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As a kid, Remington (Martin Escudero) used to make fun of
homosexuals by calling them “Bakla! Bakla! Bakla!” straight to their faces. One
day at the cemetery he meets his match when he gets hexed by a grieving gay
played by none other than THE Roderick Paulate. Fifteen years later, Remington
is almost turning 21 and behaves like the typical neighborhood bum: drinking
in the middle of the day while chasing skirts. Meanwhile, his mother (Janice de Belen),
a policewoman, is trying to solve a serial murder case in which all victims are
gay. At the same time, Remington’s curse starts to manifest. Is he the next to
fall prey to the serial killer terrorizing Lucban’s third sex population?
Most of what I am going to say here is in consensus with what
various reviews have already stated. First of all let me join the bandwagon by
saying that Escudero should be nominated for an acting award for his role in
this movie. His transition from neighborhood bum to loud homosexual is so
natural. There is no instance where it seems that he is faking it. The gradual
shift in character is flawlessly achieved thanks to his nuanced performance,
which does not seem technical at all.
What makes the movie work is the way it tackles itself, which is not too seriously. The film has mainstream appeal maybe because of the right combination of campiness and familiar faces making cameos. As for the story, I would have to agree that the Zombadings could have been scrapped off the storyline altogether. However, doing this would rob the movie of its camp factor and would probably turn it into one of those movies focusing too much on self-discovery, which is most likely to be boring.
The movie tackles the
theme of being gay in the modern world, and somehow the Zombadings story arc
manages to keep everything light, in that it is neither too preachy nor too self-absorbed
for its own good. What some people think of as the “curse” of being gay is
presented here in a literal sense, adding some dash of fantasy to the story,
which is not that detrimental to the plot and was actually kind of
entertaining.
Eugene Domingo appears in the movie as a grieving widow who
copes with the death of her husband by doing weird things. Her trademark “elevator
acting” is not seen here but she still makes the audience laugh without much of
an effort and despite the short screen time. She is everywhere nowadays! John
Regala gets to steal the show in the last few clips with a dance number. All in
all the support cast is great.
In terms of story it is more like a young man’s journey of
self-discovery set in a sort of gay apocalyptic backdrop. The two somehow go
well together surprisingly turning it into an enjoyable movie that got the
audience laughing and applauding at the same time. It is one big gay film and it
reminded me somehow of Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah which revolves around the same theme.
Come to think of it, this could also be turned into a musical onstage. It would
be a riot if ever!
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