Not too scary, but a solid first effort

KMJS' GABI NG LAGIM THE MOVIE

- By Brontë H. Lacsamana

THIS adaptation of GMA’s annual Halloween television special, Gabi ng Lagim, was made for Filipino horror enthusiasts.

Though it’s rough around the edges, an indication of this being the network's first effort of taking a horror storytelling platform from the small screen to the big screen, there’s some potential to be found in each segment.

It starts off like the television special does, with Jessica Soho as host, prefacing each of the three shorts in this anthology with ominous narration about stories told at night. Her role is really just for the nostalgia of the source material.

KMJS’ Gabi ng Lagim: The Movie, as with all anthologies, presents a mixed bag, with each film helmed by a different director.

“Pocong,” directed by Yam Laranas, was a solid start and definitely benefited from the distinct location. Filmed on a real vessel out at sea, it follows a Filipino seaman (played well by Miguel Tanfelix) trapped on a cursed voyage. Its mystery surrounds the figure of the pocong, an Indonesian creature whose spirit is tied to its corpse wrapped in cloth.

The setting should have been scary enough, with the cinematography and editing capturing the strange blend of both vastness and claustrophobia of being on a ship for extended periods of time. But the rest of the story, with key bits of information and twists not paced properly at all, ultimately disappoints.