing, often at the same time. At its core, the story is about obsession and its effect on the human psyche, and, for the most part, it works. Performances from Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya are razor sharp, and Almodóvar’s direction is suitably cold and detached. If you’re looking for something truly uncomfortable, “The Skin I Live In” is the ride to take.

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The Road
A few people have claimed that my recent review for “The Echo” director Yam Laranas’ outstanding ghost story was completely insincere, a fluff piece specifically designed to generate hype for a mediocre motion picture. That’s simply not the case. “The Road” is a genuinely scary, thoroughly enjoyable cinematic experience, and I’m not ashamed to share my excitement for the flick. As stale and redundant as the genre is at the moment, Laranas’ spooky endeavor arrived like a breath of fresh air. Do not let this one pass you by.

THE ROAD IN TOP 10

Dread Central's Best and Worst of 2011

Uncle Creepy's Picks

2011 was an odd year for movies, but not because there were many head-scratchers out there. The simple truth is this past year saw more good flicks than bad, and that in and of itself is quite the achievement. Still, several flicks rose above the crowd as both winners and stinkers, and I'm ready to give my take on the state of cinema for ya, right here right now, along with a few honorable and dishonorable mentions sprinkled in for flavor. In no particular order …

Super 8 - For me this flick was nothing short of pure magic and spectacle. It's a true love letter to everyone who grew up loving monsters and monster movies. Yes, it had that sickeningly sweet Spielbergian ending, but for my money the movie is just impossible not to love.

The Road - Though the film hasn't come out officially yet here in the States, this shriek-fest from director Yam Laranas ranks up there with not only some of the best films of this year, but quite possibly of the last several as well. It's beautifully shot and frightfully scary and intelligent; you guys need to do whatever you can to see this flick ASAP!

Stake Land - Who says vampires lack bite? Never mind the sparkling drama queens who rake in the dough at the box office, this is what the vampire sub-genre should be revered for. Thanks to over-exposure to legions of teenage girls and cougars alike, vampire projects have been universally defanged. If you need a reminder of just how terrifying these beasts can be, look no further.

Attack the Block - Every time the hyperbole wheels starts rolling for a foreign film that we've yet to see here Stateside, it becomes easy to be disappointed. Attack the Block is one of the few films I've ever seen that not only lives up to the hype, but it completely transcends it. It's really too bad that Sony didn't trust this one enough to give it a proper release. If you haven't seen this one yet or have been on the fence, go ahead. Blind buy it. You'll be thanking me right after your first of many viewings.

Troll Hunter - I know, I know. A third foreign flick on my best of list. What can I say? What's good is good, andTroll Hunter is simply great. In a sea of failed cinema verite movies, this flick gets everything right. There are moments in which you just won't believe your eyes. You'll be sitting there, mouth agape, in a state of awe. If that alone is not enough to be included here, then I don't know what is.

Honorable Mentions:
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Insidious, Paranormal Activity 3, Final Destination 5, Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The Rite - Any movie featuring the great Sir Anthony Hopkins playing a priest who is possessed by demonic forces should be a no brainer of a home run; yet, the makers of this atrocity still managed to find a way to make the film's events fall flatter than the sunny state of Florida. Horrid demon CGI, hammy performances, and the completely unusual usage of frogs for dramatic effect were enough to make The Rite the first film of 2011 to scrape the very bottom of the barrel.

The Roommate / The Resident - It's true we're only supposed to list five movies here, but damnit, even if you combine the similarities of these two shitfests (awful acting, no suspense, ridiculous events leading nowhere), they still don't amount to at least one halfway decent movie. If you're a true glutton for punishment, I wholeheartedly recommend setting up a double feature here. Just don't forget to sign your suicide note. You will be missed.

Rubber - Though critically acclaimed by nearly everyone and their grandmother, I fuckin' hated this movie. It's not high art, and it's nowhere near as smart as it likes to think it is. A story featuring a sentient tire with the uncanny ability to make people's heads explode should have been no less than a rip roaring good time. The filmmakers, however, had other plans. Instead of the mayhem-laden hilarity that should have permeated the screen, the fourth wall is broken to bits and a pretentious experiment in arthouse filmmaking rolls on a seemingly endless path to boredom. What anyone sees in this flick is completely beyond me.

Red Riding Hood - Holy shit. The word "rancid" comes to mind along with "putrid". When you have big name actors up on the screen delivering performances worthy of a school play, you know there's a problem. Here's your classic example of a flick that cares far more about how pretty it is than it does about delivering anything that even remotely resembles substance. Shallow, empty, and stupid, not even the biggest of metallic elephant torture devices could make this shell of a movie even slightly interesting.

Creature - For my money this could be one of the worst damned movies of all time. Here's the thing … you have a cool looking practical swamp monster out in the wild killing people. You have actors known to deliver quality performances. The only thing you have to do is roll the camera and let the mayhem begin. Not here. No way. There's no fun to be had, no events that take place which even remotely make sense, and little to no interaction between the guy in a friggin' suit and the actors of the movie. This is the biggest fuck up of a simple formula I think I've ever seen. It's astounding in its relentless pursuit of being as awful as possible and not in a good way. It's simply wretched.

Dishonorable Mentions:
Fright Night 2011, Zombie Diaries 2, Hellraiser: Revelations, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, The Howling Reborn

FROM FIZZLE TO SIZZLE

Laranas goes from fizzle to sizzle

By: Rito P. Asilo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

December 17, 2011 | 12:22 am

VILLAROEL (WITH VALERIO, LEFT). Most chillingly effective portrayal.

A director is only as good – or as bad – as his last film. Take Yam Laranas, whose “Patient X” we couldn’t make heads and tails out of. But, with the release of “The Road,” he goes from fizzle to sizzle – and gets his filmmaking moxie back!

Laranas’ latest cautionary chiller is a mosaic of unbridled horror that runs its course over a 20-year period. Three seemingly unconnected crime stories lead hardworking police investigator, Luis Medina (TJ Trinidad), to dead-ends and clues that initially draw red herrings. But, his persistence soon unveils secrets that bear potentially devastating repercussions for his promising career as a crime-buster!

The three-pronged mystery begins to unravel when three teenagers, Ella, Brian and Janine (Barbie Forteza, Derick Monasterio and Lexi Fernandez), encounter a driverless vehicle on a dirt road in the middle of the night. But, mirth turns to mayhem when strange apparitions start appearing – and following them wherever they go!

Stranger

In the second episode, sisters Lara (Rhian Ramos) and Joy (Louise delos Reyes) are forced to fight for their lives after they’re abducted by the baby-faced stranger (Alden Richards) whose help they seek out after their car breaks down.

As the investigator digs deeper, however, his sleuthing takes him another decade back – to the disturbing tale of a soft-spoken preacher-father (Marvin Agustin), his abusive, adulterous wife (Carmina Villaroel), and their petrified young son (Renz Valerio).

Despite its share of flaws and some lapses in “practical logic” (Rhian runs in the middle of the road as her abductor gives chase, etc.), the film has a riveting fictional framework whose gripping sections can stand on their own, each with distinctive hues and color palettes that help establish the required mood and atmosphere.

But, there’s more to the episodes than their visual flourishes and technical polish – their narratives flow gracefully as they convey a persistent and stomach-churning sense of disquiet!

Laranas executes each twist with subtlety and confidence – and there are quite a number of them to jolt viewers out of their seats.

But, his bigger accomplishment lies in the fact that he’s turned the annoying leads of “Tween Academy” into attractive stars and credible actors – most notably Valerio and Richards, who are ready for bigger and better roles.

Trinidad, Ramos, Agustin and the lovely Ynna Asistio also come off well – but, the most effective portrayal is turned in by Carmina Villaroel, who is scarier than any contravida (villain) we’ve seen in years! How can anyone so lovely be so terrifying?

WHIRLWIND

The Road is now starting to take baby steps. Slowly. It was a wild ride from start of production all the way to post and it's release in the Philippines.

I'm taking a break. No twitter. No Facebook -  indefinitely. Peace and quiet. Focus on The Road and on the path it will travel to.

I can't wait for 2012.

GOING OUT ON THE ROAD

GOING OUT

Nobody leaves The Road

Text by Tessa De Guzman

Three teenagers out on an illicit joyride; two young women indulging in some sisterly bonding; a promising police investigator determined to prove himself. What do they have in common? Traversing Yam Laranas' timeless, bucolic The Road, they all discover that, once here, "Nobody leaves".

The first episode begins closest to our present time. Police investigator Luis (TJ Trinidad) is awarded a medal of valor. A grieving mother (Jacklyn Jose) approaches him to probe deeper into her children's 12-year disappearance. He is puzzled that his fellow investigators dismiss her. Why?

Still in this timeline: harmless teenage hijinks spiral out of control when Janine (Lexi Fernandez) and her boyfriend Brian (Derick Montaserio) steal Janine's worse-for-wear family car for a nighttime spin. Wary of Brian and protective of Janine, younger Ella (Barbie Forteza) chaperones; though they are not sisters, Ella seems to enjoy a favored ward-like status in their house and is brought along as a useful "shield" should the teens run into trouble. Though it's not what they anticipated, trouble promptly ensues—the moment they make a turn to a lonely country road surrounded by endless black.

The next episode, ten years earlier, revolves around a young man (Alden Richards), a troubled relationship with an old house, and a sudden encounter with two sisters (Rhian Ramos and Louise delos Reyes).

The final episode takes us to the very beginning ofThe Road's journey: a simpler time in a small town, where it's perfectly run-of-the-mill to go out para manood ng mga paru-paro (to watch butterflies) and a young boy to have a surreal, isolated upbringing filled alternately with magic and madness.

I won't say any more about the movie here except to give my own thoughts. The Road rests comfortably in the genres of light Asian horror and heavy drama. I say light because—I won't deny it—I'm a horror film lightweight, and yet I managed to watch most of this film not through my hands, hair, or the filtering fibers of my sweater. As for the heavy drama—I keep thinking about the familial/interpersonal dynamics that really, more than anything else, propelled this film surely and steadily to its strange conclusion.

Many of the seasoned actors deftly hurdled their own star-hood to deliver memorable, resonant performances. Newcomers held their own, particularly the chillingly still Alden Richards. The best moments occurred with minimal or no dialogue, when feelings and meanings were imparted through looks and nuanced gestures. There is also an unforgettable scene when two female protagonists realize they are in danger. Here, the film shines in a detached portrayal of horror, unique to my eyes.

It's a great piece of episodic storytelling. The opening credits were refreshingly graphic and very interesting to watch. The film's soundscape, most crucial to this genre, is masterfully executed with the right levels of silence and ambient noise to recreate this unsettling sensation of being alone yet not alone. Punctuated by sudden, orchestral assaults which are expected but effective nonetheless—delivered with brio by Johan Söderqvist of Let The Right One In.

As we go further and further back a decade at a time, Yam Laranas' moody cinematography colludes with time-neutral production design and costuming to make this all feel somehow like a lost memory. This being Yam Laranas' third horror film in a row, I would be very interested to see him explore and lend his perspective on the human drama to other genres.

Perhaps the most frightening thing about The Road is how familiar it all is, because we've been there: on our way somewhere else, at an ungodly hour, we found ourselves down a bumpy road illuminated only by the arcs of our headlamps, our fears thriving in the overwhelming darkness beyond; any second now, we might chance upon a woman walking by herself, or a creepy house half-hidden by a garden wild with neglect; the car might stop, there's no signal, and you don't dare look in the rearview mirror. 

The Road is produced by GMA Films and is now showing in theaters nationwide. 

THE ROAD SCORES A WIN

Yam Laranas scores a win in ‘The Road’

by Isah V. Red Several years ago, Yam Laranas was the loudest buzz in the local movie industry after his film Sigaw had been acquired by Hollywood producers for adaptation. Add to that was the fact that he was also tapped to direct the American version of the film. The result was The Echo, though not given a wide release, became a cult film among horror movies aficionados, going around festivals dedicated to the gothic genre and winning accolades from critics. Three years later, Laranas is back in harness and making audiences scream in terror with his new opus simply titled The Road. If Sigaw and Echo were about a haunted apartment, what is The Road all about? Laranas explores the idea of terror in this sleek horror-thriller. No, there are no supernatural creatures that terrorize the other characters in the story, there is just a crime that for many years has not been solved, and the perpetrator is still on the loose. The police is baffled. So is the father of the character played by Tween star Barbie Forteza after receiving a call from her in the middle of the night asking for help. Even the audience is confounded as Forteza disappears from the screen after nearly 25 them endlessly. She is with Derrick Monasterio and Lexie Fernandez who spirited the car without permission for a good time. When Derrick and Lexie die in terror, the action shifts to Rhian Ramos and Louise de los Reyes in car that breaks down in the middle of the road. This is in a different era and Laranas wants us to take a closer look as this can provide us a clue on what happened to Monasterio, Fernandez, and Forteza. The sisters see a man walking and ask him if he could help them with their car. Without saying much, he leads them to a house. As soon as the two girls are in the house, they are subjected to a mind-boggling and terrifying torture. Richards seem to be a docile man, but inwardly he is sick and wanted to inflict pain on his victims. Again, this baffles us because there seems to be no direct connection to the previous scenes with the three younger actors. Yet, we suspect something, this could be the ghosts that haunt the road, but why? Laranas takes us to an even earlier time, at home, with a strange family. A kid, played by Renz Valerio, wonders why her mother, Carmina Villarroel, forbids her to talk to strangers, even to the laundrywoman, Yna Asistio. As punishment for even trying to connect to her, she is locked in a closet. Valerios’s father, Marvin Agustin, tries to talk to Villarroel about not being to hard on their son, but to no avail. What happens after adds even more to the baffling issue of how are this connected to the three. When finally, Laranas takes us back to the present, we are able to breathe in relief. Forteza finally finds herself again, and the police wonder how she was able to be in the place, Oh, there’s one character we failed to mention, that of TJ Trinidad, a policeman helping in the investigation of the crime. What he does to his fellow policeman at the end of the movie answered the question. No, Laranas isn’t interested in a police story, he is interested in how people behave in terror. World-class feature The Road is perhaps the first local movie I’ve seen in years that I didn’t feel the urge to go out of the theater after the first 15 minutes. I would have if I wanted to, but something was telling me to stay so I can find out what the terror was all about. Is it a ghost, a creature, or is it all in the mind of Forteza, Fernandez, and Monasterio. But Fernandez and Monasterio have died, so it leaves Forteza to tell the story, but can she? Forteza surprises us with an honest performance. No, she’s not the tween star we see on TV, but more of the young actress that delivers the kind of performance serious critics should notice. She reminds us of Dakota Fanning in her younger years starring in terrifying thriller Hide and Seek with Robert DeNiro. While the role is not lengthy enough to show more of what Forteza can do, I think it’s enough that directors like Laranas is able to see beyond the ‘tween stars sweet-young girl image. Alden Richards is in my opinion the biggest revelation in the movie. With nary a dialogue, he is able to imprint his character on the audience’s memory bits as the disturbed murderous teen who tortures to death Rhian Ramos and Louise de los Reyes. Richards, in creating this character, makes a prototype for other actors who are dreaming of portraying a significantly different character. Yet, the actor that makes a big mark for us is the young boy played by Renz Valerio. Physically abused by his mother (Villarroel) and unable to be protected by his preacher-father (Agustin) we empathize with the young boy’s confusion and inability to discern love from punishment. He is also unable to tell his father of his mother’s infidelity lest he upsets her. And even after her death, he can still see her unaware of what his father did to her. It seems Laranas wrote the policeman role for TJ Trinidad. And he delivers exactly the kind of performance that I like in movies. With no frills but more substance, Trinidad’s menacing character is hooded by his good looks and we are left with no inkling of what he is really made of and what he can do until the last minutes of the film. Laranas, apparently has picked up many things about filmmaking while making The Echo. He is now able to tell a story without too much bending to the whims of producers who want movies to be really so damn sophomoric you’d want to puke at th end. Here’s a film that explores the gothic and thriller genres, fusing them to make a really terrifying experience for the audience. This is way too ahead not by just a mile but by millions of miles of other local films shown in theaters. Why? I don’t want to give a lecture on films, it will just spoil your enthusiasm for The Road. Watch it, and take note of how Laranas dressed up his sets, how he photographed and edited it, Add to that the music that adds to the atmosphere of the film…And you probably will say…no... this isn’t a Tagalog movie.

THE ROAD TO FILMCRITIC.COM

"This dichotomy, this strategy of placing the gorgeous next to the grotesque is what makes The Road worth a look."

The Road (2011)

Reviewed by Bill Gibron on Dec 1 2011

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Bill Gibron

Bill Gibron is a veteran film critic from Tampa, Florida.

full bio of Bill Gibron

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.