‘LiveScream’ REVIEW: Filipino horror gets a fresh, bloody spin
‘LiveScream’ REVIEW: Filipino horror gets a fresh, bloody spin
Elijah Canlas leads the cast of LiveScream along with Phoebe Walker and Kat Dovey.
Who said Halloween starts and ends in October? Director Perci begs to differ as it’s about to get more bloody with his “sado-horror” LiveScream out on Vivamax Plus this November 9! With films like Unforgettable, Born Beautiful, and the upcoming Mahal Kita, Beksman, the filmmaker has been known for flicks that will either make you cry out of sadness or of laughter. He only ventured to the horror scene with Dementia starring none other than La Aunor and the Flight 666 episode from Shake, Rattle & Roll XV, which are both from 2014, and now he’s having a “cum back”. See what I did there?
LiveScream isn’t being exclusively released on Vivamax for no reason. This vicious work by Intalan also caters to the mature audience of the streaming app (as it is known to have a good amount of sexy movies in its catalog), but just a reminder that although it does contain some nudity, it comes with a bloodbath package as Exodus, played by the young and talented Elijah Canlas, braves the twisted traps laid out to him by a mysterious guy who goes by the name Mr. Nice.
LiveScream is Intalan’s venture back into the horror genre after 8 years.
The premise is simple—Exodus, this narcissistic content creator, finds himself in a dark room with a computer unit in the middle of it and a wall full of holes numbered from 1 to 8. At first, he thought it was just a prank by his girlfriend, Amanda (played by Phoebe Walker), who he makes videos with. But then he realizes that he will spend his April Fools getting fooled himself in the most gruesome way possible. Each hole corresponds to a sick surprise, and as he goes from hole to hole, the surprises become more and more wicked. It’s just like Saw’s erotic and sadomasochistic sister, which Intalan said inspired his ideas for the film along with Audition.
And in such movies, it’s really the traps or the gory scenes that become the highlight. LiveScream gives the usual Saw treatment its own perverse take with the idea of using glory holes, which surprisingly was inspired by Roman Holiday, the classic film starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. It’s in the scene where she dares Peck’s character, Joe, to put his hand in the Mouth of Truth. There was a sense of suspense in this act despite the film being a romantic comedy, and this manifested in Intalan’s work, although it’s mostly suspense and a little bit of smoking-hot romance.
But the comedy was there, too! Especially when the movie picks up around the one-hour mark with the not-so-serious name-calling scene that gives relief to the audience. You also couldn’t help but laugh at Exodus’ cringy personality every time he gives a shoutout to the ‘EXAMiners’, the fandom name of Amanda and Exodus, while doing some cancelable and “politically incorrect” antics. Intalan reveals that this was also inspired by the segments from the gag show, “Wow Mali” in which he was a former production head. This was the framework for the core concept of the film where Exodus, who pranks people for a living, gets a taste of his own medicine.
LiveScream is also Elijah Canlas’ first horror movie.
LiveScream is a brutal and realistic mirror of society in the age of content creation, with its true horror lying in the lengths that people would go to just to have fame and money. And this is not even about people resorting to sex work through live streaming, but more on the attention-seeking stunts that these so-called influencers do just to be the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons. A funny coincidence is that weeks before the release of the film, some influencers went viral for a lot of problematic reasons, but Intalan denies it was inspired by that as the feature was done way before the issue.
With Director Perci closing the final ‘SRR’ episode, he attempts to open a new Filipino horror franchise with LiveScream, and it’s honestly exciting. The cast was amazing, with Canlas showcasing his versatility yet again. In his first horror film, he had to do scenes in the nude, scenes where he cries out in pain, and scenes where he just had to be an insufferable celebrity with an irritating tone (which he said he got from Mifune’s character in Rashomon). The score was amazingly scary as expected from Emerzon Texon who also got to show his versatility through the spine-chilling soundtrack.
With a short runtime of one hour and 17 minutes, LiveScream did a good job with its social commentary, but it could have been executed better. While everyone was tearing Exodus’ character apart for climbing his way up the rungs of the social ladder, one can also radicalize and ask why he did it in the first place. As a breadwinner in a third-world country, he cries out, saying he did what he had to do to earn, and maybe that’s what’s scarier—to do immoral things out of necessity just because the ones at the top do not give a damn.
LiveScream will be available on demand starting November 9 on Vivamax Plus.
