During his heyday as an action star in the 90s, Ian Veneracion would take a different route once in a while. While he starred as the titular character in horror flick Anak Ng Demonyo in the late 80s, he took on another thriller role as Pedrito Masangkay.
The movie opens with Pedrito Masangkay (Ian Veneracion) being resented by Jose (Subas Herrero) and his family for having an affair with their daughter Jenny (Beth Tamayo). This leads him to kill them. The next day, their body parts are discovered along the seaside. Two weeks later, Capt. Briones (Andy Poe) and his group begin an investigation on the deaths of the family. Time by time, they visit an eatery owned by Jose and his family, where Pedrito works as a cook, along with Toto (Royce Subido) and Charing (Cristina Gonzales). Pedrito claimed that the family are on a vacation. Later on, Toto discovers Pedrito's obsession with Jenny and talks behind his back. This leads him to getting killed by Pedrito. Charing later on discovers Toto's clothes inside the kitchen, leading her to discover Pedrito's true colors. This leads her to become Pedrito's next target. Not long after, while throwing her body, he is caught by Briones and brought to jail. With Pedrito's psychiatrist (Ernie Zarate) joining the investigation, it is revealed that Pedrito has schizophrenia, which he inherited during his birth from his mother (Odette Khan), and killed his uncle (Robert Talby). After a failed attempt at suicide, Pedrito is taken to the hospital, where he is reunited with his psychiatrist. With the help of his psychiatrist, he admits to the police how and why he killed Jose and his family. They soon realize that the food they ate in the eatery come from the bodies of the family he killed, his only way to leave no trace of any of them, and feel disgusted. This gives Pedrito the chance to escape from his room. Not long after, he gets cornered by policemen within the hospital grounds, where he faces his fate, alongside his unsuccessful reunion with Jenny.
The story is based on the murders inside the Eight Immortals Restaurant back in 1985, which was made into a film adaptation "The Untold Story" years later. Erwin T. Lanado, who wrote the script, managed to repurpose the original story to make the movie focus more on the person with schizophrenia. As the movie progresses, one will wonder why whoever mistreats Pedrito, whether orally or physically, is considered a villain to him and ends up getting killed by him whenever he loses control of himself. The origins of Pedrito having schizophrenia are well explained. His troubled past from his early years and his relationship with Jenny, which drew the ire of her family, are fully detailed.
Ian Veneracion excels in playing the title role, from how he presents to how he acts as a schizophrenic person. Subas Herrero is very toned down in playing the owner of the eatery, unlike the typical villain roles he played. Andy Poe is convincing enough in playing a police captain. Not to mention Dick Israel and Berting Labra, who both play Briones' policemen, added humor to some of the scenes. Marita Manuel did an impressive job in providing the music score. The gloomy music accompanies very well with the tragic scenes.
Overall, Pedrito Masangkay shows Ian Veneracion's finest performances beyond action and is one of the best movies Jun Posadas directed. While it is not as scary as The Untold Story, it is definitely an imaginative retelling.
