Villa Estrella: Movie Review


Filipinos have always loved watching horror films - that is why producers make it a point to make at least one horror flick during the Metro Manila Film Festival. The last good local horror movies in recent memory are probably the ones made by Star Cinema like "Feng Shui" and "Sukob". However, we cannot say the same for their last horror entry "T2" which starred Maricel Soriano. Star Cinema is once again presenting a horror film, "Villa Estrella" that showcases the hottest young stars today. How will this fair in the horror-loving Filipino audience? Click to find out.





Anna (Shaina Magdayao) and her ex-boyfriend Alex (Jake Cuenca) are headed to Villa Estrella, an old family resort owned by Anna and her family. Alex is tasked to restore the resort and while they spend the next few nights at Villa Estrella, scary things start to happen. They are confronted by roaming spirits who take people away and Anna finally finds out the reason behind her recurring nightmare.

So let’s start off with the good things about the movie. First, we were surprised with the decent story line. Let’s face it, horror films focus more on special effects and sounds, neglecting the story behind all the scary scenes. "Villa Estrella" came up with a very good story so props to the writers. Second is that the actors were pretty good. Shaina Magdayao who played Anna is definitely ready for bigger movie roles and Maja Salvador showed decent acting as well. Now comes the bad part. The movie isn’t really that scary so those who love screaming inside the movie house might get disappointed. Another is the “monster” actually came out very ridiculous – probably due to the low budget for special effects. We would have opted if they just sticked with the white lady effect than pushing it further. Lastly, there were weak characters, namely Alex (Jake Cuenca) and Geoff Eigenmann who played Anna’s secret boyfriend. Overall, the movie isn’t really at par with the success of previous Star Cinema horror flicks, but it is better than the last movie "T2".

Rating: 2 reels





Why you should watch it:
- very good acting from Shaina and Maja
- no nonsense story for a Filipino horror flick

Why you shouldn’t watch it:
- some scenes turned out to be funny, instead of scary
- if you are expecting it to be as good as "Feng Shui" or "Sukob"


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15 Comments

Comments

  1. "The last good local horror movies in recent memory are probably the ones made by Star Cinema like "Feng Shui" and "Sukob". "

    KAWAWA NAMAN KAYO , WALA KAYO TALAGANG ALAM SA SINENG PINOY . MANOOD NGA KAYO NG MGA PALABAS NA INDY-SINE NG CINEMAONE . BASURA LANG ANG MGA GAWA NG STAR CINEMA KUNG IKUKUMPARA SA KANILA . HALIMBAWA , ANG PINAKAMAGANDANG PINOY HORROR NA NAPANOOD KO SA BUONG BUHAY KO AY YUNG "YANGGAW" NI ERIC SOMES ( NA MARAMI NA DING PARANGAL ANG NAPALANUNAN ) NA KAPAPALABAS LANG NG ILANG BUWAN LANG NAKAKALIPAS . ISA DING MAGANDANG PELIKULA NA KALALABAS LANG AY YUNG "SUNDO" NI TOPEL LEE .

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  2. KAKATAKOT ANG PELIKULANG YAN,,,hehehe...WAG PO KAYO MANOOD NG MAG.ISA...AWOOOOOooo...

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  3. Excuse me, reviews of any kind have always been A MATTER OF OPINION. Assuming you are an avid reader of this blog, you should be aware that the site mainly reviews mainstream movies and not indie films. If you disagree with anything written here and wish to tell Jed and Vit about it, kindly do so with respect. Telling them that they don't know anything about Philippine cinema was out of line. On the contrary, they publish reviews that are read and used as a basis by many as to what movies they movies they will watch.

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  4. Hello there Anonymous, why so serious?

    We only have two points for you.

    First, our blog mainly serves mainstream movies. Seeing "Villa Estrella" as mainstream, we deemed it better to compare it to other mainstream films for our readers to gauge the film easier.

    Second, we never said indie films were not good and we highly support pinoy indie films. In fact, we just reviewed and promoted such a film with "The Rapture of Fe" that is a participant of this year's Cinemalaya but again, indie films is not our norm. We now hope you understand why we do not refer to them as much in our reviews.

    Next time, please get your facts first.

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  5. hi there nursing board exam!

    we are very glad you got scared even though we did not! what part of the film really scared you? just curious! :P

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  6. hi there another Anonymous,

    well said with the "Matter of Opinion" point!

    by the way, thanks for the comment!

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  7. i think mas nakakatakot pa rin ang feng sui...i'll just wait for this movie to be available in the internet for download hehe...

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  8. hi pagudpud!

    we totally agree! actually, we did not find this film scary at all. more of a laughtrip actually with some of the "silliness" that went on screen!

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  9. Shining and all classic horror are best of the best of the ... :)

    free bonus Regards

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  10. How about the movie "WAG KANG LILINGON", which is from Star Cinema too? I thought it was also good.

    ^_^

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  11. hi bobby!

    too bad we didn't get to see that so we cannot really comment!

    maybe we will watch it one of these days!

    thanks for the comment!

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  12. this is a lame movie, the script and the plot sux big time.. where can u find a ghost becomes a alien shooting liquid acid!WTF?! walang kwenta basta pinoy gumawa ng horror stories...pfff!!

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  13. Napaka ganda ng kwento kakaiba kaso napaka panget ng pag ka horror nya.. sana ginawa nyu na lng drama... hehe

    nakaka disappoint kapag pinoy horror tlga wlang nakaka takot na scene dun walang kwenta basura buti na lng hindi ko pinanood sa sine sayang lng pera ko sa DVD na lng..

    ewan ko ba basta ang papanget ng pinoy horror, andun kana sa momentum mu matakot sabay umaga na tas iinom ng kape haha, tapos meron pang scene na matatakot kana tas sabay panaginip lng pala tae walang kwenta...

    wag kang lilingon napanood ko wala ring kwenta...
    tas ung shake rattle and roll lahat ng part mula 2005 hanggang last year mga walang kwenta..
    tas eto idagdag pa...
    tas ung kay marian at dennis nun wala ring kwenta..

    buti na lng sa dvd ko sya pinanood

    hindi ko alam bakit meron mga natatakot at takot na takot kaya minsan talagang naaanticapte na baduy tlga eh kasi ang panget tlga eh..

    tae gumawa naman kayu ng magandang horror ung horror tlga hindi ung horror na mas marami ung drama..

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  14. Hi Renee,

    Yeah, the "ghost" actually nailed the coffin for this film. We were laughing out loud because it was really silly!

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  15. Hi Anonymous,

    Such strong words but so true. When will Philippine mainstream cinema ever evolve?

    ReplyDelete