The Road (2012)

Strong and Moving!

Simply A Masterpiece

Admirable film.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

There was a disconnect.This movie was decent. The actors could've used a bit more polishing but they weren't annoying. The camera work was really beautiful in a few scenes and the atmosphere was well adjusted to fit what was going on. The plot was ok but needed a bit of work. It is more creepy thriller than scary horror. It was an interesting watch.

If you're like me and enjoy a good movie, no matter what the language, then you should check out this Filipino gem.What this film gives the audience is a story in three very different acts.The first act is the present day where three friends "borrow" a car to go joy riding. Though their version of joyriding isn't creating havoc on the road but to actually practise their driving. While they're tootling around the town they see a police car and decide to try and find a quieter section of town. They come across a fenced off lane and think it would be a good place to improve their driving skills. However, it's not long before they find themselves in some scary and creepy situations. The director Yam Laranas does a fantastic job of creating an eerie atmosphere, using shadows and light to their fullest. The only thing I found annoying with the film was in this act... the girls really can scream... you need to turn the volume down before all the glass in your house explodes...The second act starts to tell of the events that have led up to the present day events. We travel back in time a couple of years to when two sisters disappear while travelling the road. Adding to the creepiness of the earlier act the story now adds a dark and ominous feel as things become dangerous and deadly for the sisters.The third act goes back twelve years to the very beginning and shows the psychological effects that a dysfunctional family in turmoil can experience, especially if one of the family is mentally unstable. This is one of the strongest sections of the film as it resolves the mysterious parts of the story. Laranas does a brilliant job of building atmosphere, once again. This time he uses brightness and shadows to convey feeling. Add the great acting of Carmina Villaroel who plays Carmela, a strong controlling independent woman caught in a loveless marriage due to having a child, a woman who runs hot and cold at the flick of a switch.All of this makes the story much more interesting. The writers, Aloy Adlawan and Yam Laranas, easily blend the styles and intricacies into a strong and believable story that spread through the horror, thriller, psychological, and crime genres.I would recommend this to all horror lovers and even to fans of thrillers, who wouldn't usually watch a horror movie. This film really does work on so many levels.

"The Road" is an odd mix of crime, horror and drama, with an end result that is actually worth watching. However, it is not one of the best movies I have seen, nor is it one of the worst. The movie is fairly average, but it does have some pretty interesting moments here and there.What I enjoyed about the movie was that the movie backtracked, taking us backward in time to the things leading up to the things that happened in the beginning of the movie. That was a pretty good move on director Yam Laranas behalf - sort of like the way the Korean movie "Peppermint Candy" was built up, and it worked out quite nicely for the overall flow of the movie.As for being a Tagalog (Philippine) horror movie, well then I must say that I didn't find the movie overly scary, but then again I am not really familiar with Tagalog movies, so I don't really have anything to compare this with. However, compared to the many Korean and Japanese horror movies, this was like a picnic in the park."The Road" does have some interesting moments, as I mentioned above. Aside from not being scary, the movie does a great job at building up some suspense and an even better job at taking us back in time and showing us the things that lead up to the events in the start of the movie. There is so really interesting character's and portrayal of these characters. Personally, I enjoyed the 1988 segment the most, because it was the most interesting of all the segments, and it was the one that really had the best of acting performances as well. Plus it was initially the foundation of the previous segments of the movie.For a Westerner, then this movie didn't really offer much in the scare department, but the movie is worth watching because of the interesting story and the approach that the director had taken with it. And on the plus side, it was nice to have an Asian horror movie that didn't focus on a ghostly woman in a white dress with long, black hair covering her face.

The Road is not your ordinary horror-film, being a horror film enthusiast, I always crave to watch a non-mediocre type of such genre. The Road successfully delivered the elements that I wanted to find. First is that, it has an excellent cinematography, the ambiance in the movie manifests in the theater where I am watching. It has very great shots, that I was not able to witness in other horror movies. In, terms of the musical scoring, it is absolutely great, though it has some loop holes. But I find it okay for the team pull it off. . It is one of the elements in the movie that might give you the "shock value". The actors delivered fair with their acting. There might be weak acting in some parts, but it is venial. What makes The Road recommendable to watch is the story per se.I loved how the film flowed, it's narrated through flashback and with that, you should start the movie from the beginning, do not go into the movie house if it already begun. For it will spoil you, 'cause it'll help you to discover the mystery of the story. Don't expect scenes that might jump you off from your seats (like what Insidious have, for example). The Road is a psychological thriller, that will give you the eerie feeling upon leaving the theater. If you able to loved "The Echo" which was directed by the same director, You'd be able to love The Road 100 times more. This is a movie that will scare you not because of gore, of disturbing scenes, not because of a lot of scenes that will shock you, but because of the story itself. The story that will make you think and will jolt you in the end. You'll remember the movie forever, and probably be included in you favorite horror movies.