Surviving Evil

I grew up with the stories of the "Aswang", which is a mythical creature in Philippine folklore. (The Aswang is an inherently evil vampire-like creature and is the subject of a wide variety of myths and stories, the details of which vary greatly.) Knowing this, I was expecting a great deal from the movie.

The opening scene was fairly decent and stoked me up for what should be coming next. Unfortunately, I was sadly disappointed with too much unnecessary dialogue that made the movie a bit of a drag to watch after the first part.

To make a brief enumeration, the story had a lot of potential. I believe they could have made this into a really good horror movie since the concept of the folklore has its own charm.

All the actors had to be given credit for doing a superb job on such an obviously meager script. If they did one thing right, it's picking out the cast in this film.

Now, the background music/sound effects reminded me of Vincent Price for some reason. Which I found a bit funny since the cinematography is like watching something from the 70's. I'm thinking, it's either something deliberate for effect or just a result of having a low budget.

Things pick up, though, near the end. Unfortunately, even then, there wasn't much focus on the Aswangs and their shape-shifting prowess. This could have been precious fodder for making a great horror story and messing with viewer's minds.

Overall, it's not THAT bad, but it's not something I would watch again.

Opened well and for a minute or two I thought…yep this is going to be an interesting and different type of film after a quick spooky intro..however the whole of the film ends up a disappointment and a shame as billy zane and Christina cole are good actors/actresses…the whole going to an island thing and finding it houses demonic forces seemed to be the initial line when it started but then it continues like a poor replica of 'predator' and you just can't compete with that, especially on a low budget, I suppose if I had to say something positive about the monsters they are pretty believable at times, but it would have been better to have stuck with a more supernatural theme…and I felt no emotion for those on the island, which is always a bad sign if you want to feel for those striving to survive

Once again, various characters face a mystery the audience is already fully aware of the resolution of, prompting another movie that delivers little suspense or mystery.

The monsters are shapeshifters, capable of transforming into any creature, which in a jungle setting like this would provide excellent paranoia fuel. This gets wasted entirely, however, as animals barely appear on screen with the characters. Incidentally, the monsters rarely use these abilities in attacking their victims anyways.

Obviously it takes more than one actor to contribute anything worthwhile, and Billy Zane can only contribute slightly to a film with nothing else going for it. Even worse the monsters have almost no presence and aside from the times characters find evidence of their existence, it's as if nothing is happening.

A small crew arrive at an island in the Philippines to begin shooting a documentary about a tribe that lives on the island but little do they know that something else also lives on the island, ancient creatures with a thirst for blood.

This UK/South African co production was written and directed by Terence Daw and it is an exceptional little monster movie boasting a well fleshed out storyline, the performances by Billy Zane (BLOODRAYNE), Natalie Mendoza (THE DESCENT) and Colin Moss (NUMBER 10) are great as well as the performances from the supporting cast, the creature design is one of the better designs I've seen in recent low budget films and the director shows a big degree of professionalism.

However, this film is not really scary so I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking to get scared stiff but I would recommend it if you want to see a really good movie.

Sure, there was potential for more. There was also plenty to enjoy.

Some thrills, some silly dialogue, some meanies doing mean things, some blood, even some pretty ladies (no nudity).

Some people can't stop pretending they would have done it better long enough to enjoy something.

Grab a friend and a beer, enjoy yourselves.

___ --- ___ --- ___ ---

I didn't need ten lines to explain that, IMDb.

Sorry.

What else... well the monsters were quite vicious, a good thing I think. I don't like the pansy monsters in some movies. 30 Days of Night was a great movie precisely because the vampires were absolute beasts. Didn't sparkle or nothing.