HAUNTED MANSION (2015) Review
Directed by Jun Robles Lana, DGPI
Directing horror for the first time, Jun Robles Lana who also wrote the film was finding the right time for it to be produced. Then here comes pretty face Janella Salavador who’s here to prove that there’s more to her than her looks. Haunted Mansion does give you the hibbie jibbies at times as the setting looks creepy enough to scare anyone. Which is crazy, having a retreat house on a location like that seems like a punishment for someone who isn’t a fan of the horror genre.
The film starts like any cliched bullied weird student film does. Janella Salvador pulled off her character effectively enough to portray a sweet but mysterious girl. The film however lacks a solid story, one that would make total sense. It has effective jump scares and the setting does give the film the eerie atmosphere. Good performances from the cast made the scenes convincing enough for a viewer. The production and lighting is also noticeably impressive, having a location that needs a clear view even with a dark setting require skills.
Janella, Janice, Iza and LJ Reyes are great in the film, Marlo and Jerome provides enough prince-to-a-damsel-in-distress character and form a operative love triangle with Salvador. The film suffers from being cliched though, having the need for a twist in a horror movie gets in the way most of the time. But you’ll find more than enough scares, thrills and gore here than the usual Filipino horror films.
2.5 OUT OF 5 STARS
“Haunted Mansion” is now showing in Philippine cinemas nationwide from Regal Entertainment. Rated PG-13 by the MTRCB.