10. The Road
The very first Filipino film to be released commercially in mainstream North American theaters, The Road is a four-tier psychological thriller spanning three decades in a twisted tale of murder, revenge and supernatural occurrences along a desolate country service road. Beginning with three teens endeavouring on a joy ride, a police check forces them onto the laneway where it’s not long before engine stalls and bloody apparitions put the trio in mortal peril. From there, the calendar flips back two times (a decade a piece) explaining the sorrowful history of the road and the tortured souls (some still living) that call the limbo home.
Being such a small effort (and starring a number of unproven foreign stars) the acting its spotty at best, though progresses significantly in quality as the second and third acts roll out (not to mention director Yam Laranas showing more confidence in his handling of characters and overall mood). Doing The Road the greatest disservice is the fact that the first act is by far the weakest, unintentionally making the entire film seem far longer than it is. But as a chilling whole, the latter portions redeem the pitfalls of the opening and leave a lasting impression even if it’s not of the gut-punch variety.
As a disclaimer I should warn potential viewers that this is not a horror film per se but rather a character-driven thriller with supernatural overtones and is more an eerie whole than a series of “boo” moments. The Road is a flawed but compelling effort that is part horror anthology and part straight-forward ghost story. If nothing else, it marks director Laranas as an up-and-coming talent to watch.
9. Hysteria
It’s not often I would use words such as “saucy,” “naughty” or “cheeky” to describe a film – any film – (as I am not in fact an 80-year-old woman), but in the case of Hysteria which sarcastically tells the (mostly) true tale of the invention of the vibrator, such adjectives are apt and rather unavoidable. Hysteria is part historical drama and part comedy of errors, tastefully presented in a light-hearted and sometimes orgasmic fashion.
In the 1880’s hysteria was used as a diagnosis for everything from nymphomania to a woman of the period who broke social norms. In the most extreme cases the uterus was fully removed while in lesser instances the treatment was, well, “doctor” induced masturbation. When a young progressive physician (Hugh Dancy) finds gainful employment as such a clinic he becomes somewhat of a hit amongst the lady “patients,” but a recurring hand cramp (see what I mean about “saucy”) threatens his livelihood and so he turns to his inventor mentor (say that 10 times fast) for a solution.
The potentially smutty subject matter is handled extremely delicately by director Tanya Wexler (in her second effort behind the camera), never becoming exploitative but never descending into some sort of self-serious “rise to notoriety” story. When we’re talking about the birth of something as kinky as the vibrator the ironic tone employed works perfectly.
Only when multiple plot points and character arcs are wrapped up too conveniently and some of the pro-feminist undercurrents become too obtrusive does Hysteria falter, but by then the great cast (which also includes Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jonathan Price) and airy tone will likely have won you over.
It really hits the spot, so to speak.
