joeydaninja

The first segment of Shake, Rattle and Roll 8 may be forgettable and the last segment may be competent but it's the middle segment that is PURE CULT MOVIE GOLD! In his first mainstream short feature, Toppel Lee comes out with arms swinging and he scores an instant knockout. I've always thought that Filipino folklore is the deepest source of movie magic in this country and Topel knows it, too. His story is about an aswang, as jayexiomo.com says so above, a mythical creature that eats babies, just like Fat Bastard. Nash Aguas, the protagonist of the story, knows that his nanny is a Fat Bastard, and she's out to eat his little sibling. Nobody believes Nash though, because Nash has proved himself to be a prankster who has chased off nannies before. I guess it's like Nanny McPhee, the horror version, though I never did see Nanny McPhee.

Anyway the aswang yaya (monster nanny) is played by the beautiful Iza Calzado, and even though I know this girl supposedly can talk like a sailor, she pulls off her scary character perfectly. I mean, how can someone so gorgeous and with a very ample bosom, be a baby eater. Maybe that's how she supplies here ample... anyway.

So Topel, the director, is a genius. You know why? Because he knows how to cast people perfectly. He even casted Debraliz as the other mataray (catty) housemaid and Sheryll Cruz as the mom. Perfect! And one can not deny that Toppel gets atmosphere. The whole movie was full of it. You can feel it crackling in the air. When the yaya is going after the baby, the whole movie theater was riveted. I looked around (I like looking around during those moments), and I could feel the utter joy (and roller coaster fear) of the people around me. A new star is born. And his name is Toppel Lee.