Pa-Siyam came out a few months after the highly-successful Pinoy horror flick Feng-Shui. Of course, good publicities for the film were left and right. I had my doubts because it was from Regal Films. Regal Films and horror are words that truly don't jive with one another. Most Regal horror films are highly commercialized that stories are being overlooked. True enough, when the movie came out in theaters, it turned out that the good publicities were all hype!When I went to the video stores, Pa-Siyam was available. I wasn't really too keen on watching it but I told myself, what the heck? Let's see what is it all about. I wasn't expecting anything good. I wanted to know how the movie truly sucked!
Pa-Siyam is about five siblings who came back to their hometown to bury their mother. The reason for her death was still unknown to them. After the burial, the family held the traditional 9-day novena (pa-siyam). From then on, a series of weird events happened to them. Until finally, they were able to uncovered the truth behind her death.
The moment I put the disc in, I started flipping the remote control - fast forwarding the film when there were no dialogues spoken. Actually, you really wouldn't miss a thing because, for a so-called horror film, it dragged a lot! There wasn't even any scenes that would make you crawl out of your skin. So, for a horror film, this movie sucked big time!
HOWEVER
For the movie to work, one should not take it as a horror flick but rather a psychological thriller/drama kind of movie. The strange events weren't scary but rather weird. So the weirdness of it all wouldn't get one scared but rather seek answers. Besides, there is nothing scary about your own dead mother trying to make her presence felt among her children. A dead relative isn't the best one to use as a horror creature.
Because it is oh-so-slow, you have to sit right through it till you get the answers. In that respect, it is already a psychological ride ala A Tale of Two Sisters. And I suggest that you stay put because you might never know, you may get the suprise twist of your life! But of course, it really isn't that twisted but commendable enough to pull you through and rip your heart out in the end! Trust me, if you were one of the siblings, you might think of killing yourself afterwards!
Pa-Siyam has the distinction of using the being "the first horror movie to be shot using high-definition digital tape with original live audio on the soundtrack". For that, it is really commendable! From that start of the film, it would really make you get the weird feeling. The use of green color for the entire film was great! Plus, music soundtrack was eerie! It would make you feel like bawl yourself to death while credits are going on. But the story surely needed some more polishing.
My recommendation, try Pa-Siyam. Just do as I tell you and you won't get disappointed.
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