Movie No. 74 (2014): DEMENTIA

Dementia (2014)
Director: Perci Intalan
Cast: Nora Aunor, Bing Loyzaga, Chynna Ortaleza, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Yul Servo, Lou Veloso, Althea Vega, Jeric Gonzales

Mara (Nora Aunor) has dementia. Mara's closest kins take her to Batanes, her hometown, hoping the decision will help her remember things. It does. However, it's the things that Mara would rather forget that comes back. This results in her and her niece experience being haunted by ghostly visitors.

The movie is not at all about dementia, with all the clinical manifestations of a dementia patient. The titular dementia is, I think, allegorical; thinking about it this way makes the movie's kind of horror work really well. 

The bleak cinematography of the vast hills and rough seas of Batanes contribute to the required feel for a horror film. But the best thing about the movie is Nora Aunor herself. She may have been assigned the most difficult roles and layered characters in local movie industry and delivered excellently in practically all instances, but she still managed to surprise everyone with the way she attacked the Mara Fabre character in Dementia. Chynna Ortaleza, Bing Loyzaga and Jasmine Curtis-Smith also did well.

The scene at the hospital is, for me, the scariest. And it's just a normal conversation. 

Rating:4.0/4.0

Date seen: September 28, 2014

Comments

Popular Posts