Still shaking and rattling audiences

I don’t know how many people can claim to have seen all 10 editions of Shake, Rattle & Roll, but surely I have. To this day, my Top 3 favorite episodes are Ishmael Bernal’s Pridyider and Peque Gallaga’s Manananggal and Aswang.

Since its first installment in 1984, Shake, Rattle & Roll had been through good times and bad. While there had been hits (in terms of quality), there were a lot of misses, too. The still currently showing Shake, Rattle & Roll X had improved considerably compared to past editions.

Episode 1 is by Michael Tuviera, who is no stranger to this horror film series, having done an impressive one some two or three years ago – the one with the monster that kills people in the LRT.

Titled Emergency, the story of the first episode is about aswangs that attack a provincial hospital. The killing frenzy begins when a pregnant aswang (Mylene Dizon) loses the child in her womb after engaging in a fight with the townspeople. This angers the dead child’s father (Wendell Ramos), who calls on the other aswangs to get into a killing rampage.

The non-speaking aswang parts — to be honest about it — are too inconsequential roles for award-winning performers like Wendell and Mylene. Actors of less stature could have done those characters. On the part of Mylene especially, there’s nothing much she can do with what is required of her. Wendell, at least, could be menacing and he gives it his all and is good at it. He is frightening in most parts and that helps Episode 1 to have that horror feel.

The lull takes place in parts where the story dwells on the love story between Roxanne Guinoo, who plays a doctor and JC de Vera (is he a nurse or an orderly?). Without that romantic angle, this episode could have been more successful as a horror project. Fortunately, there are enough scary scenes in Emergency to cover that and the viewers, especially the children, have their fill of horror moments.

Episode 2 of Shake, Rattle & Roll X is called Class Picture. It is directed by Toppel Lee, who also handled the Yaya episode of another Shake, Rattle & Roll edition in the past. That was a good job delivered by Toppel (he also did the Graded A Ouija the other year), especially since he had outstanding performers in it: Iza Calzado and child star Nash Aguas.

While Yaya revolved mostly around a residence and at times in the neighborhood streets — with the monster nanny trying to kill her wards — Class Picture is set in a school campus. Here we see Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson spending the night in school with classmates to finish a project. One by one, the classmates disappear and it’s a nun — Jean Garcia — who gets them. Jean, however, is not from this era, which means that Kim, Gerald and whoever is left of their group battle a ghost — a ghost nun in this case.

A lot of us grew up afraid of nuns, especially those whose religious orders require them to don voluminous black habits. Class Picture — with Jean very effective as the sadistic nun — therefore has its share of scary moments. But my one quarrel with this episode has something to do with the decisions made by the characters in the story.

If I were part of the group, I would have immediately done the most logical thing to save my life: Look for the school gate and leave. Instead of heading for the exit, they hatch all sorts of plans to combat the nun — putting their lives in peril in the process. But then, this is a movie. Had they all gone home, that would have been the end of it and the moviegoers wouldn’t have liked that.

And so Kim, Gerald and classmates stay and subject themselves to all sorts of danger and in due fairness, the viewers are treated to some suspenseful and frightening scenes — in true Shake, Rattle & Roll tradition.

Episode 3 — Nieves — is the best of all thee stories in Shake, Rattle & Roll X. It is also Michael Tuviera who handles this most exciting part of the movie.

No doubt inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we are introduced in this episode to Nieves, the encanto slayer. Nieves is played by Marian Rivera and she risks her life helping people in her village fight elementals — until she loses faith even in herself when she is unable to protect the husband she so loves and loses him to earthly creatures. The husband, who goes by the name Adonis isn’t Dingdong Dantes. It is Mike “Pekto” Nacua and I thought this is a nice touch.

Nieves works well because of Marian’s energy. Under Tuviera’s guidance, her performance is inspired. Another asset to this episode is the addition of child star Robert Villar who plays Marian’s assistant. He is truly deserving of his Best Child Actor win in the recently-concluded Metro Manila Film Festival awards night. (If not for Shake, Rattle & Roll X, he could also have won for Iskul Bukol 20 Years After because he is also brilliant there as a half-Cambodian who helps Vic Sotto find some lost artifacts.)

In spite of the assemblage of witches, zombies and other elements from the dark side, Nieves doesn’t come out as a horror episode. It is more of an adventure – with Marian Rivera as the lovable heroine. But even if it doesn’t scare, it is still my favorite of all three episodes. If only for this, Shake, Rattle & Roll X is worth watching.

And now, after 10 editions, Shake, Rattle & Roll still shakes, rattles audiences with horror scenes and definitely puts producer Lily Monteverde on a roll. She should now be readying Shake, Rattle & Roll XI.