August 03, 2005

Sigaw (The Echo) Review

(Posted In Asia Horror Reviews )

sigaw.jpgI once lived in a beat up old apartment building in the north end of Toronto. On my very first night in the apartment, as I lay in bed with the windows wide open to combat the summer heat, there was a violent - and I mean violent - domestic assault somewhere in the building. Both man and woman were screaming at the top of their lungs, punches could be heard landing, and at one point one threatened to get a knife from the kitchen and put it to new use on the other. It was not what you'd call a pleasant introduction to a new home.

Director Yam Laranas understands the disorientation and unease that comes with a new home, particularly a home in which you're packed side by side with people you do not know or have any connection with. Every sound becomes amplified and no dirty little secrets are ever truly private. The Filipino director mines this urban discomfort to great effect in his gorgeously photographed horror film Sigaw (The Echo).

Sigaw revolves around Marvin, a young man in Manila who has just purchased a condo in a broken down old building. The building has clearly seen better days but Marvin is proud of his independence, proud even to the point of refusing to allow his girlfriend Pinky to move in with him for fear that shared living would mean less freedom.

The solo living experience begins to sour quickly, however, as every night Marvin is kept awake by the violent arguments between his neighbors down the hall. Anna is married to Bert, a violent a pathologically jealous policeman who takes out all of his insecurities on Anna and their young daughter Lara with his fists night after night. Things are getting worse by the day and Anna, fearing for the life of her daughter, is desperately looking for anyone who can help her out of her situation ...

Sigaw deftly intercuts the stories of Marvin and Anna with some seriously creepy supernatural elements and while it won't take genre fans long to figure out what's going on the film is still a huge success based on it's deft execution. Laranas paces things beautifully and fully appreciates that less is often more so when the jumps come they hit home hard. The film loses its way a bit in the third act when the action briefly leaves the confines of Marvin's building but Laranas brings it all back home by the end.

While most of the characters never progress too far beyond standard genre types they are all decently performed, with Anna's stellar performance as an abused wife giving the film some true heft. If you didn't by the reality of Anna's plight this film would fall apart entirely but she nails it with by far the richest, deepest, most compelling performance of the lot.

A large portion of the film's success is due, no doubt, to Laranas' brilliant choice of setting. The apartment block itself looms as large as any of the human characters with it's faded grandeur and slow decline into decay and rot. This was clearly a high class building at one point that has been allowed to slide into just slightly better than slum status and it provides Laranas with countless beautiful shots and interesting angles. The opening shot of the spiral staircase is particularly strong. Bolstering the physical setting is the fantastically stylized and color filtered cinematography. In many ways the lighting work evokes that of Christopher Doyle only much darker, and the film benefits accordingly. The sound design is similarly strong and integral to the film as a whole.

That fantastic lighting unfortunately doesn't get the best treatment on the Filipino DVD release. While the disc does include solid English subtitles and even English packaging - clearly they are targeting the export market - the transfer is non-anamorphic letterboxed and plagued by a peculiar strobe effect with the brightness constantly flickering. The resolution is a little bit soft and there are some obvious digital artifacts as well.

Does Sigaw bring anything new to the horror - specifically the Asian horror - genre? No, not particularly. But it does what it does exceptionally well. Much like largely overlooked Thai film Shutter before it this is an intelligent film with some serious subtext that showcases some serious technical skills. Had this come early in the Asian horror boom rather than late we could easily be talking about Sigaw in the same breath as Ringu and The Eye.

» Posted by Todd at August 3, 2005 01:27 PM
Digg This / Add To del.icio.us

Reader Comments

Sounds like my cup of tea - where'd you get your copy, Todd?

» Posted by collin a at August 3, 2005 02:47 PM

The film's webmaster offered me a copy after we linked to their website a while back ... you can get it online at Regal Films ... We've got a few regulars from that part of the world who may know other shops ...

Anybody know when Pa-Siyam is supposed to hit DVD? I really want to see that one but it's another Regal title and it's not on their site yet ...

» Posted by Todd at August 3, 2005 02:51 PM

look what i found :)

http://www.filipinomovierentals.com/

» Posted by joeybrash at August 3, 2005 03:40 PM

they have pa-siyam

i'd also like to recommend feng shui supposedly our greatest horror film, that was a blockbuster last year.

though i've heard our really greatest horror film is a movie called itim. people here would even like to say that hideo nakata may have seen it when he studied here.

i haven't seen any of these films, just thought you guys would be interested :)

» Posted by joeybrash at August 3, 2005 03:49 PM

Oooh ... their trailer section is handy. Much better format of the Sigaw trailer there than the Flash one on the film's site ... they've got a trailer for Gagamboy, too.

Looks like Pa-Siyam came out without subtitles ... that sucks ... I've heard good things about Feng Shui ... I'll try and track that one down ... I don't think that shop will rent to people in Canada ...

» Posted by Todd at August 3, 2005 03:54 PM

here's a related site

link

» Posted by joeybrash at August 3, 2005 04:01 PM

Hmmm ... may be too early to say whether Pasiyam will be subbed or not ... apparently it's not out yet and I just heard back from a retailer saying they didn't know if it would be subbed. Guess they don't really know until they've got the discs in their hands ... same company that did Sigaw and Gagamboy, though, and same director as Gagamboy so the chances are pretty good ...

» Posted by Todd Brown at August 3, 2005 04:05 PM

dood, i'll be flying over to boston in awhile, want anything from over here?

» Posted by joeybrash at August 3, 2005 04:09 PM

Sorry joeybrash but I thought that Feng Shui was horrible. It was absolutely one of the worst films I've seen the past five years. It's ending was just terrible and the acting was atrocious (with Kris Aquino leading the pack in suckiness).

» Posted by Daniel at August 3, 2005 05:24 PM

i hate kris aquino too, which is why i didn't watch it

are you filipino?

» Posted by joeybrash at August 3, 2005 05:38 PM

feng shui was ruined by Kris Aquino's atrocious acting. But, it did well in imitating the films of the new wave asian horror genre established by Japan, China and Thailand.

We have a new comedy horror movie coming out, it's called D'Anothers (obviously a spoof of the movie The Others) and it starrs Vhong Navarro of Gagamboy fame.

» Posted by h_folkner at August 3, 2005 06:41 PM

hello, filipinos! i'm not saying that Filipino movies are great (yet). But Feng Shui was our biggest blockbuster last year. Anyway, since Todd and twitch is interested, might as well keep them updated.

» Posted by joeybrash at August 3, 2005 11:19 PM

Yup, I am a Filipino. It's just funny on the Feng Shui DVD that Kris Aquino brags about how the script is so good that it blows away other Asian horror films. I was like "this b*tch is mothereffing crazy!" The only Filipino film I have seen so far that was pretty good (and INTERESTING!) was last year's "Magnifico" starring Albert Martinez and Jiro Manio.

I think that the Philippine film industry is still the slowest of attaining quality film stock, great films, and great actors. Guys, I have yet to see a Filipino film in WIDESCREEN! All the Filipino films I have seen on my television are still FULLSCREEN.

» Posted by Daniel at August 4, 2005 01:22 AM

indie film is finally taking off here.

link

this was the strongest film that came out recently.

good stuff. hopefully it will hit the big screen.

» Posted by joeybrash at August 4, 2005 02:37 AM

I love sigaw really it is so scarry and horifying especially richard gutierrez he is so handsome when he is afraid the soundeffects really scared me to death this movie is very nice I love this truly love your film so much GMA you are the best I'm an ultimate kapuso fan especially to richard Gutierrez

» Posted by joymyrn concepcio r gitamondoc at August 9, 2005 12:09 AM

Richard Gutirrez, the Main guy Of SIGAW is SooOo Cute.The Movie is GreAt.Im Proud Of Pinoys

» Posted by chiche at August 24, 2005 11:05 PM

Richard Gutirrez, the Main guy Of SIGAW is SooOo Cute.The Movie is GreAt.Im Proud Of Pinoys

» Posted by chiche at August 24, 2005 11:06 PM


As i read everything about "Sigaw", i felt so excited to watch it. I hope they will put in a big screen here in Greece. especially in Athens,no wonder a lot of Pinoy & Pinay are going to watch it, & not only our kababayans but also Greeks & foreigners here in Greece.

» Posted by yvette sanchez at August 29, 2005 08:53 AM

Thanks for your interest to Pa-Siyam.

Yes, we'll be coming out soon with a DVD and it has english subtitles too. We are only holding onto the video release until Pa-Siyam finishes with its film fest rounds.

One correction though, Pa-Siyam is only distributed by Regal Entertainment but the rights of the film is solely to Reality Entertainment, Inc. owned by Ronald Monteverde and Erik Matti himself.

» Posted by Michelle Carlos at August 30, 2005 03:59 AM

no matter how good the script is, if you put kris aquino in it, it'll be ruined. that broad can't f'ing act, but i'm sure she'll be good acting in porns, if you have scrotum fetish, you'll love her, she'll smash it soo good, like she did with joey marquez'!

» Posted by francisco V. at September 7, 2005 01:57 AM

Lol, so many Kris Aquino haters! Can't blame anyone of you, though. I like Feng Shui but it is nothing in comparison to The Echo. I guess Kris does ruined it for me as well. I Know Yam's got potential the moment i saw his "Ikaw lamang Hanggang nayon", it's a romantic film but full of wit.

For another horror Filipino flick i suggest 'Takot ka ba sa dilim? (Are you afraid of the dark?)'. I know it's a sell out movie but,this movie really scared me and it basically boast the Philippine Mythological Creatures and folklore, like: TIKBALANG w/c has the upper body has features of a black or brown horse, while the lower body is human; ASWANG, like ghouls, the Aswang are mainly eaters of the dead. etc...

» Posted by Crash at September 10, 2005 04:53 AM

hey, any more suggestions for pinoy horror flicks? i've been away from the homeland for so long(since '94) and haven't gotten the chance to visit. i've been white-washed and haven't really seen much in terms of filipino cinema. i saw tinag ina and some movie with aga mulach and claudine(can't remember her last name but she's very hot) well anyways, i'm kinda going through a horror movie phase and i was just wondering what types of horror movies does the mother land have to offer since '94.

» Posted by Yan at September 17, 2005 06:18 PM

The only Pinoy horror movies I remember -- from late night tv were the "Rattle and Roll" series -- think that was the name.

Vaguely entertaining to say the least though I don't speak Tagalog.

Anyone heard of a dvd release for "Big Time"?

» Posted by Tuan Jim at September 21, 2005 07:47 PM

I really want to see the movie SIGAW!!!!!

» Posted by Stella at October 27, 2005 09:26 PM

we've rented both Sigaw and Pa-siyam over the weekend. I've seen Pa-siyam first and personally found it a little cheesy when it came to the second half of the movie. Sigaw is definitely better.

» Posted by pusa at November 2, 2005 12:35 AM

it's showing in the la screamfest, i think.

» Posted by joeybrash at November 2, 2005 01:59 AM

Hi Joeybrash,

It interests me the film 'itim' you have mentioned. But has hideo nakata studied in Philippines before?

Any similarity in 'itim' that makes some people said so? thank you.

» Posted by kang at March 27, 2006 03:38 AM

ahm..i'v watch this film since im a fan of Richard-Angel..& i'm surprise that this is the Best Filipino Horror Movie so far! keep it up!

» Posted by heber at May 31, 2006 11:59 PM

Richad-Angel's -=SIGAW=- won the Orbit Award at d 7th Brussels International Festival Of Fantastic Film! Congratz..!!!

» Posted by heber at June 1, 2006 12:01 AM

Hello, Kang, just saw this now.

Nakata spent a month here in the Philippines and watched a lot of movies by this director Mike de Leon. One of them was Itim. In Itim there is supposedly a "white lady", one of the more famous supernatural icons of Philippine lore.

» Posted by joeybrash at June 1, 2006 02:38 AM

There's a new movie here in the Phillipines. It was not shown yet however there are some good reviews about it already. Some part of the movie has been shot at the "underwater cemetery". This cemetery is creepy but exudes a unique cinematic beauty. The title of the movie by the way is "OUIJA".
More info: released by GMA and VIVA films. I've heard that there will also be an international release for the film.

» Posted by nicoalcedera at July 22, 2007 08:02 AM

Post Your Comments

Remember Me?   

(You may use HTML tags for style.)

  

Buy DVDs At The Twitch Store

Our Latest Reviews

Archives

Our Latest Interviews

Archives

Our Latest Entries

Stuff We Like

Shop at our affiliated sites and support Twitch while feeding your pop-culture addiction.

Find your favorites


eThaiCD