Eerie is a Filipino horror film released in late 2018, directed by Mikhail Red. We accompany the investigation of a young counselor of a Catholic school for girls trying to uncover the death of students.
Hello, there! I’m dos Santos, and this is Ulven Reviews, with Movies and series from all over the world and all eras. Today let’s talk about Eerie.
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Pat Consolacion (played by Bea Alonzo) works as a student’s counselor in Sta. Lucia Academy, a girls-only Catholic school run by nuns. Because of her professional competence and empathy with the pupils, she can be the only one on the staff who’s not a nun.
One night, one of the students, Anna (played by Judie Dela Cruz), is found disturbed after going to the bathroom. The rest of the girls think it’s because of the school ghost, Erika (played by Gillian Vicencio), who committed suicide many years before. However, Pat begins to suspect Sor Alice (played by Charo Santos-Concio), the abusive school principal.
That’s the fourth or fifth southeast-Asian horror film I’m reviewing here, but it’s the first Filipino one. I’m glad to expand the list of countries featured here. I know I’m still lacking some African movies, but it will come soon.
For now, let’s talk about Eerie. An average horror film, not much different than what we see in some Hollywood productions. The plot is very cliché even in real life. All of us know of stories of bullied students committing suicide in the school’s bathroom.
Even in the College I studied, that also had High School. A year before I joined, a teenage girl committed suicide in the bathroom. My most superstitious colleagues were kinda hesitant to use the bathroom on that particular floor.
The horror is good enough. It has a disturbing look, the uneasiness of a girl’s purity perverted by evil, and the demonic presence in a place perceived as sacred. Also, it gives you some decent scares.
I think that if you’re someone who believes in the supernatural world, evil spirits, and this kind of thing (which I don’t), this movie has the potential to leave you spooked for some time after.
The cliche plot touched on some interesting topics, although very shallowly. Such as capital punishment, homophobia, children’s education (including the role of religion and spankings), and, of course, suicide.
Eerie has a duration of around 1 hour and 40 minutes. It’s very slow-paced and has many moments that consist only of Pat wandering around the school. So, I believe the subjects I just talked about could be explored deeply if the pace and filler scenes were better administered.
Another problem I found is the lack of good characters. I liked Pat, but that’s about it. I felt sorry for Fidel (played by Raul Morit), a slight sympathy for Julian Castro (played by Jake Cuenca), and I really tried to like Joyce (played by Gabby Padilla), but they weren’t compelling enough.
I don’t know if having a character named Fidel and another named Castro was a homage to late Cuban leader Fidel Castro on purpose, but I approve. I only realized it now while checking the characters’ names on IMDb. While watching the film, I didn’t notice.
One of my favorite things about the movie was the gorgeous cinematography. It caught my attention from the very beginning, with the students exercising like army recruits and nuns as the commanding officers supervising them.
The environment is fully gray made of concrete, and both nuns and students are dressed in black and white. This desaturated and depressing visual complements the tone of the movie itself.
There are also stunning shots of the dawning sky and excellent use of light, especially with the several candles spread across the school. The warm shine of the candles contrasts beautifully with the darkness of St. Lucia at night. However, I don’t think it was dark enough. It would be much better if it emulated more realistic darkness of the night.
Helping the cinematography, there’s a really suitable score. The minimalistic, slow tempo and dark music is not invasive, and it’s a perfect match for the movie. Using the opening scene as an example again, the score fits amazingly with the nuns circling the girls in slow motion.
Eerie is an average movie, with things I loved and others that I found mediocre, but nothing I hated. It worth the watch, it won’t be innovative, but it will be entertaining enough. I’ll give Eerie 5 Moons.
That’s it for now.
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