My Rating: 9/10
Synopsis: It tells a three-part story which took three decades to unfold. A 12-year old cold case is reopened after a group of teenagers took a turn in one abandoned dirt road where a hidden murderous past lingers still. Initially an innocent driving lesson became a gushing nightmarish catastrophe.
The three-pronged approach of The Road succeeds. All parts are equally riveting while having a distinct atmosphere and horror quality of their own. The first part was supernatural and told the story about the three teenagers that can’t get out of their own from the dirt road stretch. In this part, the terror is in high octave, the shrieks were there, it’s not gory gruesome but the suspense fills up completely any void. The second part was physical, the horror was brought by one mad unstable psychotic killer. Here, the creepiness exudes from the setting and the killer, and not from the chase. The third part transcended and shifted gears towards featuring a psychological torment that produced irrevocable horror that left me with chills.
The cinematography and photography was pure art and genius. The ties of the three parts were never meant to surprise so don’t interpret it as such but were meant to give a rich story and it was so good I still can’t believe one Filipino director (no condescension intended here) achieved such greatness in direction and writing. The first part left questions dangling which got answered in the second part but it also left its share of questions which were then addressed by the last part. Even the prologue and epilogue were nice touches and brought the movie full circle. Sure, there were plot holes, but you really don’t have to sift through plot holes when watching it because the one of a kind stylish way it was delivered felt flawless even when it’s not. Kudos to Yam who gave much attention to every detail, I liked most the opening credits that featured the dirt road stretch in order to set the correct mood for the entire film.
It is easily the most satisfying horror-mystery thriller I’ve seen in Philippine cinema…one can absolutely call it as groundbreaking in Phil standards. it’s gripping and the creep factor is crazy. Yam Laranas really did a solid one with this movie.
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Runtime: 1hr 38min (Box Office Mojo)
Language/s: Filipino
MOVIE PROJECT 2015 