Trying so desperately hard to cut loose from the chains of my Christmas blues, I wanted to give in to my urge of doing something I haven’t done for quite some time. And after some long thought,  I gave in. I indulged and submitted myself to one of my heart’s deepest desires for the season:  watch a movie.

Aside from poverty and government corruption, the Philippines also made a big fuss on the 34th Metro manila Film Festival. This festival is an annual event that takes place every December. Of the 8 films that competed for major prizes and top recognition. I decided to watch the only horror flick: Shake, Rattle and Roll X. It was a movie that consisted of 3 seperate stories. In other words the movie was a trilogy. The first story’s location was in a remote hospital. This 45 minute installment of the movie revolved on a romantic hanky-panky between a paramedic and a doctor who, along with other hospital residents and patients, battled flesh-eating zombies. The next story in line was about college seniors  who spent the night in school to prepare for an exhibit the following day and then later faced unexplainable events and sudden deaths of their classmates. The last installment the horror flick had to offer had a comedic feel to it. It  centerd on a woman  who deprived mythical creatures and ‘monsters’ their lives by using magical potions.  The movie wasn’t that bad. In fact, it wasn’t terrible at all. Watching the film reawakened my pride as a Filipino. I applaud the Filipino audience for screaming with passion and sincerity everytime the female zombie and her equally deranged husband came close to making a dish out of the terrified patients and nurses. I give my two thumbs up to the movie goers who chose to believe that the creatures were really flesh-eating-beasts who had the power to kill and destroy mankind and not just a bunch of  actors covered in make-up with torn clothes and suffered from a bad hair day. I take my hats off to the Pinoys who let their imagination  run free by choosing to believe that Maria Belona was really a ghost who was back for vengeance after her disturbed soul was awakened. And not just an actress who had expressive eyes in a nun costume. I praise the Filipinos for believing that the zombies were indeed scary and not just a group of extras in ragged apparel that resembled beggars we see in the streets. The movie’s visual effects may not have been that visual. But still it was a great movie. It made me rememember a virtue, I thought, I already buried in oblivion. It reminded me that Filipinos, more often than not, look at the bright side of things. May it be special effects of a movie or or financial crisis, Filipinos strive to make the best out of everything. I definitely enjoyed Shake Rattle and Roll X. If God permits me to be a movie star, I would LOVE to star in Shake Rattle and Roll XI. :)

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