Movie No. 146. Cinemalaya 2013: THE DIPLOMAT HOTEL
The Diplomat Hotel (2013)
Director: Christopher Ad Castillo
Cast: Gretchen Barretto, Art Acuna, Mon Confiado, Joel Torre
In the opening scene Veronica Lansang, a popular news reporter, is shown mediating a hostage crisis. Then something goes wrong that will make her flip and end up in a mental institution. Years later, she's shown trying to come back to television, reluctantly accepting a an assignment that will require her to stay overnight in an infamous ruins of a hotel, the Diplomat Hotel, which has the reputation of being haunted.
Director: Christopher Ad Castillo
Cast: Gretchen Barretto, Art Acuna, Mon Confiado, Joel Torre
In the opening scene Veronica Lansang, a popular news reporter, is shown mediating a hostage crisis. Then something goes wrong that will make her flip and end up in a mental institution. Years later, she's shown trying to come back to television, reluctantly accepting a an assignment that will require her to stay overnight in an infamous ruins of a hotel, the Diplomat Hotel, which has the reputation of being haunted.
This is supposed to be a horror film. Yes, there are put-on scenes, with the required eerie audio, that are meant to scare. I found the entire film not scary but ridiculously irritating. The first few minutes was okay, but it's downhill from there. There was never a moment that Gretchen appeared like a real news reporter. Art Acuna was irritating because he couldn't get into his character. Mon Confiado even bragged about losing pounds because his character required it. Seriously, I didn't see the need for it.
Everything in this film seems bad. The screenplay is horrible. I don't know how it got past through the screening committee and gambled on it. The cinematography is amateurish.
Rating: 0.5/4.0
Date seen: August 3, 2013
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