Pinoy superstition gets modern twist

After doing two romance-comedy movies for Regal Entertainment namely “Love is Blind” and “The Third Party,” award-winning filmmaker Jason Paul Laxamana trained his pen and directorial skills to the upcoming horror film “Pwera Usog.”

Doing a horror film is something new for Direk Jason although he confesses that he loves scaring people. He wants to give the horror genre a try so he can test himself if he can translate his “scary” tactics into a movie.

While he loves horror, Direk Jason admits he is some kind of a coward. If he sleeps alone in a room, the lights have to be turned on. He also can’t sleep if the room is silent so he plays music or leaves the TV on. He himself can’t explain the irony of it.

“Ang kadalasan na tinatakot ko noong bata pa ako ay ang nanay ko,” he told us in an interview at the press launch of “Pwera Usog” which has Sofia Andres and Joseph Marco in the lead roles. “Magtatago ako sa likod ng kurtina tapos gugulatin ko siya. I enjoyed doing that.”

When asked what his favorite horror film is, Direk Jason named the original version of Japanese film “The Ring.” He was still in high school and he didn’t recall being scared of any of the horror movies that were shown during that time except for “The Ring”(which has a Hollywood iteration titled “Rings” currently showing in cinemas).

“For three weeks, I could not sleep well because lagi ko naalaala ‘yung movie. It was the scariest movie of my youth and I didn’t want to get caught outside the house once dusk sets in,” he recalled.

It took time before he was able to overcome the fear brought to him by “The Ring.” Direk Jason’s wild and playful imagination got the better of him.

It was Ms. Roselle Monteverde’s idea that he make a film about the Pinoy superstition called “usog.” While doing his research, Direk Jason realized there was not much of a scary component in “usog,” which few millennials are familiar with.

“Pag nausog ka, pag nilawayan ka, gagaling ka. So I had to elevate it to something scarier,” he said.

Direk Jason said the challenge in doing a horror film like “Pwera Usog” is how to make it current with millennials as the audience.

“The challenge is, the direction should be precise, same with your shots and the timing. There should be proper build-up before you can execute the moment of horror. How do you scare or surprise people who have seen many horror movies in the past, both in the cinemas and on the Internet?”

In “Pwera Usog,” Sofia plays Jane, a millennial with a prank channel online. Hatred for her father and insecurity with a sibling lead her to whip up a prank on the net which eventually ends up in total disaster.

The movie also stars Joseph Marco, Devon Seron, Cherise Castro, Albie Casiño, Kiko Estrada, Eula Valdes, Aiko Melendez and Rommel Padilla.

“Pwera Usog” will certainly sit well with today’s millennial crowd whose love affair with modern technology makes them forget about Pinoy superstitious beliefs. The flick’s teaser and trailer already earned five million views, as well as numerous shares and likes days after it was posted. It will open in cinemas on March 8.

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Mommy Dionisia Pacquaio was unable to join the grand launch of Regis Entertainment, producer of the movie “Tatlong Bibe,” which features child stars Raikko Mateo, Lyca Gairanod and Marco Masa.

She is part of the movie as the wife of Eddie Garcia and they live in a barangay where the three children also reside.

Mommy Dionisia just got out of the hospital then and was advised by her doctor to refrain from any strenuous activity. The press was able to talk to her via phone patch and she expressed excitement that she is part of the movie.

She was also not able to attend the recent premiere of “Tatlong Bibe”  but promised to ask her friends in General Santos City to watch the movie on its opening day on March 1.

If she gets permission from her doctor, Mommy Dionisia plans to fly to Manila to help promote “Tatlong Bibe” which also stars Edgar Allan Guzman, Rita Avila, Angel Aquino, Victor Neri, Luis Alandy, Sharlene San Pedro, Ronnie Lazaro, Ms. Anita Linda and JK Labajo. The movie was written and directed by Joven Tan.