I have an uncanny experience of watching so-called horror films in the past and more often than not, I end up leaving the theater more amused than horrified. I suppose making the audiences laugh (or getting them scared) is not an easy undertaking.

            Chito Rono has given us previous output of this kind (Feng Shui -2004 and Sukob -2006) and on the whole, they kept audiences in suspense and screaming at the right places. Rono has a way of telling a story without a hint of what is in store for us. This gives us an idea that the film story is not going to be predictable. For another, Rono makes something scary out of the Filipinos’ penchant for superstitious belief and we end up watching something familiar but with a totally new twist.

            Faith healers are part of Philippine sociology and the surprising thing is that even the well-off patronize them. The masa in need of instant liberation from illness and penury found stunning expression in Ishmael Bernal’s Himala.  In the past, we had hordes of believers (both well-heeled and masa, the hale and the afflicted) trooping to La Union to see someone with direct line to the Blessed Virgin.

            The  Healing is shown in time for the story that the former president is  into herbal healing in Tagaytay.

            Well, Rono has another story to tell.

            This latest release from Star Cinema redeems all the so-called ‘kilig’ and franchise films it has to churn out in the name of box office killing. The story is simple enough as it is.  Seth (Vilma Santos) finds herself swamped with request for a healing session with the healer, Manang Elsa (Daria Ramirez) after her own father (played superbly by Robert Arevalo) got miraculously healed. What follows is a series of events that leads us to a labyrinth of another horror scenario too horrible to contemplate.

            The film is – by turn – violent and the sexy episode given clinical treatment. The breast of Ynez Veneracion (as Greta) is fondled matter-of-factly to show that the cancerous lumps are no longer there. The series of death – suicide and murder -- keep the moviegoers on the edge, screaming here and there and up to the very end when the ‘sanib’ victim Kim Chiu (as Cookie) opens her eyes.

            Rono has a perfect acting ensemble to make this film credible and engaging.

             Even with the limited exposure and dialogue that she had, Daria Ramirez was great acting personified in The Healing. Pokwang (as Alma) was another revelation. Here, Rono doesn’t allow her to take another crack at her comic talents and emerges a natural performer. Everyone has defining  moments in this film from Kim Chiu (as Cookie), Janice de Belen (as Cita), Robert Arevalo (as Odong), Martin del Rosario (as Jed), Mark Gil (as Val), Carmi Martin, Cris Villanueva (as Ding), Allan Paule (as Ruben), Ces Quesada (as Chona), Chinggoy Alonzo and Simon Ibarra (as Rex), among others. Joel Torre  -- as the healer's brother --  turns in another winning performance.

            This is my first horror film with Vilma Santos in it and I must say that she acquitted herself very well. Her subtle acting  in The Healing was reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn in Wait Until Dark. I think she should do more horror film with Rono.

            Like it or not, The Healing is my Horror Film of the Year.

 

 

Munting Nayon News Magazine