The Road Reviews
March 21, 2013
This is NOT the film based on the Cormac McCarthy novel. Instead, it is a well-done and creepy Filipino psychological horror flick. Its impact is helped by its narrative structure, following three stories, each one taking place progressively earlier and shining additional light on the proceeding stories. Ultimately, it is an exploration of the long-term effects of mistreatment. Worth a look.
December 17, 2012
Great foreign horror film that really delivers with a budget that's obviouysly not too great. The scares are good and keep you questioning just what is happening and if it's natural or supernatural (as they should), and the story manages to keep looping back on itself and connecting all three or four storylines. While the ending twist probably isn't as surprising as the filmmakers were hoping, it's still a fun ride (heh) getting there.
May 16, 2013
I am a heap-big fan of Filipino director Yam Laranas' Sigaw (which he came over to America to remake in 2008 as The Echo, and the American version, while nowhere near as good as the original, actually ain't half bad). The Road is the only other movie of his I've had a chance to catch, and I have to say that given Sigaw it was something of a disappointment. Though I rush to add that were this directed by some no-name making his first feature, I'd probably be telling you "hey, this is derivative, but it's stylish and pretty cool," so take that with as much salt as necessary.
Plot: An abandoned marginal road where bad things seem to happen is examined during three separate incidents: in 2008, 1998, and 1988. The wraparound story concerns Luis (Patient X's TJ Trinidad), a newly-decorated cop at loggerheads with his sergeant because of his unconventional tactics. As Luis and the police assisting him uncover the successively older crimes, Luis becomes more and more obsessed with the case...
It's not bad stuff, and I will admit that I totally did not see the Big Reveal(TM) coming at all. In fact, the only real problem with The Road is that there's nothing at all new here; Laranas has just taken the various pieces of standard Asian horror films and glued them together, albeit very stylishly. (Compare to Sigaw's wonderful domestic-disturbance ghosts or Patient X using the relatively rare aswang [rare, at least, as a horror movie monster] as his antagonist.) Laranas delivers up another slice of stylish, well-filmed, well-acted horror here, but it isn't anything you haven't seen before. ** 1/2
The Road (Yam Laranas, 2011)
I am a heap-big fan of Filipino director Yam Laranas' Sigaw (which he came over to America to remake in 2008 as The Echo, and the American version, while nowhere near as good as the original, actually ain't half bad). The Road is the only other movie of his I've had a chance to catch, and I have to say that given Sigaw it was something of a disappointment. Though I rush to add that were this directed by some no-name making his first feature, I'd probably be telling you "hey, this is derivative, but it's stylish and pretty cool," so take that with as much salt as necessary.
Plot: An abandoned marginal road where bad things seem to happen is examined during three separate incidents: in 2008, 1998, and 1988. The wraparound story concerns Luis (Patient X's TJ Trinidad), a newly-decorated cop at loggerheads with his sergeant because of his unconventional tactics. As Luis and the police assisting him uncover the successively older crimes, Luis becomes more and more obsessed with the case...
It's not bad stuff, and I will admit that I totally did not see the Big Reveal(TM) coming at all. In fact, the only real problem with The Road is that there's nothing at all new here; Laranas has just taken the various pieces of standard Asian horror films and glued them together, albeit very stylishly. (Compare to Sigaw's wonderful domestic-disturbance ghosts or Patient X using the relatively rare aswang [rare, at least, as a horror movie monster] as his antagonist.) Laranas delivers up another slice of stylish, well-filmed, well-acted horror here, but it isn't anything you haven't seen before. ** 1/2
April 27, 2012
Heavy on a normal person's eyes, but if a viewer who is artistic and deep-thinker, this is a film for you... this movie has a sense of thick texture on ambience, intense yet mild to the heart and massive effect on the soul that will keep you watching...
January 30, 2013
i tired to make it through but got bored. way to repetitive and as high look as it was= horrid makeup job that looked of crayons and lost dreams.
April 25, 2012
Excruciating in a good way and works on every level. No doubt about that as it pleasures the viewers with Yam Laranas' strong flair for cinematography and direction. I can consider it his best work since Sigaw (The Echo). Some of the cast got in the way though with their unconvincing performances but overall, it's definitely a remarkably terrifying experience.
July 15, 2012
. . .a supernatural psychological thriller that leaves its audience in a state of somberness, but in a good way. It's a film with such powerful intent that affects its overall tone. It wants you to experience it and get the point of the whole setup.
December 30, 2012
Glacial pacing kills a movie that could have been really something. The first thirty minutes had my heart racing, but I caught on to the director's tricks and soon lost interest to the point where I was praying for it to end. The ending makes no sense and while I could see where the filmmaker was trying to go, it just didn't work out. Who are all these people and are they the same people and what...who..? Whatever, I don't really care enough to try and think about it because I'm not sure this movie is deserving of such deep thought. The third act isn't even horror, but a taut family drama. This filmmaker has a good film in him, but it isn't this one. Beautiful cinematography, though.
Robyn Nesbitt
December 7, 2012
Choosing to go down this road will ultimately lead you to a destination of indifference. Well done psychological thriller with a satisfying story and some genuine chills. Slow moving at times and staying engaged becomes tedious. It's not that it's that bad of a film, I'm just saying it's not that great of one either.
May 11, 2012
The film's three-pronged narrative does a fair job of laying a spooky groundwork for the revelatory emotional sadism that lies behind most acts of evil; it just takes a bit of clunky exposition to get there.
October 23, 2012
A ghastly noir and having a weary atmosphere, this horror film grasps tension and delivers theatrical suspense for you to watch it until the end...
Travis B.
October 12, 2012
Mediocre horror. Impossible to decipher, and it wasn't because it was in a foreign language.
ss z.
August 10, 2012
Terrible slow boring typical foreign horror flick!
August 7, 2012
This film is really great. After watching it, you can still feel the intensity of the film.
July 29, 2012
I normally wouldn't have taken the time to write this, but the 100% given it by top critics and the 7.2/10 average rating is has it utterly deceptive. The positive reviews this movie received could not have POSSIBLY been more off the mark.
There is absolutely NOTHING good about this movie (except for possibly the soundscape).
This is a plodding, slow-moving, horribly-acted piece of garbage. The make-up is inconsistent, the movie is entirely not scary (even my wife who jumps at literally EVERYTHING didn't so much as cover her eyes once), and gives nothing to think about / reflect on after the movie ends. There are no redeeming qualities to this 1:50 waste of time.
I normally wouldn't have taken the time to write this, but the 100% given it by top critics and the 7.2/10 average rating is has it utterly deceptive. The positive reviews this movie received could not have POSSIBLY been more off the mark.
There is absolutely NOTHING good about this movie (except for possibly the soundscape).
June 27, 2012
To say that The Road is "haunting" is as underwhelming a description as saying a forest fire is bright, hot, and eventually grows on you. The Road haunts you from its opening credits and works its way under your skin only to fitfully squirm around beneath your epidermis until the last frame recedes from the flickering glow of the projector. Its imagery is frighteningly beautiful as well and captivates you, forcing you to drink in the morose hues that it paints, even in its most disturbing scenes.
**SPOILERS**
The film itsef is broken into third acts, each taking place a decade apart. In 2008 we travel doen the road with three teens who unwittingly happen upon an eerie path that has witnessed untold of horrors that play like a looped record to those unfortunate enough to stuble upon it. In 1998 we witness the brutal kidnapping and toruture of two young sisters who ask the wrong resident of The Road for help, and in 1988 we see the birth of The Road's frightening legacy in the form of a violently disfunctionaly marraige that leaves a youg boy scarred beyond repair.
Each chapter resonates a little differently and that might be where the film surprised me most. While our 2008 chapter sees the imprints of murder and toruture upon the road and the ghosts that haunt it, our 1998 chapter is sadistic and frightening in its depravity. We are treated to an interwoven anthology where each story plays off of its own strengths and delivers scares that are separate yet play off of their familiariry in such a way that the histrionic narrative of the film takes on a very different meaning by the time the credits roll. In that, The Road is as effective as a psychological thriller as it is a tried and true horror film and a harrowing portrayl of abuse and sadism. The terrors the road has seen has imbued it with enough violence and loss that the very soil of the land seeks retribtion for its victims.
Yam Laranas' storytelling and cinematography show a mastery of the craft and every frame is lovingly shot and saturated with atmosphere. All of this works to envelop the richness of its terror within a world that is at times alien and isolated yet all too accessible. All of this, creates a luch backdrop for its players, actors who sell the horror of the The Road so convincingly that their fear becomes your own, and that is really where The Road exels past so many of its peers. The younger portion of its cast, including Barbi Forteza, Lexi Fernandez and others sell the movie's more intense moments with a zeal that leaves the film with some very memorable adolescent performances. Add Johan Soerqvist's subtle yet impresssive and eerie score and The Road hits all the right notes at all the right times.
Although The Road is an exit not many in the states have taken yet, its a sure shortcut to one of last year's more terrifying offerings.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
I had heard a lot of good things about The Road, the Phillipine horror thriller from director Yam Laranas. The film had garnered accolades in its native Phillipines and the buzz here in the states was nothing short of astoundingly positive. It was with great tripdation that I started off on my own journey down The Road as, more often than not, too much early buzz can leave me looking at a film too criticially, spoiling my own surprise and wonder. It was amusing and refreshing to me then that not only did The Road leave me agreeing with the praises of its supporters, but left me wishing that more genre creatores and their supporters give this film a look.
To say that The Road is "haunting" is as underwhelming a description as saying a forest fire is bright, hot, and eventually grows on you. The Road haunts you from its opening credits and works its way under your skin only to fitfully squirm around beneath your epidermis until the last frame recedes from the flickering glow of the projector. Its imagery is frighteningly beautiful as well and captivates you, forcing you to drink in the morose hues that it paints, even in its most disturbing scenes.
**SPOILERS**
The film itsef is broken into third acts, each taking place a decade apart. In 2008 we travel doen the road with three teens who unwittingly happen upon an eerie path that has witnessed untold of horrors that play like a looped record to those unfortunate enough to stuble upon it. In 1998 we witness the brutal kidnapping and toruture of two young sisters who ask the wrong resident of The Road for help, and in 1988 we see the birth of The Road's frightening legacy in the form of a violently disfunctionaly marraige that leaves a youg boy scarred beyond repair.
Each chapter resonates a little differently and that might be where the film surprised me most. While our 2008 chapter sees the imprints of murder and toruture upon the road and the ghosts that haunt it, our 1998 chapter is sadistic and frightening in its depravity. We are treated to an interwoven anthology where each story plays off of its own strengths and delivers scares that are separate yet play off of their familiariry in such a way that the histrionic narrative of the film takes on a very different meaning by the time the credits roll. In that, The Road is as effective as a psychological thriller as it is a tried and true horror film and a harrowing portrayl of abuse and sadism. The terrors the road has seen has imbued it with enough violence and loss that the very soil of the land seeks retribtion for its victims.
Yam Laranas' storytelling and cinematography show a mastery of the craft and every frame is lovingly shot and saturated with atmosphere. All of this works to envelop the richness of its terror within a world that is at times alien and isolated yet all too accessible. All of this, creates a luch backdrop for its players, actors who sell the horror of the The Road so convincingly that their fear becomes your own, and that is really where The Road exels past so many of its peers. The younger portion of its cast, including Barbi Forteza, Lexi Fernandez and others sell the movie's more intense moments with a zeal that leaves the film with some very memorable adolescent performances. Add Johan Soerqvist's subtle yet impresssive and eerie score and The Road hits all the right notes at all the right times.
Although The Road is an exit not many in the states have taken yet, its a sure shortcut to one of last year's more terrifying offerings.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
June 19, 2012
I have never liked a filipino horror film since shake rattle and roll 1-8 but this one has a pretty good decent storyline, not really scary, a few jumpy scence though, too many dull scenes and a poor acting, but a pretty good low budget pinoy horror movie all in all compare to the last few pinoy horrible horror movies ive seen.
