RP movies in Canada

The lead story of Asian Cult Magazine (July Issue) is Cirio H. Santiago, billed as "The Legendary King of the Philippines." I did not know that he has been producing low-budget English-language films since the 70s and later established a distribution partnership with Roger Corman with many finished products shown in drive-in theaters in American small towns.

Santiago apparently made countless horror, war, martial arts and even blaxploitation films totaling 61 films. They may eventually end-up on DVD that’s directed to its niche market. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, "As the guy that tried to put the Philippines on the map." Hopefully, he will make movies with the mainstream audience in mind and with a bigger budget and name stars.

Though I have not seen any of Santiago’s films, there are several vintage war genre movies (Bataan, Back to Bataan) and contemporary movies set/shot in the Philippines, now on DVD in many of our local DVD shops. They are reminders of a period when American producers considered the Philippines as a reliable, safe, economical, stable location site. It is a fact that respectable international filmmakers stopped filming in the Philippines after the bad press from the team of Apocalypse Now and The Year Of Living Dangerously.

Here are some of the titles I discovered on several shelves:

• THE RAIDERS OF LEYTE GULF – directed by Eddie Romero, starring an English-speaking Leopoldo Salcedo, Michael Parsons and Liza Moreno (1963- B&W). The plot is simple enough, the Philippine guerrilla fighters, joined by a few Americans start taking back their land as General MacArthur and his troops come ashore in his historic return to the Islands. Nostalgia lovers will enjoy seeing the Filipino supporting cast.

• A CASE OF HONOR – Another Eddie Romero directional effort, starring Timothy Bottoms and John Philip Law. Shot in the Philippines but it’s supposed to be Vietnam, Romero tried to explore the war theme, freedom and the human condition with whorehouse "ladies" joining the journey to freedom with the accommodating lead stars.

• NO MAN IS AN ISLAND – directed by John Monks Jr., starring a very young and forever well-shaven Jeffrey Hunter, Marshall Thompson and a very lovely Barbara Perez as Manila’s counter-attack to Hollywood’s Audrey Hepburn. Shot in the Philippines, but the scenario was the Japanese-occupied Guam during World War 2. Ms. Perez did not do much, just to look demure as a decorative romantic interest. The Filipino supporting cast are fun to watch.

• THE HUNT FOR EAGLE ONE – directed by Brian Clyde, produced by Roger Corman and Cirio Santiago. Martial arts man Mark Dacascos and Rutger Hauer star in this contemporary movie that deals with Philippine terrorists and rebels. It also deals with a secret bioweapons and an anthrax lab in the Islands

• LEGACY – directed by T.J. Scott in 1998, starring David Hasselhoff at his lowest along with Rod Steiger and Donita Rose who should go to an acting school. This ABS-CBN Entertainment and Quantum Entertainment co-production is an oddity, an embarrassment. Rent this DVD and experience 105-minutes of awful script, stiff and over the top acting, lackluster direction and forced melodrama for a low-budget action thriller. The Philippine setting is the only saving grace of this straight to video filmed concoction.

• KISS THE SKY – directed by soul-searching Roger Young, starring William Petersen before CSI fame and sexy bohemian Sheryl Lee and Terence Stamp as a monk. It is the most intriguing shot-in-the-Philippines movie I’ve seen in years. It questions the American dream, the meaning of life and other adult subjects such as marriage, sexual intimacy and relationships. It deals with middle-aged Americans seeking sexual freedom and spiritual utopia in the Philippines but could be any Southeast Asian country that looks like paradise from afar.

The soundtrack features the songs of Canadian Leonard Cohen and the cinematography of the Philippine landscape by Donald Morgan is so stunning that it makes the Philippines something like Shangri-la (not the hotel). It is smart, provocative, mature.

• DUDA (DOUBT) – a digital movie by Crisaldo Pablo about unconventional love in modern-day Manila and confidently shows the future of low-budget Digitally-shot movies. All the actors are non-professional but somehow delivered honest performances.