Patrick Kyle Caeg December 9,2016 132661 Film Review: “Yanggaw” In an era where Filipino horror films become an avenue for product placements and exposure for young actors, Yanggaw written and directed by Richard Somes certainly stands out as a local film that not only satisfies its viewers’ desire to be frightened but also gives the audience a different perspective where for once, the monster is the victim. This film’s simplicity makes it so realistic and relatable that it can pass as a movie that is based on a true story. Released on the year 2009 when all the other horror films tried too hard to scare its audience with the effects, script, plot and acting, Yanggaw takes on a simpler technique, challenging its audience …show more content…
Given that the film is based on an Ilonggo myth, it was wise of the writer and director to decide on using Hiligaynon as the language for conversation among the characters of the movie. This strategic move made it possible for the viewers, to believe on the dialogue of the movie. Using the Hiligaynon language for the movie created realistic results and greater tension among the characters. Extra-cinematic, the use of Ilonggo in the film has caused bloggers to criticize how the faulty use of the language has turned the otherwise horror film into a funny film. This is a great debate that should rekindle the question about Manila-centrism in our film industry. In this country, the terrible and the beautiful have always been dictated by Manila perspective. Furthermore, this would not have been possible if not for the actors that played each …show more content…
“Yanggaw” emphasizes on the fact that Amor was not the suspect, but she was a victim. She was enslaved by what whe was becoming, controlled by her hunger and thirst for blood. The longer one watches it, the more it is realized that it is not so much about the aswang herself but the family that adopts her new persona even as they struggle against it. It becomes tragic how the film creates a connection between Amor and the audience that makes it hard for them to see her only as a girl turned into a monster, but also a sweet daughter, sister, and friend who was but a victim of Yanggaw. What’s more is how at the end of the film, Junior chooses to embrace Amor even when she is no longer “human.” This disturbing image for our irrationality and the excess of kinship love are the major contributions of “Yanggaw” to the history of themes in Filipino cinema. In Yanggaw, the aswang is among us, we see her transform, we see her chase children, and we hear her cry and scream, we see her as she rocks the bed with chains on her arms and legs, we know her, and she is familiar. Somes has made her so recognizable that we forget she is a
Horror genre conventions are evident in both films and the way they are directed has given me obvious indications on the effect the horror conventions can have on a film when used well, and the adverse effect when not used well. Both Japanese and American society are evident in these films, and the style of the films are similar to the nationality of the two directors. Horror conventions are used in both films, but the way they are used are quite different, and these contrasting styles are key in how effective the two films are to their audience.
Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Princeton: Princeton Publishing, 1992.
Yang makes her topic of the treacherous history of the Hmong people an appealing one with the story of her parents. She brings emotion into her writing that makes her readers feel as if they are there in the jungle, experiencing the fear and love these two lovers felt. Yang makes us aware of how hard it was for a young Hmong couple to survive in this trying time. Fate and destruction brought Yang’s parents together, and like other Hmong people, love kept them moving forward.
Some would say watching horror movies and being scared out of your wits is a fun way to spend their hard earned money. They go see these movies on average once a week, each time choosing a newer version of a trilogy like “Chucky” or “The evil Dead”. Film making has come a long way over the last few decades, the graphic...
The genre of horror films is one that is vast and continually growing. So many different elements have been known to appear in horror films that it is often times difficult to define what is explicitly a horror film and what is not. Due to this ambiguous definition of horror the genre is often times divided into subgenres. Each subgenre of horror has a more readily identifiable list of classifications that make it easier to cast a film to a subgenre, rather than the entire horror genre. One such subgenre that is particularly interesting is that of the stalker film. The stalker film can be categorized as a member of the horror genre in two ways. First, the stalker film can be identified within the horror genre due to its connection with the easily recognizable subgenre of horror, the slasher film. Though many elements of the stalker film differ from those of the slasher film, the use of non-mechanical weapons and obvious sexual plot points can be used to categorize the stalker film as a subgenre of the slasher film. Secondly, the stalker film can be considered a member of the horror genre using Robin Wood’s discussion regarding horror as that which society represses. The films Fatal Attraction, The Fan, and The Crush will be discussed in support of this argument. (Need some connector sentence here to finish out the intro)
The Bad and The Beautiful (1952) and State and Main (2000) are films within films that unmask Hollywood Cinema as a dream factory and expose the grotesque, veneer hidden by the luxury of stars. The Bad and the Beautiful, directed by Vincent Minnelli, is a black and white film narrated in flashback form. The films theatrical nature requires more close-ups than wide-screen shots to capture the character’s psychological turmoil. For example, Fred and Jonathan’s car ride is captured in a close-up to signify their friendship; however their relationship deteriorates after Jonathan’s deceit. While the camera zooms out, Fred stands alone motionless. Here, Fred is captured from a distance at eye-level and he becomes ostracized by the film industry and
Han – a period of time in China in which the country was merge together (Dictionary)
The movie “ Wit “ is a heart-breaking story about a middle-aged woman named Vivian Bearing who has been diagnosed with metastasized stage four ovarian cancer. She agrees to a vigorous “ full dose” experimental treatment of chemotherapy where she is treated less like a human but more like a guinea pig by her oncologist Doctor Kelekian and her former student Doctor Jason. She experiences harsh side effects from the chemotherapy that causes her to reflect upon her life through flashbacks. The flashbacks travel to various periods of her such as her childhood, graduate school and professional career, prior to her cancer diagnosis, where she comes to a realization that she too could have been more kind to individuals.
Horror movies are one of the most fascinating genres of film that exists. They are unrealistic but at the same time, they are also realistic. This realism that they contain is what draws people’s interest towards them because viewers are able to associate aspects of their own lives with the film. Every horror movie, no matter how farfetched the theme or plot may be, contains an element that people can relate to. This element may not be observable to a conscious mind, but to an unconscious mind, it brings back memories of something that has been repressed earlier in our lives (Wood, 197). This recollection of suppressed memories is how horror films create a sense of fear and it is literally what Robin Wood means when he talks about “the return
Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned. (Horror Films)
Horror movies have been part of mainstream cinema since the early 1930s when films such as Dracula and Frankenstein were created. As the horror genre evolved, so did the stories in the films. Friday the 13th (Marcus Nipsel, 2009) is a very good example of this evolution. Even though it is a remake, Friday the 13th changed the way horror movies were seen by the audience. The ideas and theory behind this slasher sub-genre of horror films can be summed up in a book. Carol Clover, an American professor of film studies, wrote a book in 1992 entitled Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film in which she described the horror film genre. In a chapter entitled “Her Body, Himself”, Clover describes how weapons play a very important role in horror movies as well as explaining her Final Girl theory. Her book’s ideas changed not only academic notions but also popular beliefs on horror films. The 2009 remake of Friday the 13th implies that Carol Clover’s ideas about 80s slasher films, including male tormentors, the importance of weapons, and the Final Girl, have stayed the same through the years.
Horror films are designed to frighten the audience and engage them in their worst fears, while captivating and entertaining at the same time. Horror films often center on the darker side of life, on what is forbidden and strange. These films play with society’s fears, its nightmare’s and vulnerability, the terror of the unknown, the fear of death, the loss of identity, and the fear of sexuality. Horror films are generally set in spooky old mansions, fog-ridden areas, or dark locales with unknown human, supernatural or grotesque creatures lurking about. These creatures can range from vampires, madmen, devils, unfriendly ghosts, monsters, mad scientists, demons, zombies, evil spirits, satanic villains, the possessed, werewolves and freaks to the unseen and even the mere presence of evil.
Tsotsi, a movie that won best foreign film Oscar in 2006. A movie that shows hope and portrays a story where a bad, rebellious teenage boy undergoes a change to a good, responsible, peaceful, obedient citizen. The movie is based in South Africa. What goes through your mind when you see the word south Africa? Is it the apartheid; the racial segregation where the contact between white and colored were limited or Nelson Mandela; who was part of the process of removing this partitioning in south Africa or maybe the 2010 FIFA world cup, or the unique mix of culture, wildlife and the appealing, beautiful landscapes.
Mulan seems to be a feminist film which encourages individual women to take care of themselves. However, the film is not free from traditional gender roles. While the film may be progressive by removing the "damsel in distress" plot, further analysis shows it isn’t a feminist film at all. Disney’s Mulan reinforces a black and white societal role of gender that privilege men over women. In contrast the poem is incredibly progressive, it shows a woman fighting just as well as men and men accepting her as a powerful warrior not being jealous of her power. The poem removes gender roles whereas the Disney movie reinforces them.
Horror films got their start in 1896 with the two-minute short, Le manoir du diable (The Haunted Castle), shown on Christmas Eve, in Paris. But it was not until 1906, with the remake of Notre-Dame de Paris, Esmeralda, did the genre spilt into subgenres. Esmeralda refined the ‘freak shows’ that previous horror films had begun to resemble. Films like these paved the way for people like Brian De Palma, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King, John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg, and his composer, John Williams. There are several key pieces of a horror film, including suspense, mystery, and spoilers, and numerous stereotypes and clichés that have latched on to the growing genre.