The creeps in Reality Entertainment’s horror movie, “Resureksyon”, are probably just planned bits of distraction of surprisingly overwhelming amount, that could hardly fit in the movie’s miniature-ish sphere of good intentions.
There’s probably an admirable cause deployed to propel its narrative toward achieving something past its visual feat, taking in delicate social subjects to tackle, such as OFW’s’ returning home as corpses, but that sentiment eventually perishes in the presence of the more imminent complications emanating from the film’s earlier arguments.
The film follows the story of an OFW woman (Isabel Daz) who arrives in the Philippines as a corpse, only to rise up and transform to a vampire, thus begin veiling the whole town in dreadful scare. It’s hard to say Daza is commendable portraying the role, especially when her intention, and what brought her back, isn’t clearly discussed.
She’s a far cry from Jasmine Curtis, who has displayed some nod-worthy acting chops here. There’s a persistent string of expositional flaws but the dim glossiness and crispness of the film’s shots serve as effective cover-up for the film’s narrative failure.
It’s also worth-noting that the fight scenes and chase sequences here are decently captured and staged, which can already be regarded an artistic advancement for a filipino film.
Paulo Avelino takes the role of an investigator tasked to find clues about the spreading infestation, while also fighting his inner battles.
Amid of its imperfections, the film delivers some hair-raising, not just scares, but also surprising sentiments, that would surely creep your heart out. On moments when it shreds its most heart-pounding scares, it also sheds light on some unanswered questions that previously maligned the film’s flawed line of proceedings. The grim-inspired eerie conjures up a haunting atmosphere that magnifies the intent of the film, and helps delivering some sense that would surely hit some emotional nerve.
There’s also an unspoken sarcasm, one that implicitly questions some practices both of the state and the church, depicted fibers of social realities gleaming in the midst of an even darker and bigger scope covered by the narrative’s entirety.
The fear is real in “Resureksyon”, even magnified by its makers’ effective of use of its visual resources. The dark palette, the humor injected in between critical places, the build up toward the climax, all these, are beautiful, though stark, elements that make the film, beyond palatable.
It doesn’t feed solely on the same indigenous material that made the authentic feel of the old “SRR” films, but it also try, not just to recreate the relatable creeps of the past, but upgrade them to something the modern audience can easily identify.
RATING: 7/10 (JE)
