A FILM REVIEW?
By Butch Macaro
Screnwriters’ Guild of the Philippines

This is an attempt at reviewing a film which I am doing for the first time to find out if I have the making of a film critic. I will share my opinions and ideas on the film I recently saw in its premiere night, Barang.

Barang is a term I heard during my youth in my home province in Bicol which according to older people is worst then kulam, and most deadly. The mambabarang uses small insects kept in a special bottle which, in command, would attack the mambabarang’s target victim. The victim would then become ill and might eventually die. Then the insects and worms sent to attack the victim will crawl out through the pores and wounds of the corpse. The barang syndrome, according to the old folks, is practiced in the southernmost province of Bicol which lies just across a strait to Samar. This is the province of Sorsogon. It is situated in proximity with Samar and Siquijor, also places known for occultism and sorcery.

The film stars Juliana Palermo as the lead character with Cloyd Robinson, who has a long exposure from beginning to the end of the film, as her uncle. The other stars include Vangie Labalan with her usual nervous wrecked, shrieking character and soprano voice. I just wish she could find a way of delivering her lines in a much lower and pleasing voice (though this a high-toned shrieking voice is Vangie’s trade mark. Liza Lorena appears as the mambabarang and Jacklyn Jose plays Loza’s nemesis,
a local quack doctor selling herbal and bottled concocted medicine outside the church compound. The cast also includes Mike Tan, Cristine Reyes and Diane Marquez who was introduced to me by Cloyd at the lobby before the film showing. Jay Manalo plays the leading man, but only in
the flashback episodes. Actually, he has only four scenes, with the last one showing him hangin dead from a tree branch.

I missed the opening of the film because I went to the comfort room from the long wait and when I returned, the film had finally rolled. Juliana Palermo arrived several minutes before the film began, apparently the cause of the dealy and the long wait. I missed the credits so much so that when Liza Lorena appeared in a dark brown costume with a wide panuelo over her head, partially covering her face, I failed to recognize her immediately. Obviously, the costume appeared to have just come from the seamstress, crispy and new.

The beginning of Act I centered on the vigil for Igna (Juliana Palermo) who was never shot inside the coffin. I thought she must have goosepimples staying put in the box. The cause of her death was a big question for her relatives, namely Cloyd and Vangie, but they have the suspicion that it ahe was victimized by a mambabarang.

Then a group people is shown traveling through the zigzag road of Baguio en route to Vigan, Ilocos Sur. The group is led by Diane Marquez as shown during the funeral march of Igna. The ancestral home obviously belongs to a rich family which was not established in the beginning of the film. The funny thing is, they lost their way home.

Then it is revealed that Diane is Juliana’s sister in a flashback after the funeral. Diane is thus shocked when she finds out that the sister she is planning to visit is already dead. I wonder why Cloyd and Vangie did not bother to inform Diane about the sudden death of Igna, considering that
the vigil took probably about three days.

The long travel of the van causes their delay in reaching the place. There are some scary scenes before the van can reach its destination. There are several moments when the van almost crashes into a tree. There is a scene where they see a woman standing by the road in the middle of the night. Tey try to inquire about directions but the woman turns out to be a ghost and the men scamper in fear. One of them runs in another direction and appeard again in the last part of the film toward the end.

At last they reach their destination but they miss the burial of Igna. Finally, we learn that Diane and Juliana were sisters. In flashback, the young sisters are established to be close to one another. Diane shows her grief at the sudden death of her sister but never confronts their relatives for their failure to inform her..

To while their time away in Vigan, the group goe around the historic streets of Vigan where Cristine Reyes accidentally bumps into the mambabarang Liza Lorena, shoving her to the ground which enrages Liza despite Cristine’s apology. Cristine trades angry words with Liza.
The following scene shows Cristine, now under the spell of the mambabarang crawling on the floor, vomiting green substances all over the floor which reminded me of the film Exorcist.

Jacklyn was summoned to help with her son Tikboy (Christian Luis) who carries a buntot page given him by the town idiot. Jacklyn begins to rub oil on the feet of Cristine but her agony continues. The quack doctor asks for the buntot page and begins lashing at Cristine. The mambabarang feels the lashing herself and angrily rushes to the ancestral home to stop the quack doctor. Mambabarang and quack doctor square off and Jacklyn overpowers Liza, lashing her with the buntot page until the latter is reduced into ashes. Cristine regains her senses and tries convincing her companions they must go home which elicited laughter from the audience.

Prior to these, there are scenes where the spirit of the dead Igna appears and talks with Tikboy who is gifted with a third eye. Though there are no establishing scenes to show the close and warm relationship between Tikboy and Igna that should have motivated her to relay any message from the other side through the young boy.

There are some beautifully shot scenes including Tikboy and the spirit of Igna crossing a bridge. Also worth mentionined is the long shot of the van as it travels through the zigzag road to Baguio. It gave me some feeling of nostalgia.

In the final analysis, the film succeeded in the scaring department despite some flaws. Juliana Palermo, sans the horrible make-up as victim of the mambabarang, is fantastically beautiful with her flawless morena complexion. Mike Tan and the other boys do not do much in the film which could go on without them. Diane Marquez is simply beautiful who underplayed her role. Cloyd Robinson is quite different from his previous films acting wise who played the aging man. Vangie Labalan is simply Vangie. Jacklyn Jose plays her role with gusto, the usual interest and desire to give life and justice to her character and Liza Lorena is just convincing in her role as the mambabarang. The boy who played Tikboy (Christian Luis) shows a lot of promise in the acting department and may emerge as a fine actor after a series of films and perhaps acting workshops.

Perhaps more research on the mysterious designs of the mambabarang and the effecta of its witchcraft and sorcery on its victims could have certainly helped.

Kudos to director Neil Tan for his attempt at another film genre. He jokingly confessed that the dropping of ‘Buboy’ from his name has something to do with numerology.