FILIPINO HORROR has been a longstanding genre built upon traditional folklore, history, culture and social commentaries. It has been an avenue to showcase excellent storytelling and artistry and to give viewers bone-chilling experience of the great unknown.
This Halloween season, The Flame spotlights applauded classics and new age cinema you can add to your horror binge.
Espantaho (2024) by Chito Roño
Espantaho or ‘scarecrow’ is the most recent horror film directed by Chito Roño and written by Chris Martinez available to watch on Netflix. Their second full-length film together, it premiered at the 50th Metro Manila Film Festival.
It follows the story of Monet (Judy Ann Santos) and her mother Rosa (Lorna Tolentino) and emphasizes the traditional Filipino funeral rite pasiyam, or nine-day novena as their family grieves over the death of Pabling, their patriarch and father of Monet. Things take a morbid turn when Monet’s husband Jack (JC Santos) leaves for business and forgets a mysterious painting of a scarecrow from an unknown painter in the mansion. One by one, strange disappearances occur within Monet’s family as secrets and affairs are unearthed.
The film captures not only the fright of the paranormal painting, but also the emotional journey of a household. It propels the narrative forward by navigating the family’s chaotic past.
In My Mother’s Skin (2023) by Kenneth Dagatan
A taste of folk horror set during World War 2, the story follows Tala, a young girl who lives in a secluded mansion with her family and becomes the caretaker of her sickly mother. As war continues, food becomes increasingly scarce. In desperation, Tala turns to a forest fairy for help, unaware of its hidden scheme to devour her family.
In My Mother’s Skin takes historical elements and blends it with the otherworldly, letting the paranormal leave room for speculation as the perspective of a child creates an uneasiness that unfolds into the story’s macabre.
The film was the only non-English film presented under the Midnight section of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, an event held in Salt Lake City, Utah that premiers international movies. In My Mother’s Skin was also the sole Filipino feature film at the film festival. The movie is available on Amazon Prime.
Clarita (2019) by Derick Cabrido
Based on one of the earliest account of possession in the country, Clarita is often hailed as the Filipino counterpart to William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973) for its take on possession and the occult.
Clarita, played by Jodi Sta. Maria, is a young woman imprisoned in Manila City Jail on prostitution charges. Soon after her arrest, bizarre things begin to happen in the prison. Her behaviour turns erratic and jail personnel begin to believe she has been possessed. They call two priests to perform an exorcism, and through their ritual, they must confront the past in order to save her.
While religious horror has been a prominent genre for Filipino film, with movies like The Healing (2012) and Seklusyon (2016), none quite touch on it like Clarita, which leans into the fear of evil and a person’s grip on faith. The film is available to watch on Netflix and YouTube.
Eerie (2019) by Mikhail Red
At an all-girls Catholic school, a series of unexplained deaths catches the attention of guidance counselor Pat Consolacion (Bea Alonzo). Gifted with the ability to communicate with spirits, Pat meets Eri (Gillian Vicencio), a deceased student whose story is tied with the institution’s dark past.
Although Eerie has its share of jump scares, much of its horror comes from the mystery surrounding the school’s past that Pat uncovers as she investigates the cases. Each revelation adds to the tension of the film as it lives up to its title.
Beyond its supernatural elements, Eerie presents a different kind of horror by revealing how the very people entrusted with the students can become their greatest threat, proving that the living can be far more frightening than the dead. Eerie is available for streaming on Netflix.
Maria Leonora Teresa (2014) by Wenn Deramas
Three parents, Faith (Iza Calzado), Stella (Jodi Sta. Maria) and Julio (Zanjoe Marudo), lose their children in a tragic bus accident. To help the grieving cope with their loss, psychiatrist Manolo Apacible (Cris Villanueva) offers each of them a doll that resembles their deceased child. Initially offering comfort, the dolls’ presence eventually takes a sinister turn when they begin coming to life.
During Undas, Filipinos visit cemeteries to remember their loved ones who passed away. But in Maria Leonora Teresa, the dead refuse to rest, making their way back into the life they left behind through their doll counterparts.
The film draws inspiration from Philippine pop culture. In the 1970s, Tirso Cruz III gave Nora Aunor a three-foot ceramic face doll named Maria Leonora Theresa, which their fans regarded as their child. Director Wenn Deramas later used the doll’s name for his horror film, bringing a familiar piece of showbiz history into an entirely different, darker story. The film is available to stream on YouTube and Apple TV.
Aswang episode of Shake, Rattle, and Roll II: (1990) by Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes
Monica (Ana Roces) invites her friend Portia (Manilyn Reynes) to her hometown for a vacation, just in time for the local fiesta. Despite the warm welcome from Monica’s family, Portia discovers that her friend’s household is made up of aswangs, and that she was brought to the town to become a sacrifice for a ritual she now needs to escape from.
Regarded as one of the best installments of the Shake Rattle and Roll franchise, Aswang made its mark due to its terrifying folk realism. With Rez Cortez’ performance as the village chieftain, many 90’s kids’ childhoods have been marked by his sinister charisma.
Stories about aswangs have long been part of Filipino folklore, often passed down through generations to warn children about creatures lurking beyond the safety of their homes. Directors Gallaga and Reyes intensify this warning by weaving it into a familiar Filipino setting of a fiesta and tight-knit community.
Ultimately, Aswang shows how one should be wary of the seemingly normal and to think twice about the people we trust, for there might be something far evil lurking within. The film is available to watch on Regal Entertainment’s YouTube channel. F
