Jes Favor

Please don't bother watching this movie. I'm someone who appreciates slow-burn, but this flick is just aimless and pointless. The one star I'm giving it is for the mood and costume design; everything else is a total waste. If you consider your viewing time precious, stay far away from this movie. You've been warned.

The 8th Night is a big missed opportunity for me. The production values are quite high, but, unfortunately, the entire experience is a slog. The characters do not have depth to them, and despite some deep world-building initially, the story just chugged along without establishing relatable and thrilling stakes (i.e., no real effect to the world and characters as the demonic entity moved from one kill to the next). If you value your time—your two hours to be exact—watch a rerun that you've been yearning to see again instead.

Third time's a charm on this one. The mood, scares, and pacing are meaty in this third installment. It can be considered a classic, in my humble opinion.

Eerie is director Mikhail Red's shot at the horror movie genre, and I can say that it delivers on quality just like his previous pieces, which include Birdshot. It has a good amount of scares, although personally, I wish the creepy scenes were fleshed out some more (i.e., that dark corner; the silhouette of a man behind the blurry glass door). In terms of acting, this movie is nothing to be scoffed at. It features the acting chops of Filipino veterans, like Charo Santos and Bea Alonzo, after all. Related: If I were to nitpick, I wish the supporting actress (the one Pat promised to protect) had more scenes--scary ones in particular--in the movie. One major downside I can say about Eerie, which is a very personal opinion of mine, is the clairvoyance ability of Pat. For me, a horror movie whose main character has the power to perceive ghostly entities is less effective than a scary flick featuring a normal protagonist. Still, I adore this latest effort from director Mikhail Red. It oozes with polish rarely seen in your run-of-the-mill Tagalog (Filipino) flicks these days. After seeing this gem, I am convinced that future projects from Mr. Red will only put confidence in the hearts of movie-goers and inspire filmmakers (both budding and veterans) at the same time. I give it a solid rating of 7.5/10.

I watched the first episode and wanted it to not meet my standards, just so I could scratch this series off my to-watch list. Why so negative, you ask? Well, let's just say I am finding ways to minimize my growing list of series to binge-watch. In the end, Kingdom didn't just meet my standards, it far exceeded them--like really exceeded them!