‘Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara’ REVIEW: Remake eclipsed by its original
‘Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara’ REVIEW: Remake eclipsed by its original
Barbara (Lorna Tolentino) fixes a flickering light bulb.
This review contains major spoilers on Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara. Content warning for the article and the film as both mentions themes of suicide.
A dark room on an island. Inside, a child screaming in terror while holding a knife in her hand. She is possessed by a vengeful spirit. Keeping her still is her aunt who recites the Apostles’ Creed in hopes that she will be freed from the being haunting her. This scene, although scary in writing, is one of the hilarious things one could witness from Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara, a 1995 horror movie from Chito S. Roño which is a remake of Celso Ad. Castillo’s Patayin Mo sa Sindak si Barbara in 1974.
Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara, which would be referred to as Patayin hereafter, starts off like an episode straight out of Supernatural or Law & Order, although the audience gets a hint that the following installment they are watching is a special. Why? It involves the protagonist’s relative. Barbara, played by Lorna Tolentino, is a career woman who went to the United States to work. Due to her sister’s apparent death, she finally comes back home to the Philippines to put an end to the haunting past that she left behind. Though in order to close that book, she needs to confront the reality of her love affair with her sister’s husband.
Nick (Tonton Gutierrez) was Barbara’s boyfriend before he became Ruth’s (Dawn Zulueta) husband. It was revealed that Ruth attempted suicide in the past but was saved just in time by Barbara. When asked why she tried taking her own life, Ruth explained that it’s because Nick doesn’t love her. Yes, Barbara’s Nick. And Barbara, being the loving older sister that she is, decided to confront Nick about their situation. The plan was this: Nick was supposed to date Ruth until she’s done with, as Barbara put it, her passing fancy. However, their short-term secrets became skeletons in the closet as after some time passed, Nick and Ruth decided to tie the knot and the two eventually have a child. Nine years later, the two are still married and after a fight instigated by Ruth’s assumptions about Nick’s unfaithfulness, she commits suicide. Following her own twisted version of seppuku, she curses Nick yet again with a warning to his life, “I will come back for you and your woman.” These words hint at a haunting revenge story, but the movie’s far from that.
Ruth (Dawn Zulueta) puts a cross to her husband’s face for him to swear his faithfulness to her.
This psychological horror movie from Roño suffers from many problems. On the surface, the story is so simple, but the way it was presented felt like it was rushed. As mentioned, the movie seems like an episode from long-running shows that deal with investigating a crime or in this case, Ruth’s reason for her suicide and her haunting. What one should know from these shows is that context and establishing of the background is not given much importance for new viewers as they cater to their loyal audience. Patayin was like that in a sense that it starts abruptly without giving enough information about the eponymous character and the story.
The beginning of the film is so out of nowhere. Roño could have done a narration like Abaya did in Karnal. It feels like in medias res, but it’s not as it is just how it starts with Ruth crying to Barbara through the TV like a typical crime thriller. Although the clouds of mystery clear up as the story progresses, Lee does it in a way that just confuses the audience. Maybe the reason it was serialized in 2008 was because it’s presented better in that format.
The teleserye-esque family drama is also a huge miss. Imagine, Nick says that in the nine years that he and Ruth were married, all he thought about was Barbara. That just can’t be true, can it? But what’s even worse is the reason they got married in the first place. It’s not enough that Ruth is a “fragile” person for Barbara to go ahead and allow her to marry her boyfriend. That is just a temporary fix as what Ruth needs is medical attention. She has suicidal tendencies as the movie showed and she deserves to be treated. The movie should have, at the very least, tackled Ruth’s mental illness carefully instead of picturing her as this delusional, attention-seeking pitiful sister. In the end, Patayin is just another bad case of a horror movie exploiting mental illness.
The movie also just feels so fast-paced. The abrupt transitions don’t give enough time for viewers to absorb the events. An example of this would be Barbara visiting Ruth’s grave in the cemetery. As she was about to leave, the wind went crazy towards her as the camera spins around her. The music helps in building up tension but this just goes down the drain as it transitions to another scene in just the wink of an eye. This happens throughout the movie that it becomes tiring to witness an anti-climactic event after another. It could have worked in a comedy slasher type of horror movie like Shaun of the Dead, but this is not Edgar Wright.
Maestra Beatriz (Angie Ferro) conducts a seance to contact Ruth’s spirit.
As mentioned in the beginning of this review, Patayin is a remake of Ad. Castillo’s Patayin Mo Sa Sindak Si Barbara. Watching this movie, it is inevitable not to point out the differences between the two. The first is the pacing. The original seemed to approach the story slowly as opposed to the remake which was fast-paced. There were also scenes that did not make it to the remake like when the poltergeist Ruth was terrorizing Fritz—Ruth’s husband in the original—to the tune of the piano piece Karen was playing.
The dolls were way scarier and ominous-looking before while the remake ones were hilarious. The use of mirrors was nicely done in both movies. Differences on top of differences, all of these don’t really matter until we talk about their approach to Nick/Fritz or Ruth’s husband’s infidelity. The original one was more vocal about the guy’s shortcomings while the remake felt like it was putting Nick in an empathic spotlight. It goes to show that the original eclipses the remake in a lot of ways with Ad. Castillo’s praiseworthy execution.
Nick (Tonton Gutierrez) looks through a door’s opening.
Aside from the many disappointing aspects of the movie, the cinematography shines as a testament to Joe Batac’s excellence. There is beauty in every shot, and he takes advantage of this to give picture perfect scenes. The ambiance is a huge factor that sets this apart from other Filipino horror flicks, an outstanding combination of cinematic magic tricks that Roño is known for. Alongside this, the score is terrifying enough that just listening to it can give one goosebumps.
The cast’s performance was a little underwhelming. Tonton Gutierrez does not pass as a self-pitying husband, nor does Dawn Zulueta donning a white gown work as a vengeful White Lady. Side note, Roño should have incorporated more elements of Filipino myth. Now, Amy Austria carried this movie with her role as Arlene, the poor maid who got tangled up in Nick’s affair. Lorna Tolentino also did a good job as Barbara, but nothing can come close to Susan Roces’ scream queen performance of the same character.
It all comes down to wasted potential and weak execution. A child being possessed is a typical trope in horror films, and one could see the many resemblances of this and The Innocents. However, Antoinette Taus’ Karen is not at all scary even with a knife in her hand. Speaking of scary, it seems like Filipino directors like Roño were too reliant on monsters and symbolisms to make their horror movies. These are not the only elements that make a film “scary.”
Wait, we’ve reached the ending of the review without a mention of how amazing the title is? Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara, although a phrase that sticks to your mind, is actually erroneous. The Filipino word, “sindak” means an intense fear and the title can be translated to, “Frighten Barbara to Death.” Well that’s just wrong as there isn’t anything to fear in the movie. Patayin is a two-way failure: it fails both as a remake and as a horror movie.
