Review: Mag-ingat Ka Sa... Kulam (1/5)

I thought we have progressed from shallow scares and awful special effects (the ketchup-looking blood and the flat CGI effects) after decent chillers like “Feng Shui” and “Sukob” has taken center stage, but Jun Lana’s “Mag-ingat Ka Sa… Kulam” reminds us that the “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” era is far from over.

Mira (Judy Ann Santos) is having bouts with amnesia after meeting a car accident. She returns home to her husband and blind daughter (Dennis Trillo and Sharlene San Pedro) where she is forcibly pitted against her demons. She needs to stabilize her precarious relationship with his family and must make peace with a mysterious longhaired woman (Think of Sadako with gray highlights.) who is connected to her past.

During the first act, we scramble with Mira in searching for the pieces of the puzzle to solve her ordeal. A relatively promising start, but old habits prevail. We are soon introduced to a resident clairvoyant, a staple in every horror flick. Flashbacks and plenty of it. Repetitive ‘panaginip lang pala’ scenes. Random and utterly meaningless apparitions. These devices have been used countless times in horror movies. I guess it’s high time to retire them.

Despite the much-lauded ‘clever twist’ (clever according to the ‘masa’ viewers), the film is no better than the recent incarnation or the old “Shake, Rattle, and Roll”. It remains uninspired, dry, and passé.