PASSERBY  

First of all, let me thank my Manila Bulletin family for giving me front page treatment in the paper's Sept. 29, 2024 issue in line with my having been named one of the University of Santo Tomas' TOTAL awardees. TOTAL stands for TheThomasian Alumni Awards, the highest recognition given by UST to its alumni.

Congratulations to the staff and stars of Her Locket, the film that swept a number of awards in the recent Sinag Awards, including Best Actress, for its lead, Rebecca Chuaunsu. The multi-awarded film is heading to the San Diego Filipino Film Festival this October.I have said it before and I will say it again. Her Locket could be our answer to the Thai film, How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies if only the film is promoted and marketed well. Directed by J. E. Tiglao, it tells the story of a woman on the throes of dementia who remembers incidents of the past through a locket necklace with the images of her parents on it.

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Scanning through Facebook, I notice that horror and suspense-thrillers seem to be the favored genre among Filipino film producers of late. Following is an informal list of movies being shot or are already done, each one falling under the celebrated genre.

Consider Untold, The Caretakers, Espantaho, Lilim, Strange Frequencies, Lola Basyang, Uninvited.

Why this sudden fascination with horror pictures? The local cinema  market is merely taking after an on going trend  that sees Filipinos patronizing and celebrating foreign horror pictures, the latest being The Substance, topbilled by a comebacking Demi Moore.

I was shocked one time at the cinema when all four or five trailers of forthcoming movies shown fell under horror or suspense. It seems people want to be shocked or scared more and more in this lifetime, as if our societym or the world itself  hasn't become one big scare.

As a movie genre, horror used to be just an alternative in the scheme of things. Movies falling under this category usually enjoyed playdates on special occasions, such as Halloween. Not anymore as you can see. 

Movies are known to provide an escape from reality. The thought that some greater horror awaits viewers inside the cinema probably gives them cathartic effect, making the horrors of their day to day existence more tolerable and less horrific.