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Pretty Good

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This Filipino thriller starred,written and director by Filipino actor Cesar Montano entitled "Ligalig",a Filipino word for "Trouble", is obviously an imitation from the French slasher flick directed by Alexandre Aja and starred by Cecile De France and Maiwenn "Haute Tension",also known by its English title,"High Tension.Although Montano denies it by claiming that this was an original work,the viewer who has seen both films cannot deny the fact that this Filipino film indeed has taken on the concepts involved with the French movie from the story,the characters,the moods,the settings and the much talked about "twist" that involves a character with a split personality that had many of the viewers of the French flick divided.So instead of trying to prove that Montano is lying,I will just focus my review on the comparison between "Ligalig" and "High Tension".No question that Montano was amazed by the French movie that he decided to take a Filipino counterpart without giving acknowledgment to director Alexandre Aja and his writing partner Gregory Levasseur.Instead of having best friends Marie and Alex going to the latter's family at the rural area in Southern France to study,the story involves a taxi driver Junior who is going to his girlfriend's family Trixie.But before everything was set up,we get to see a man named Damian driving a truck who is apparently responsible in killing people for reasons even the Filipino actor does not know just like the killer who was lurking behind truck in the rural area of Southern France.Junior and Trixie was with a female friend as they drive towards the latter's family.Familiar elements from High Tension was taken as they drive which I felt had no connection whatsoever in the overall story such as Trixie leaving Junior when the former wanted to pee in the plantation, the masturbation "scene" which the female friend did to Junior as a homage to Marie's masturbation "scene".Then when they all arrived in Trixie's house,the female friend decided to take a bath with her lingerie on as a homage to Alex's taking a shower.I felt those scenes were simply placed there to remind us of the French film. Nothing more.They have no overall effect to the story.What's worse,unneeded elements on the story were added such as Trixie's mother who loves to shoot with her gun and Trixie's brother who is stricken with PTSD.This was to show that her family are psychologically impaired but does not provide any impact in the story.Probably they tried to serve as a diversion from Damian.Nothing more. Too bad that it didn't.The mother and the brother were just there for entertainment.Or better yet,to remind the viewers that the killer shot Alex's young brother.Finally,came the twist.When Damian appeared,he started to kill Trixie's family and took Trixie into captive.While the French movie made clear on the steps the personality change of Marie occurred - Marie saw Alex taking a shower and felt lust,she masturbated and the split of personality occurred - this movie only showed that Junior turned into Damian as the movie needed him to.In short,the twist was simply contrived and unrealistic.Added to that,there were a lot of unanswered questions as to why Junior is turning into his dead violent father and starts to kill people.Overall,the only purpose was to show that indeed Montano can direct a slasher flick similar to the French flick.Nothing more.What's more,the characters and the dialogues are silly.The story is weak and contrived.Too bad that melodramatic elements were added too that served no purpose in the story. And what about the special effects? The viewer can see how poor they were.When Junior was taking the police to the headquarters,viewers can see the poor use of green screen as the background of cars looks far different as compared to the taxi.The "lightning effects" whenever Damian appear have become tiresome.Cameras as constantly shaking. The opening and closing credits were just simply too stylish like an MTV video.One might just laugh at these special effects which unknowingly turn this slasher flick into comedy because of it.Saying this,it only shows that it is confused on what kind of movie is it going to be.Overall,this was a poor film and a poor imitation at that.I could go on but there are simply too many things that is wrong with this movie that a 1 out of 10 rating is even considered high for it Why was this given an "A rating" in the Philippines?

I have been watching Filipino films for this month when the year started being a fan of international films.The good films I have seen are "Manila By Night" a.k.a "City At Dark","Oro, Plata,Mata","Segurista","Heneral Luna","El Presidente" and "Bonifacio:Unang Pangulo". All of them just this month while this review is being written.Then surprisingly,I get to see an awkwardly interesting film "Ligalig"."Ligalig" a.k.a "Anxiety" is starred,written and directed by talented Filipino actor,Cesar Montano.He co-stars with Sunshine Cruz,Celia Rodgriguez,Johnny Delgado and John Regala.No question that the film was a homage to the French Film that starred Cecille De France and directed by Alexandre Aja entitled "Haut Tension" a.k.a "High Tension"To recall the story,murders are taking place in a place in the Philippines.We get to meet a taxi driver named Junior and his girlfriend Trixie.When they visit the family,Junior meets the weird family of his girlfriend.Then a family is murdered by a person named Damian,who is dressed as a Metrocom officer.Junior tries to stop Damian from committing more crimes and tries to save Trixie,who was taken as a hostage.Junior comes close to being successful at taking Damian into custody.Then things in the movie began to become awkward as nothing is what it seems.Familiarly,we are reminded of the French film if you were lucky to have seen it just like in almost all parts of the movie with respect to mood,elements of story and plot twist.What really makes it bad is the comedic and melodramatic elements of some scenes that were included in Ligalig.They were obviously out of place in a homage film like this.The comedic scenes only made some of the characters look impertinent and silly.As for the melodramatics, it only made the viewer get introduced to some unwanted and out-of- place elements.Had this been eliminated,it would have been a better film.More violence and less conversations would have made it better.Unfortunately,the presence of comedic and melodramatic scenes turned it into a parody unnecessarily rather than a purely homage or better yet a Filipino version of the French film.Sad but true.Also worthy of mention is the use of stylish overdrive was very much excessive.Some were definitely far from being subtle as viewers can see these special effects being used.Here's hoping that the filmmakers should learn to use them wisely the next time around.Cesar Montano should learn not to combine these elements in the future should he direct and write another screenplay for a violent and horror film like these mentioned to become a better director.

The movie Ligalig was released for DVD rental this month here in the US. I was able to see it over the weekend. I was really disappointed. It's a shame for him and wife Sunshine to claim that he came up with this story. He copied the whole thing from a French movie i saw last year titled 'HIGH TENSION". It was released here in the US as DVD rental movie. I wish Cesar would have just made the movie but should have advertised it as a copy then i would not be very upset and disappointed in him. Oh boy, it's really a shame. I hope someone would be able to send this message to him. I guess, he thought no one would see the French movie and went on claiming he came up with this story.

Ah, it's Christmas once again! And in this festivity-mad country, that means the ubiquitous Christmas lanterns, "noche buena," carolers, and - tada! - the Mother Lily Film Carnival, er, Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). The Philippines has held onto a long tradition of this year-ender film festival, most of which revolve around mediocre fantasy and horror films, much to the dismay of many local film pundits, although in recent years the burgeoning of alternative indie film festivals has somehow made it easy taking MMFF with a grain of salt. As it is, as far as MMFF is concerned, film-making per se is only a junior-grade objective compared to marketability, lending further credibility that the festival has transformed along with the season it is held as one that succumbed to crass and commercialism. But to be fair, some recent MMFF had seen some fair share of decent, if not remarkably good, movies."Ligalig," by director/co-writer/co-producer/star Cesar Montano (best known in the circuit as the director/co-writer/co-producer/star of 2004 MMFF entry "Panaghoy sa Suba"), falls somewhere in this category. Although experienced movie-goers will probably figure out the ambivalent story's twist from a mile away (which is similar to a number of foreign films, Hollywood and otherwise), and that Montano's camera-work tend to be distracting at a few points (honestly the revolving camera during the car scenes get to you after a while), much of the film is dominated by a morbidly thoughtful and stylish atmospherics.The movie tells the story of Junior (Montano), a taxi driver who goes to the countryside one day with his girlfriend (Montano's real-life wife Sunshine Cruz) and her sister (Katya Santos) amidst news that a serial killer (Johnny Delgado) has been rampaging around Manila. Junior meets the woman who could be his mother-in-law (Celia Rodriguez) and she certainly doesn't like him for her daughter. Soon, for some reasons the killer reaches where Junior is and shortly begins to off the folks in the area.Viewing "Ligalig" gives an apparent sense of the director's eagerness in creating a visually arresting if somewhat pokey topic of discourse. The style is so deviant of mainstream Filipino films that it feels more at home with digital film festivals (the cinematography in some parts reminds me of Ron Bryant's "Rotonda") where the gritty quality of the digital camera aids in giving the film its quasi-noir look. But there are times the film feels dilatory and a pruned script could have provided the attempt in ambiguity with more impact.*STATEMENT OF PLOT TWIST FOLLOWS* It probably doesn't help either that the film's posters give much of the nature of the story as we see Montano wearing the outfit of the serial killer. So from there, if you've seen enough films from Hollywood tackling the same theme, it's easy to deduce the ending. Schizophrenia or possession of an avenging ghost? Take your pick. *STATEMENT OF PLOT TWIST ENDS* Besides the ever-reliable Montano and Delgado, the performances are pretty much competent throughout. Cruz (in her second CEB A-rated film this year after "Inang Yaya") is good as Junior's girlfriend (try as I may, I can't recall her name), as is Rodriguez as a woman with something who may or may not hold something up her sleeve. Santos provides extra pull for the male demography but her presence is mostly on-off where her longest scene involves taking a bath in lingerie with John Regala (don't get any ideas; it's an R-13 movie). Fellow Viva Hot Babe Gwen Garci has a love scene with Montano during the opening credits but it's heavily grained and in black-and-white.Released in a period that has virtually become this country's excuse for creating mainstream movies, I don't think "Ligalig" would be the film most Filipino viewers are willing to give a chance to this season. However, it could find its audience in those who can overlook the movie's weaknesses in favor of Montano's strong and refined narrative style. For that, I'm looking forward to brighter (or darker, for that matter) things from him in the future.