Tragic Theater Movie Review

Late last year, the trailer of this movie became a trend because the MTRCB gave it a rating of X which means it won't be shown in public for publicity. So what the producers did was they published the trailer in Youtube since internet is not under the jurisdiction of MTRCB. Again, according to MTRCB, the trailer or movie is "too scary". Watch the trailer below and see for yourself...

Movie Review 

When I saw that this movie was being shown in the cinema I was in earlier, I didn't think twice. The trailer wasn't scary for me but it was intriguing. I was really waiting for this movie for I wanted to know a little more about the theater being featured in this movie.

I only found out now that this movie was based from the novel written by G.M. Coronel. If only I knew about this, maybe I wouldn't be so excited. I'd rather buy the book than watch it. Why? Read more below.

the Story

Seeing the beginning of the trailer, I thought the movie would be about the Film Theater that had a terrifying past.

But towards the end, they included scenes of some kind of a demonic possession of Annie (Andi Eigenman). From that point on, I already had some gut feels but I gave this movie a chance. I thought it would have more to offer but unfortunately, it didn't.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

(A part of the next paragraphs contain spoiler notes.

You have the choice to continue reading or skip through.)

This may sound a little too harsh and a spoiler note at some point but what the trailer communicates, that's basically what the story is all about. It just revolved on the lady who was possessed by a demon residing in the theater.

And with all honesty, I watched it twice to understand but I still really don't get a lot of the story. I had to watch it twice too because I didn't hear what the recording tape properly. So for some who had the same problem, if you couldn't hear the last part, the lady said "Kinuha namin ang isa sa inyo." (We took one of you.) which made everything a lot more confusing for me. Was Father Nilo possessed? It didn't clearly show. I'm not so sure but it looks like there would be a part 2.

the Cinematography

Clearly, there was a lot of room for improvement for this movie. I personally find some of the scenes irrelevant. Example: the broken glass, the shutting of the four doors, the playback (reverse) of Annie's life, and most especially, the almost car accident scene.

Below are some of the scenes I truly find irrelevant or annoying:

This is one of the scenes in the movie that I feel so irritating. There were rats on one of the characters and the scene had some zoom in/zoom out shots that made it annoying to the eyes.

This is a scene where both Fathers of the Church were talking. I hate how they shot this scene with a panning technique. The two were talking and there was a lot of big dead space on the right side of the scene. Kind of out of focus!

This is one of the ridiculous scenes of this movie. I still don't get the relevance. Annie was in the cloth while they swing it. Really don't get it.

I understand they were trying to show this back-to-back cross but it was really irritating how they shot some of this part; there was too much spinning and it just made me feel dizzy.

I guess the above photo is the only scene that gave me goosebumps. When they showed this in the screen, it gave chills not only to me but for most of the people inside the cinema too because you can hear their reactions when this shot displayed in the big screen.

In radio or in TV shows, they have this so-called dead air and there's a lot of that dead air in this movie especially during the scene of Andi walking in the tunnel. By the way, I find that irrelevant too!

Overall Review

I expected so much from this movie because of the MTRCB rating. I thought it would be about the Film Center but it didn't really say much about its history. I thought it would be hell scary; there wasn't even a jump scare in this movie.

Why was it rated X by the MTRCB if it wasn't scary?

I seriously believe that they got the rating because it had some violent scenes especially when Annie and another girl was being exorcised. The graphic was disturbing (for me) and not scary. And I think because it has some attack on religion.

Watching the movie second time quite made me understand the point of the story but it doesn't give justice to the story of the Film Center nor the rating of the MTRCB. And for that, I'll just give this a 5/10 rating.

Should you watch this movie?

If you're willing to spend money for a story about demon possession, why not go for it? Just don't expect too much from it. And if you're after some great horror/suspense that would make your heart beat stop for a second or if you want to know a little more about the Film Center, I don't think you'd be satisfied with this movie.

SPECIAL UPDATES

According to some people and some comments below, the reason why some scenes seem irrelevant or incomplete is because there are deleted scenes from the movie by MTRCB? (correct me if I'm wrong). It now makes me wonder they deleted it? How do they think viewers would be able to understand if they have deleted important scenes that makes up the story of the movie?

While some say that the rated X is just a marketing ploy or a publicity gmick to get that hype. Hmm...

Disclaimer: All of what is written in this review are my personal thoughts/opinions about this movie. It may not be exactly the same as everybody. What might be scary for you may not be scary for me and vice versa. I also do not own the photos above. All photos were grabbed from My Movie World.

This movie is only shown in the Philippines. I watched it in SM Dasmarinas Cinema for Php 160. Rates may vary in other cinemas/malls.

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What do you think of this movie?

Feel free to share this to your friends too so they would know what to expect.