+---------------- WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD ----------------+
Aswang is a strange movie, but that does not mean it's particularly a great movie. Obviously shot on a shoestring budget, it would have helped to have had a larger budget and a better developed script and cast. The script itself has an interesting premise, but it's never really explained in detail and many things in the movie make little or no sense. Sometimes that works in movies, but at the end of this movie I was seriously asking many questions, and not really in a good way. They paradoxically reveal too much and too little of the story in this movie.
The movie leans on a popular Philippino mythic vampire/creature called the "Aswang". I looked up the definition after the film and learned that an Aswang looks like a normal human during the day, and like an Aswang creature at night assuming various animal forms. They are sometimes thought of as flying creatures and are afraid of metals. They are especially fond of human babies and human intestines. The movie correctly dwelled upon the Aswang extracting the baby from a mother's womb by extending their tongue. Okay, that explains the basics of an Aswang. I don't think it would have mattered too much if I did know this information before watching the movie.
There is some gore in the film, but I never found it to be necessary for the overall story. Gorehounds will enjoy this much more than the majority of viewers. One scene where a hand gets chopped off was so obviously fake it was utterly hilarious. The weird thing is, the camera was so close to the fake hand. As if the viewer wouldn't notice it inches away? Was this an inside joke perhaps? It's not like an original "Evil Dead" gore effect that works mostly because it doesn't take itself entirely seriously. It was as if the director was actually proud of that special effect.
The acting in Aswang is a mixed bag. The lead performances are fairly natural and believable. But, a few of the performances are downright terrible, even as far as indie films are concerned. I doubt those people had ever acted before (or since) in their life, it was as if they were drugged and reading lines off a screen with no emotion.
Aswang was made in 1993 or 1994 from what I gather. Supposedly it wasn't released due to the "shocking things that go on in the movie". I personally didn't find this movie all that shocking. Strange and bizarre as far as the story goes perhaps...but shocking even for the early 1990's??? I somehow doubt it wasn't released for so long simply due to that one factor. I suppose some people will automatically think this is a "campy cult film" due to it's long delayed official release. In some aspects it is, but there are many films out there superior to Aswang that actually deserve the cult status. Just because Aswang was an independent B-Movie doesn't make it brilliant or even particularly memorable.
So, Aswang is worth one viewing simply because the storyline is somewhat interesting and unique. On closer examination, an original idea for a film is only as good as it's execution in the production.
Aswang is a strange movie, but that does not mean it's particularly a great movie. Obviously shot on a shoestring budget, it would have helped to have had a larger budget and a better developed script and cast. The script itself has an interesting premise, but it's never really explained in detail and many things in the movie make little or no sense. Sometimes that works in movies, but at the end of this movie I was seriously asking many questions, and not really in a good way. They paradoxically reveal too much and too little of the story in this movie.
The movie leans on a popular Philippino mythic vampire/creature called the "Aswang". I looked up the definition after the film and learned that an Aswang looks like a normal human during the day, and like an Aswang creature at night assuming various animal forms. They are sometimes thought of as flying creatures and are afraid of metals. They are especially fond of human babies and human intestines. The movie correctly dwelled upon the Aswang extracting the baby from a mother's womb by extending their tongue. Okay, that explains the basics of an Aswang. I don't think it would have mattered too much if I did know this information before watching the movie.
There is some gore in the film, but I never found it to be necessary for the overall story. Gorehounds will enjoy this much more than the majority of viewers. One scene where a hand gets chopped off was so obviously fake it was utterly hilarious. The weird thing is, the camera was so close to the fake hand. As if the viewer wouldn't notice it inches away? Was this an inside joke perhaps? It's not like an original "Evil Dead" gore effect that works mostly because it doesn't take itself entirely seriously. It was as if the director was actually proud of that special effect.
The acting in Aswang is a mixed bag. The lead performances are fairly natural and believable. But, a few of the performances are downright terrible, even as far as indie films are concerned. I doubt those people had ever acted before (or since) in their life, it was as if they were drugged and reading lines off a screen with no emotion.
Aswang was made in 1993 or 1994 from what I gather. Supposedly it wasn't released due to the "shocking things that go on in the movie". I personally didn't find this movie all that shocking. Strange and bizarre as far as the story goes perhaps...but shocking even for the early 1990's??? I somehow doubt it wasn't released for so long simply due to that one factor. I suppose some people will automatically think this is a "campy cult film" due to it's long delayed official release. In some aspects it is, but there are many films out there superior to Aswang that actually deserve the cult status. Just because Aswang was an independent B-Movie doesn't make it brilliant or even particularly memorable.
So, Aswang is worth one viewing simply because the storyline is somewhat interesting and unique. On closer examination, an original idea for a film is only as good as it's execution in the production.