Rating: B
Dir: Yam Laranas
Star: Yam Concepcion, Michael De Mesa, Mercedes Cabral, Jeffrey Quizon
You might be able to work out where this is going. Chris did, calling out the resemblance to another film, which I won’t name, about fifteen minutes before it came to pass. I can’t say it affected my enjoyment of this too much, though your mileage may vary. It’s from the Philippines, and I liked the elements of local flavour here. In particular, there’s a strongly religious theme, which isn’t something you see much in contemporary Western horror, outside of specifically faith-based movies. For example, both the lead characters here appear to be practicing Catholic, but in neither case is it particularly significant to the plot. It does inform their attitudes, such as towards suicide, which is of relevance.
The main focus is on Jessie Pardo (Concepcion), who has recently started a job as a morgue assistant to Doctor Alex (de Mesa). She’s just a few days in, when a ferocious typhoon hits the area, meaning that her scheduled replacement (Cabral) is unable to come and relieve her. As eight hours become sixteen, and then twenty-four, an increasingly exhausted Jessie starts to become twitchier around the corpses, seeing things that probably aren’t happening. [Well, we certainly hope the dead are not returning to life…] Matters are definitely helped when Doctor Alex suffers a medical event, and is taken away to urgent care, leaving his assistant all alone in the depths of the hospital, as the weirdness continues to intensify around her.
Me, I’d be “Take this job and shove it”, as I head for the exit: it appears Filipinos have a stronger work ethic. It’s a strong opening, as we learn about Jessie and her boss. Alex is an interesting character in particular. He’s a bit of a dick, taking great delight in scaring his assistant with cheap shocks. But he has a surprisingly respectful attitude to the dead bodies in his facility, learning and referring them to by their names. He genuinely seems to care. It makes a sharp contrast to the pair of hospital orderlies, whom I nicknamed Burke and Hare for their mercenary approach to the dead and their possessions. This helps tide things over a shaky middle section, where Jessie looking frightened begins to get a bit old.
Things then get back on track with a fairly berserk finale, where things get very murky, and it’s not clear whether what Jessie is experiencing, has any basis in objective reality. I’ve been at the same point, after an extended period without sleep, where you start to see “things” – although it was just shadows out of the corner of my eye. Jessie is well past that, and her strong religious belief certainly seem to colour between the lines of what is happening to her. Or isn’t happening to her. The resulting apocalyptic imagery, foreshadowed by Biblical quotes from Dr. Alex, sets the stage nicely for the resolution. I will admit, the ending may well determine your overall opinion here. It worked for me.