One word: cheap.

The only reason I watched this movie was because my friend wanted to watch a horror film, and Spirit’s last full show last Monday at the Power Plant Mall was earlier than Sigaw’s.

The movie was very predictable, it could’ve done well without half the cast, and it sensationalized hauntings too much. I would’ve actually given the movie an “ok lang” rating if it had not been for the extremely cheesy ending. The final scene doesn’t leave you feeling scared or happy; it leaves you feeling cheap.

In the final scene, as the gang prepares to leave the formerly haunted house, they hear ruckus upstairs believing it to be caused by the one naughty love team. Except the the love team turned out to be downstairs all along so no one should’ve been upstairs. So the gang gingerly went up the stairs to investigate and they are faced with several troubled souls (including a Japanese soldier!). Really cheap.

Can’t screenwriters write good horror stories anymore? This isn’t a horror movie. I would have absolutely no trouble sleeping after watching this poor excuse for a film in the middle of the night alone. What makes a good horror movie is the subtlety: People get scared more by their imaginations than by anything they actually see. Filipino screenwriters should take their cue from M. Night Shyamalan; his latest film, The Village is really, really superb.

From what I’ve heard, Feng Shui, which I haven’t seen, seems to be the better film.

If you’re going to watch any Metro Manila Film Festival entry this year, please avoid Spirit of the Glass.