Horror, or something like it

MANILA, Philippines - Halloween is the perfect excuse to round up your girlfriends, beer buddies or complete strangers (if you dare) for a horror movie marathon. While some choose films in random, there are people who create themes for their Halloween movie marathon such as zombie flicks, most gut-wrenching attack scenes or Japanese horror.

This Halloween, we suggest you go local and check out homegrown horror movies. For those who already had their fill of standard scare fare such as Tiyanak (“Oh my God, ang anak ni Janice!”) or Halimaw sa Banga (“Takot ako, e!”), here are some suggestions for your own Pinoy horror — or something like it — filmfest this Oct. 31.

Gabi ng Lagim (1960)

With a title like this, you know it has to be a Filipino horror flick — and an old one at that. People used to more modern scare tactics may scoff at the crude special effects, but Gabi ng Lagim — a classic Pinoy horror film adapted from a long-running DZRH radio show of the same title — offers viewers, especially younger ones, a glimpse of the genre in the early days. Gabi ng Lagim is a compilation of three stories. The opening episode features a beautiful lady vampire who drinks the blood of hapless villagers unfortunate enough to be within biting distance.

In the second episode, a spirit exacts revenge after being accused of a murder he did not commit when he was still alive. Watch out for the spirit’s dismembered forearms, which float menacingly towards the victims, appearing out of thin air and even hiding in a box for one horrific surprise.

Gabi ng Lagim switches gears and lightens up in the third and last episode, a horror-comedy about a group of men attempting to evade supernatural beings after being locked up inside a haunted house.

Patayin Mo sa Sindak si Barbara (1974)

Bringing to mind the saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” Patayin Mo sa Sindak si Barbara is a love story gone horrifyingly awry. Ruth commits suicide after overwhelming suspicions that her half-sister Barbara is having an affair with her husband. As the title suggests, Ruth’s vengeful spirit makes life a living hell for Barbara — with more than a little sinister help from the child Karen and the doll Chelsea.

The movie spawned a remake in 1995 and a recent top-rating TV series at ABS-CBN, which attests to its stature as one of the country’s best horror films.

Anak ni Zuma (1987)

Anak ni Zuma, a story adapted from a comic book series, is a horror-fantasy movie with an unexpected dose of family drama. Zuma, a snake demigod, terrorizes the village by feasting on the hearts of virgins. While he is immune to bullets, which makes it tough for the local army to annihilate him, Zuma’s major weakness is the deadly venom of his daughter Galema.

Unfortunately for Zuma, Galema prefers a human lifestyle rather than a reptilian one. She seeks to end her father’s evil ways, setting the stage for more mayhem. Joining the fray is the other “anak ni Zuma” Dino, who is half-man and half-dinosaur, and the “apo ni Zuma,” a neglected white snake.

D’Anothers (2005)

Those with a low threshold for fear can opt for horror-comedies like D’Anothers, starringh Vhong Navarro as a coward who inherits a haunted house and the daunting task of helping its ghost residents go into the proverbial light. The movie fuses scary elements (ghosts, pugot na ulo, Mura) with Pinoy toilet humor — and the kubeta literally serves as a portal for spirits moving towards the peaceful afterlife.

Shake, Rattle and Roll (1984–2008)

This is arguably the ultimate Pinoy horror movie marathon.

The longest-running horror movie franchise in the country, the Shake, Rattle and Roll (SRR) series has been terrifying audiences for more than two decades, totaling 10 installments with three episodes each.

A copy of the first movie — released under the now-defunct Athena Productions — is hard to find but worth the painstaking search. It includes the notoriously popular “Pridyider” episode with the entirely novel premise of a demonic refrigerator. Another highlight is the “Nanay” episode of the third SRR installment in 1991, where the water creature Undin gets back at a group of friends who took her eggs.