Sigaw review

Title: Sigaw (English title: The Echo)

Release Date: 2004

Genre: Horror

Director: Yam Laranas

Cast: Richard Gutierrez, Angel Locsin, Iza Calzado, Jomari Yllana, Ella Guevara

Synopsis: IMDb

I actually watched this with my mom. She slept through most of it. For a horror movie, that says a lot. Although it had its moments, it wasn't keeping me up at night. Don't get me wrong, I do think it's a good movie.

This movie is obviously influenced by the Asian horror movies of girls with long black hair. I thought the story was well-written, but you'll probably figure out the mystery before the movie actually reveals it to you. Some of the scenes that took place out of the apartment building (e.g. the movie theater) felt like they were out of place, but it wasn't too distracting.

The real stars of the movie were the setting and the score. The apartment building was just downright creepy. The dirty walls, dimly lit hallways, and a vertigo-inducing stairwell helped enchance the haunted atmosphere. The score did a good job in building up tension for those scary moments without sounding cheesey.

Iza Calzado gave a great and believable performance as the abused wife, Anna. You can see the fear in her eyes as she freezes up around her husband. I thought Jomari Yllana gave a great performance as well, but there was one thing that bothered me. He didn't have the right look for the part. He would be perfect for those romantic comedies, but I would've preferred someone a lot more scary and intimidating as Bert.

Richard Gutierrez's performance as Marvin was decent, but there were some scenes I thought were awkward. Am I the only one who thought some of his reactions to scary moments were strange? In one scene, he steps out of his apartment and the door slams behind him. You would expect him to turn around blindingly fast with fear in his eyes, but it's confusion on his face instead as he slowly turns around to face his door. In another scene where he notices something on his ceiling, Gutierrez's eyes dart back and forth from his book to the ceiling while he shivers in bed. Pretty cheesey.

Even though it wasn't as terrifying as I hoped, a spooky setting and score, a great performance by Iza Calzado, and a well-written story are reasons enough to watch Sigaw. I'm looking forward to the U.S. remake also directed by Yam Laranas with Iza Calzado reprising her role as Anna.