Post Halloween double movie day

Originally posted November 5, 2017

Just because Halloween’s ended doesn’t mean that the fun stops because horror movies will always be a traditional film genre no matter that time of year (especially here in the Philippines). Showing just recently but sadly after Halloween is the 8th entry into the Saw franchise “Jigsaw”, and a local film here in the Philippines, “Ghost Bride”.

Jigsaw (2017)

Puzzling for new viewers

Jigsaw, revolves around cases involving the Jigsaw killer believed to have been killed in the previous films and dead for over a decade. If you haven’t watched a single film in the franchise, let me give you a quick rundown on who and what this “Jigsaw killer” is. The Jigsaw killer or just Jigsaw for short is a mysterious person that subjugates those who’ve taken life for granted, to his “games” to give them a new appreciation for life. These games though are more of a test seeing if the people he had kidnapped have the will to live after the sins they had committed. He may not see his games or what he does as murder though as the deaths that happen from it have been in his own way “justified”. As for the Jigsaw name, he earned it by taking away a jigsaw piece shaped of the dead’s skin. The Saw series expands on the Jigsaw killer’s history from why he does what he does to an interesting take on what I would consider as vigilante justice.

One thing that you’d have to appreciate or take away from each film is how each game is designed and the impressive amount of realism when it comes to their execution. Think Final Destination but instead of pandering on about how each kill will happen, Saw films go straight to the point and gives you these people, their psychological progression and their interactions with John Kramer/ Jigsaw and other kidnapped victims. It’s not a Deus Ex Machina sort of thing with random events but rather an orchestrated chain of events by the Jigsaw killer, John Kramer.

Jigsaw, the film, for me felt like a mix between a crime drama series like csi and a general gorefest. Sure, you’ll get the occasional jump scare but after seeing enough films like saw or final destination it’d be hard to lose your lunch at that point. Not taking anything away from the effects or something it would’ve been nicer to see the complete cut and not the edited cut you’d find in cinemas. While we’re on the topic though, if a film gets cut in the cinema you can tell that it’s already too violent or gory so if you’re into that sort of thing, Jigsaw has those moments for sure. The pacing for the film felt weird at times shifting from crime drama to massacre bouncing between the two often but towards the end, it would all make sense. Human psychology played a big part in this film like with other saw films but the descent from disgruntled to downright desperate was presented wonderfully. The film panders on to its audience with some of the subjects being sleazy to plain stupid (srsly) but at the end of it all, this film was made more for the fans of the Saw franchise rather than the majority.

The 7th saw film felt like a good enough send off for the franchise with the Insidious franchise being a good player in the horror genre by James Wan. Jigsaw isn’t a must watch but at the end of it all, still a decent watch

5/10 you don’t need to watch it but it’s still a decent film

Ghost Bride (2017)

Is it still racist if she's Asian?

Filipino films are great. No kidding on the Pinoy pride there but at the end of the day, as time passes Filipino films really do improve over time with one of our signatures asides from Comedy being Horror. Kim Chiu ventures again into horror as the titular Ghost Bride , and with her family’s lives and livelihood on the line, would she actually push through with it? Honestly speaking, I thought that Ghost Bride was the Ouija rip off coming to cinemas soon, something something glass. Doing a bit of research though shows that there’s an actual Filipino Ouija movie (whut). Ghost Bride is one of those films wherein the trailer would literally give off every major plot line in the movie if you imagined hard enough. Sure it’s not that important since in horror films you’d be more interested in the scares than the story itself but it still matters to me.

Ghost Bride’s opening scene left more to be desired. Seriously though, what opening scene in a horror would reveal the appearance of what would be scaring you and completely visible too? I get that it’s supposed to give you a glimpse into the direction the movie would be going but showing the Ghost early ruined part of the film experience for me. Luckily though over the course of the film, the films quality improved (for a horror anyway). There’s nothing much to say without spoiling the film too much but I can assure you that there will be jump scares and even if they’re predictable sometimes jump scares will always be fun.

Without heavily going into detail though here are some of my qualms with the film:
1) Why is Ryan Bang there?
2) Why does the Chinese lady need to speak with a fake Chinese accent when she’s Chinese to begin with?
3) Why is there a fight scene?
4) Why does this movie suddenly feel like Enteng Kabisote?
5) When did Kim Chiu learn how to fight with swords?

Either way, Ghost Bride is a film worth the watch. Culturally interesting, the film also explores some Chinese themes and traditions that are definitely worth looking up on.

6/10 watch it if you wanna have a good time