Angela Markado

Angela ( Hilda Koronel) works in a restaurant and cares for her sick mother when a group of thugs kidnapped her and raped her. She went through humiliating treatment in the hands of her tormentors before she was sold to white slavery. Lucky for Angela, she had a chance to escape when a raid happened in the "casa" ( house where the girls are kept). She tried to move on, not telling anybody why she disappeared for a week. Her mother died, apparently from exhaustion, and she kept mum about what happened to her, even to her friend. One night, her friend came running to her and claimed she was also raped by the same gang. Her friend didn't report to the police out of shame. Angela, now alone in life, went to live with her other friend who worked in a club. She started concocting revenge when she found a knife and some (ridiculous)disguises that she could use. Her revenge isn't without a hitch. Her second victim (Ruel Vernal, Koronel's tormentor also in Insiang) for example, did not die at once. The suspense builds up until the finale. Although the story is familiar ( is this based on a foreign movie?), the Filipino angle of "shame" ( nakakahiya) is played here. Unlike I Spit on Your Grave, which has almost the same storyline; Angela Merkado takes her revenge in the urban setting. But the same sweet revenge satisfies, as our protagonist go after her rapist one by one. Who could blame her? Indeed, Brocka as a director succeeds again in portraying a woman scorned, and knows how to get even.