Aswang

You could call this movie like "Rosamary's Baby", only done way worse. Not saying that "Aswang" is an horrible movie though, on the contrary actually. It's being saved by the fact that it's taking an original approach to a well known genre, without ever becoming a great movie as well though.

The movie is being a big of a mixed bag. On the one hand it's being a quite original and also atmospheric movie but on the other, it isn't a really well told one. It's a movie that takes a more slow approach but in its slower moments it doesn't manage to build up any tension. The movie is really lacking in some good interesting mystery and some well done horror. It doesn't make this the most interesting movie to watch.

With a more experienced director at the helm this movie would already had been a better one. A more experienced director would had know how to handle this story more properly and make it a more interesting and effective movie. Instead now the storytelling is too often lacking in its pace and approach.

Still it remains a somewhat refreshing movie to watch, due to its original take on the genre and also because it often isn't holding back on its gore. I therefore still consider this movie to be a watchable one and even a recommendable one as well, especially when you also consider that this was an extremely low-budget production.

6/10

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I had never heard of this film, I must confess. The 90s were a horrible dry time for horror, but this isn't bad at all. It's pure schlock, frustrating at times and plot exposition isn't handled as well as it could be, but it's worth a watch if you like obscure horror.

The film plays like a cross between The Evil Dead (with the backwoods, claustrophobic feel and some 'running fast with the camera' bits) and the superior recent French movie Inside (the central concept, albeit given a supernatural angle). It's quite professionally done (although due to a lot of the nonsense I subject myself to, my standards are low!), the effects are good enough and the performances capable. Some of the concepts are a little distasteful, and in the gloomy netherworld of tame mid-90s horror, were probably quite nasty. I wasn't aware of Aswangs before watching this movie, very creepy mythical beasts. It's a shame this film didn't do better, as there's quite a bit of mileage in these nasty bloodsucking creatures, I reckon

( I really, really recognise the guy who plays the central male role, but this is the only movie he's done apparently...strange. He looks just like somebody else. Who could I be thinking of?)

A young lady with child marries(for pay) into a wealthy family. Unbeknownst to her, they are a family of "Aswang"...predatory creatures of Phillipines-regional lore with an appetite for fetal human blood(sometimes extracted using their elongated wriggling probosces while the fetus is still inside the mother's womb...a rather sexually manky and squirm-inducing distinction of these mythical beasts). Also, it is interesting to note that these beings are devout Catholics(!).

ASWANG is a flawed but intriguing low-budget film, and there are scenes which will likely offend very sensitive people. Technically a tad grotty at times, but atmospheric enough to hold the interest of many horror buffs. A unique other-cultural study of vampirism, and one the likes of which I have personally not seen before

Despite the frequently negative criticism of this film, I maintain that it has some great moments, and is an overall fairly impressive minor-league effort.

5.5/10.

I enjoyed this blend of horror. Something old. Something new. Of course, we old schoolers have seen this before....an old family with a sinister secret is hiding something and it's up to an outsider to find out what it is before they themselves are destroyed or consumed by it. In this film, it's something we didn't really expect so therein lies the true horror element. Not just a true horror element, but a taboo one at that. One of the best uses of horror in this film is the off screen presence of lurking doom. What is it? When will it strike. Who will it strike? How do you destroy or kill it? Is it human? Was it human? It's the same fear you get when walking in the woods near dark. A good creepy fear.

This starts off being something of a cross between Society and Rosemary's Baby and for the first half hour is really quite creepy. For the rest of the film things are distinctly more nasty and occasionally almost too repulsive to watch. Possibly budgetary restraints led to most off the movie being shot in just the one colour, brown, but not without effect. In fact the gloom is about as cheerful as this nasty film gets, there are splashes of humour but you are rarely in the mood for smiling and from the spooky Filipino maid, Cupid, to the manic leading man and his almost dead mother and crazed sister all is very, very wrong. I cannot understand the bad reviews this film has received because to me it seemed a shockingly different effort in the horror field. I suppose much has been borrowed from earlier horrors but there is enough that is different to certainly set it apart from much more celebrated films.