Stressful, Creepy and Totally Crazy: Watch BACKROOMS on June 3!

CreaZion Studios International and A24 brought the highly anticipated movie "Backrooms" to the Philippines. Got the chance to watch it on an Advanced Screening event at Megamall's SM Cinemas this evening, and it did not disappoint!

First off, it immediately gave us that 90's vibe folks love. We got to feel how it is viewing stuff through a VHS tape.  Fair warning, the flow of the movie would be quite torturous for claustrophobics. While it remains a slow burn (on some instances), it's super immersive like you'd feel like YOU are in the story. You also get conditioned that you are safe at times, then get your heart racing when you least expect it. I'd liken it to a psychiatric session, driven by various emotional baggage (of the characters), then a little tense... a little scary... inside a furniture store in the middle of nowhere. 

Then folks just find themselves inside a weird room, that slowly just becomes smaller, tighter, creepier, which you don't even know how you even got involved in it. I like the premise, the way things were introduced, and the manner it became scary (sometimes without blood and gore). 

It's stressful, interesting, and got lots of jump scares. You'll catch folks screaming in the cinemas (go ahead!). One minute you're okay, then get unaware you're already trapped a room you're unfamiliar with. It will be double hard for folks to even spoil this movie because much of the story remains psychological. Folks would ask if what's happening is already crazy, or is it just you? 

By all means, experience all of these by watching Backrooms which will premiere on June 3 in Philippine cinemas. This will also be shown in other Asian regions. Are you scared something might happen to you?! Don't let your curiosity lead you here! Or you'll be sorry! 

It's one heck of a creepy movie (an expected Kane Parsons masterpiece). The rush will keep you going. Just don't say I didn't warn you though! This gets a strong 4/5 cows 🐮🐮🐮🐮.

An Unlikely Pairing That Works: MEG & RYAN

Seeing the trailer a couple months back had me asking if these two actors would actually work. I could identify JC Santos in more indie looking romcoms and drams while Rhian Ramos would fall into either action, sultry contrabida roles, drama and fantasy genres.

Watching the movie through a red carpet advance screening (a few days ago) however proved that putting these actors in a box would be a big mistake especially since the material of Meg & Ryan needed specific personas shown on screen. JC had to make Ryan as nerdy, ultra conservative and virginal at times while Rhian does the opposite, flawed, game for anything and had no bottle left unturned. She also gets egged to do things by friends, persuaded by a drop of wine and fun it brings. 

Lots of stars went to the event and supported them. Mind you it was raining and traffic was bad, but they all went there to support Director Catherine Camarillo and the other stars of the film. In a way this is a huge gamble because it's pretty slow at cinemas these days. But they're pretty confident about this story and its execution.

JC took his character to heart. With his boyish charm and soft delivery, he makes the easy work out of being the Mama's boy he needed to portray. Rhian on the other hand remained pretty mysterious despite her being the rocker chick she exudes. Both characters situations get intertwined, call it fate, call it something something that happened for one night, but they both loved each other eventually.

Some real good highlights are the appearances of Steven Bansil and the super funny POCA. If you love them on their internet skits, you would love them even more in their first movie.

We all thought it was not going to work, but folks in the cinema were gushing about the pair, even cried too. I guess we all fell for the trap that is MEG & RYAN. And they hope you get to experience it too.  It's an interesting and cute story, the pairing works! It comes out on August 6th, in cinemas nationwide! This is under POCKET MEDIA Films.

A Look at Jodi Sta. Maria's Psycho Horror Thriller "UNTOLD"

Regal Entertainment's scary movie offering "UNTOLD" was just given an advanced screening and scream party at the SM City North Edsa's THE BLOCK. It was witnessed by Regal Entertainment head honchos Keith Monteverde and Roselle Monteverde. While Jodi Sta. Maria is out of the country filming an international project, actresses Sarah Edwards and Kaori Oinuma attended the screening to say hi to lucky students, fans and media covering the event.

Jodi plays Vivian Vera, a reporter/anchor for a TV station. The film was easy to absorb at first, but it is a psycho thriller, full of jump scares and g0re. It was also very claustrophobic because much of the entities come from different directions. This is also about PTSD, mental health, and family.

Keith and Roselle Monteverde, Regal Entertainment Inc. is personally working on this film

This seems like a huge experiment for Jodi, and the film is full of things that would make you question realities. You get scared for a while then end up being in a flashback, or immerse in a supposed alter reality then see it being true. You also won't be able to invest too much on characters because one minute they're goody two shoes, the next day they're going to the underworld. Her involvement with all of them is consistent though, which again, made this story line cerebral, it makes you think and question every time what is true, what is happening now, and what's not.

The entertainment value certainly is enough for a Jodi Sta Maria film, and if you doubt her capability to scare, I've seen several people in my row screaming at times. Much of the content is psychologically heavy, and you'll feel the struggle on why the characters are doing what they are doing, even after the "afterlife". The narrative is stressful, so make sure you are ready for this horror film because by any standards, Jodi did justice with hear character. You'll also love some not so serious things that JK brings, which gives relief despite the heavy plot.  

Director Derrick Cabrido may have had a field day doing this with an actress that is capable of playing complex personalities. She did phenomenal, and the script certainly has been researched well. If you are practicing witchcraft (not that I'm insinuating you are), you'll also be seeing a lot of clues why we say that. This is another layer that you should discover when you watch it on theaters on April 30.