The BENCHERS had their annual holiday get together last Sunday and since quite a few of us wanted to catch a movie before the scheduled dinner, we hobbled over to Greenbelt 3 and decided to catch Frasco S. Mortiz’s entry to the Metro Manila Film Fest, Pagpag: Siyam Na Buhay, because Frederick said that he was in the mood for a ‘light comedy’. Note that since there’s no Shake, Rattle and Roll movie this year, this is the token horror film.

THE STORY:

For the benefit of those who aren’t familiar, Pagpag is the Filipino term for “brushing one’s self off”. In this context, it’s to brush off spirits after visiting a wake; the superstition states that if you’re coming from a wake/funeral, you should make one stop somewhere before going home, to shake off any spirits that may have clung from the funeral. It sounds kooky, but we Filipinos follow a slew of these superstitions when it comes to wakes and funerals, each more ridiculous than the last.

Leni (Kathryn Bernardo), with the help of Tyong Dencio (Janus Del Prado) and friend Marcelo (Marvin Yap), arranges the funeral services for Roman (Paulo Avelino), the disfigured husband of Lucy (Shaina Magdayao). Leni meets Cedric (Daniel Padilla) and friends (Michelle Vito, Miles Ocampo, CJ Navato and Dominic Roque) in probably the most overused meet-cute in history and somehow they all manage to break superstition after superstition, making them prime targets for Roman’s malevolent spirit.

Here’s my round up of Pagpag: Siyam Na Buhay (Note that there may be spoilers; read at your own risk.)

THE GOOD:

1. The Padillia Smolder. I’ll admit, I’m a KathNiel fan but it’s mostly because of what my friend Abby calls ‘The Padilla Smolder’. It works because Daniel Padilla Towers over Kathryn Bernardo and it reminds me of those shojo manga’s and anime’s from my youth. I don’t think Daniel Padilla’s that well rounded of an actor yet but hey, he can do this one thing and he can do it right.

2. Shaina Magdayao. I was shocked at how good she was in this film; she was able to portray a crazed and desperate wife who was willing to do anything to get her husband back. She didn’t have so many lines but man, her creepy eyes spoke volumes.

3. Clarence Delgado’s Mac-Mac. He plays the token cute kid in the film; only in this one his performance is made more awesome because he plays a mute kid who can see dead people. It’s all about facial expressions and his role in the movie was probably the most memorable.

4. Janus del Prado. He plays Tyong Dencio, the token comedian in the film. Sure, some of the jokes were inappropriate considering the fact that they were being hunted down but his timing and delivery were excellent. Also now that I think about it, most of the things he spewed out were things that I probably would hurl out as well, if I were being haunted.

THE BAD:

1. The 2 dimensional friends. Sure, they were the disposable ones but I’d have appreciated it more had they not been just cardboard characters. In one interview Kathryn Bernardo comparesPagpag to Final Destination and I guess in that context the 2D dispensable characters are forgivable.

2. A couple of plot holes:

a. The death of Tita Eva (Matet de Leon). What? Did she break a superstition? I think it’d have made more sense had she died somewhere nearer to the end.

b. Mac-Mac disappeared in a puff of smoke. Did he have super powers? If so, why didn’t he use them against Roman?

3. Michelle Vito’s accent. For someone who’s supposed to be filthy rich, her English accent is waaay off.

THE UGLY:

None, really.

All in all it’s not a bad movie and it infinitely was better than the last Shake, Rattle and Roll movie I’ve seen. I found that it works as a horror story because it stuck to a simple premise and followed through (except for Tita Eva’s death, which didn’t make sense). There weren’t a lot of the gulat moments, which I appreciated because I hate those in the Hollywood movies.

VERDICT: 7/10. It’s so not a comedy.