Freak Show : Certified Ace Movie Review : Tragic Theater

Tragic Theater : A lamentable tragedy

Genre: Horror
Country: Philippines
Studio: Viva Films
Release Date: January 8, 2015

Director: Tikoy Aguiluz
Starring Andi Eigenmann, John Estrada, Christopher de Leon

Based on the 2009 novel by Gilbert M. Coronel, Tragic Theater : Exorcism of the Film Center starts with the tragedy that happened in real life during the construction of the Manila Film Center in 1981. A few years later, a group of spirit communicators tries to unravel the mystery behind the building, and get rid of the spirits that is haunting the premises.

The film became a trending topic online after the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) gave the trailer of the film an X-rating, a rare thing for movies released by well-known movie companies like Viva. According to the news, the trailer was deemed too scary for public viewing. So the producers decided to release the X-rated trailer online for people to see. The first time I saw the said trailer, I didn't actually felt scared at all. I was intrigued though, for the fact that it got banned for public release by the MTRCB. Later on, after making some cuts and deleting scenes from the movie, it was given an R-16 rating (for viewers 16 years old and above only). So when the film was released, I decided to see it for myself.

And sadly, I was disappointed with the outcome of the film. Why? Well, check out my review below to know how it fared out.

Story

The film opens with a reenactment of the 1981 accident, as the building collapses during it's construction, where a lot of workers died.
The film then jumps to 1999. Anne Marie "Annie" Francisco (played by Andi Eigenmann) is handed over the task of renovating the abandoned Manila Film Center, so that it can be converted into an IMAX theater. Worried that the spirits of the dead victims from the accident years ago are still haunting the premises, she enlists the help of Father Nilo (John Estrada) and his team of spirit communicators to help her exorcise the Film Center. During the ritual, the group held hands together to form a circle, which should be kept at all times to secure them from any force that could attack them. During their first attempt, Annie kept on receiving an unidentified call on her phone, causing her to break free from the circle so that she can answer it. They were able to call the spirits of the dead victims inside the theater, but they refuses to leave the building. so they decided to try again to do the ritual. Their second attempt proved to be more dangerous for them. As they do the ritual, Annie receives another unidentified call on her phone, which she eventually attends to. But as she leaves the theater, she fell into the floor losing consciousness. The group soon sees possessed by one of the entities in the building, as her body gets suspended in mid-air.

The movie starts out fine with the viewers being introduced to the character of Annie. As the film progresses, it was revealed that she is trying to cope and move on from the a rape incident that happened to her before, with her witnessing her best friend being killed by the men who raped them. The film then introduces Father Nilo, the priest who helped her in the process of recovering from the said trauma. There were hints during the film that he felt something special with Annie, probably hiding his true feelings for her. But this was not explored in the story. Instead, it continues to add more supporting characters which did nothing to help the story.

The movie proceeded straight to the ritual of the group inside the Film Center. Things started to somehow get creepy as they try to call and speak to the spirits of the dead victims of the accident. But this started to fade out after Annie gets possessed by one of the entities inside the building.
Here the movie shifts it focus, from a haunted building to a possession story. Annie's prolonged possession was one of biggest mistake of the film. The film's story would have worked if it didn't changed it's main focus and just stayed with the premise of the haunted theatre. But instead, they switched their focus to Annie's possession which actually lagged the film's pacing and story, adding a lot of irrelevant flashbacks and backstory, removing all the creepiness that there is during the first act.
The story also contains scenes that doesn't really made any sense and feels so irrelevant to the plot. There's this scene where Annie finds herself in the opening of a dark tunnel. she sees a light, coming from a floating candle at the far end of the tunnel. she decides to follow the light. But as she walks towards its direction, a floating disembodied hand appears behind her, trailing her, and constantly touches her. This scene was somehow creepy to watch and actually gave me a jump once. But it was extended too much to a point that it became boring.

Another thing that I needed to point out is the fact that most of the time, the characters seem to forget that Annie is being possessed and is still left suspended mid-air inside the theater. There were instances where the characters would talk about the spirits inside the theater or fight over things. It's like, you want to remind these people that "Hey, aren't you forgetting something? Your friend is still hanging out there mid-air inside the theatre?"

Acting

Andi Eigenmann is one of the best actresses of her generation, and she did her best in making sure to do justice to her role. She actually gave a lot of effort for this film, even despite the accident that happened during filming where she falls from the harness which she was strapped to. The harness snapped while she was suspended 8 feet from the ground.

But the role that she was given to wasn't really good to start with. Her acting was fine as a girl troubled by her dark past. But her character is forced to do stupid things just like the rest of the group, in order for the story to go on. Her character is the first to break from the circle during the ritual even though it was clearly explained to her that it's too dangerous. These and other stuff her character overshadows her acting.
John Estrada doesn't seem fit to play a priest. He tries his best to portray the role. But for me, he is far better playing the bad guy because it really brings out the best in him, just like how he does it on his previous television series.
On the other hand, Christopher De Leon looks suitable as a bishop. Though his character was given too much backstory, making it feel like he was just there too prolong the movie since the story is just plain short.
The rest of the supporting cast plays your average stereo-types who does things that are so unrealistic just for the story to go through dark places. Also, most of them dont look scared enough. Yes, they scream and squeal and sound like they're scared but honestly, they dont look like one especially during crucial parts of the movie.
An acting workshop to help them would be a good idea before throwing them into a project in the future.

Direction

Director Tikoy Aguiluz has been known in the industry for his award-winning films like Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story (2011) and El Presidente (an Emilio Aguinaldo biopic, 2012). But entering the horror genre is a totally a big mistake since the film doesn't really offer anything scary for it's viewers. Anyone looking for a good horror flick would get disappointed because the film lacked enough scares to call itself a horror film.
To his credit, Director Tikoy Aguiluz was able to create a creepy atmosphere during the start of the film. But once it reaches the point where Annie's possession becomes the focus of the film, everything goes down. Hr tried his best in creating unique scenes that looked weird and unique (but irrelevant all through out). But he extends it too much to a point that its already boring. One good example of this is the scene that I mentioned a while ago where Annie finds herself in a tunnel. Another scene that I really dont get it the part where she finds herself in a room with four different closed doors. She looks inside the first door, then leaves it open. And when she checks the next one, the first door slams shut and closes by itself. She does the same thing over and over again, and keeps on repeatedly leaving the doors open so that they can shut themselves. This scene just feel so stupid and disconnected to the story. No wonder all of us inside the cinema were laughing at this scene.

Despite the fact that the film was deemed too scary for public viewing by MTRCB, it turned out to be a great disappointment for everyone expecting a good scare. Hard to admit but director Tikoy Aguiluz is just not the right person to helm a horror flick like this.

Technical Aspects

A haunting score is just not enough for a movie to be called a horror film. It should have actual scares on it to justify the genre it belongs. Tragic Theater fails miserably at his, relying heavily on its score and sound effects to elicit suspense and throw in dread all through out the film.

The cinematography of the film was another drawback for the film. The film's frequent close up shots especially with John Estrada's character was so annoying and distracting. It actually makes my eyes harder to focus. The rest of the cinematography turned out fine, though. I love those scenes where they shot it from the top view, looking over Andy Eigenmann's suspended body with the rest of the characters down below her. These scenes were really dizzying to watch since the view added a sense of depth to it.

Then, we go to the film's only saving grace : the special effects. The film's FX are quite good and believable. This is shown especially during the scene where their group of spirit communicators perform the ritual. One of the girls are being forced by the entities inside the theatre into breaking free form the circle. Rats start to appear on her side, trying to have her release her hold from the rest of the group.
The prosthetics and make-up were also quite amazing to look at. It is an improvement compared to the rest of the horror films released locally these days. Probably the only good aspect of the film.

Rating

Honestly, I dont understand why the film's trailer got banned in the first place. I also dont get it why the film received an R-16 Rating from MTRCB sicne the film is not really scary. It doesnt contain any gore or nudity, except for one scene where another patient of the bishop long ago was shown spitting out nails from mouth while being possessed, or the scene where Annie and her friends was shown briefly being raped during the flashback.

The material of the film was great, with the tragedy of the Manila Film Center as it's backdrop. Sometimes the MTRCB's decision don't really make any sense at all. For me, this would pass for a PG-13 rating, albeit the rape scene which was not really necessary to be shown.

Overall

Viewers like me expected too much from the film, hence the overwhelming negative response from those who've seen it already. The film doesn't contain enough scares to satisfy audiences, ended up bland and boring. It's even hard to call it a horror film.
To sum it all, Tragic Theater is nothing but a waste of it's talents and production values. It's a movie which can't even justify it's own genre of choice.
Tragic, indeed.