We now go to the dark side, not the Darth Vader type but the Twilight Zone kind. I am talking about the favorite fodder of pinoy audiences today, the horror film. Blame it on the Japanese Ringu series. The horror film has been a staple in the varied Filipino film industry for a number of generations now. This genre has never really died, pardon the pun, but it has through the years flourished and improved. From its crude beginnings, it has transformed into a special effects laden spectacle that caters mostly to the hot-blooded teenage crowd who more often than not just likes to scream their hearts out just for the fun of it. Many sweethearts have made the horror film an excuse to dally on their uber-sweetness to each other.
From the black and white terror of Gabi ng Lagim to the never-ending rollicking Shake, Rattle & Roll series, our horror auteurs have mined the rich landscape of the Philippine lower mythology to create terrifying creatures and aberrations, interlined with flimsy storylines, to shock the audience. Aswangs, manananggals, tikbalangs, kapres, duwendes, and other lamang-lupa half-breeds have walked the earth thanks mostly to the Filipino horror films. Not to mention the descendants of that reviled Prince of Darkness, Count Vlad Tepes a.k.a. Count Dracula.
A part of this trend is the rise of the psychological horror film. Movies like Feng Shui, Pasiyam, Sigaw, Pamahiin and the like is popular to audiences today mainly because of the scenario it presents, that supernatural happenings, even in modern times, can strike anywhere to anyone. It also depicts the decay of old traditions and beliefs in the wake, and in favor of, urban transcendence. Influenced mainly by the Asian Horror films, our filmmakers have fashioned out a new way to release their creative juices and concoct cinematic rendering of their innermost fears. Basically, they just want to scare the hell out of us with a dash of Filipino folklore and creepy modern technology on the side.
In hindsight, the bakya films made us understand and appreciate Filipino culture & talents and created bridges to help us traverse and breach social boundaries. Succulent and mundane, the bakya films have inspired and generated allusions, imageries, and deeply penetrated the Pinoy psyche. The sound of a thousand hands clapping with one foot dangling on the edge must be given to honor this entertaining section of Filipino society.
