Shake, Rattle & Roll 9

Plot synopsis:
=== Christmas Tree ===
Stephen (Nash Aguas), his mother Myrna (Gina Alajar), and his two sisters Hazel (Lovi Poe) and Eunice (Sophia Baars) planned to visit their Lola Susana (Boots Anson-Roa) during the Christmas Break. During the long journey, Stephen has a dream concerning his deceased father Chuck (Tonton Guttierez): He was running along a forest where he encounters his father's ghost, who encouraged him to be brave for he is the only male member of his family. Chuck's ghost morphed suddenly into a zombie, waking Stephen up, and receiving teases from his little sister.
Upon their arrival in Lola Susana's house, Jong (John Prats) had already erected their new Christmas Tree. It was over eight feet tall. Hazel even hypothesized that it came from the Amazon rainforest where its kind were a rare species. A day before the Christmas Eve, the family eagerly decorated it, making it look elegant. However, something eerie grips into the atmosphere. During a night stroll, Stephen noticed Elton John, Jong's parrot disappeared without a trace. Worse, even Eunice's giraffe doll was found torn in pieces, thus, blaming the latter's brother. Even Yaya Sonny (John Lapus) wonders why the Tree keeps getting tall.
Christmas Eve descended finally. After a sumptuous Christmas feast, the family was ready to sleep. However, Yaya Sonny, wanted to add a couple of Christmas balls. He noticed something strange within the leaves of the tree: green feathers, evidence that the tree supposedly "ate" Elton John. In a worse turn of fate, Sonny was tragically eaten by the Tree itself.
Things began to become tense. Stephen, having heard of the commotions downstairs, wakes his Ate Hazel to investigate. Jong then arrived to the scene next. The three witnessed the horrendous transformation of the Christmas Tree: All those times, there was a monstrous tree, that came from the deepest corners of an unknown jungle, dwelling within the leaves of the Tree itself. Before they could run, Jong was knocked out by the monster. Thinking he was dead, Hazel and Stephen raced to their mother's room, narrating them that the Christmas Tree was truly alive. Myrna dismisses Stephen's story, telling him there were no such things as monsters.
Myrna was wrong: Judging by the stomps heard in the stairs, the Christmas Tree was now upstairs. She peered on the door, only to find out that the monster tree was outside. Danger and tension prevailed over the next events. Myrna warned Lola Susana to stay in the room, while Hazel and Stephen make a diversion, tripping the Christmas Tree.
Hazel and Stephen rushed to the kitchen, while Lola Susana, Myrna and Eunice escaped to the car. Hazel found something: acid. Stephen also found his Uncle Jong unconscious on the floor. Acid will kill the tree. Stephen, having experienced being a baseball player, threw the bottles of acid, missing the first two. At his third turn, the acid went straight to the Tree's mouth, killing it.
=== Bangungot ===
Marionne (Roxanne Guinoo), a young and beautiful woman, falls in love with Jerome (Dennis Trillo). They fall in love and went on a date at an amusement park. However, a mysterious woman (Eugene Domingo) warns Marionne not to sleep otherwise she will die. Before the woman can exit the park, she encountered a red cloaked figure, that strangles her killing her in the process.
In her dorm, Marionne wakes startlingly, remembering it was a dream. Her office mate Tatin (Jaymee Joaquin) then saw her drawing a picture of the red-cloaked figure: the red-cloaked figure that strangled the woman in her dream. She remembered that her grandfather died of a bangungot (nightmare). Tatin said it was nonsense. Marionne, concerned for her grandfather's past, unlocked the latter's room. Shortly after she set foot, eerie things flew in the air.
The young woman was revealed to be a candle sales lady. She and Tatin have been friends. One day, her brother Tonton (Jayson Gainza) and a handsome man arrived at the shop. This man was Jerome: the same Jerome in Marionne's dream. The latter informed them that he will be leaving for one week; shockingly, he was engaged to a woman named Florence (Pauleen Luna), a fact that Marionne became jealous of.
Later on, a young girl (Andrea Torres) wants to order a large candle. Marionne notices the strange-looking parchment with strange words written in ink. She demands what is the girl's purpose for the candle. The latter said that if you want to dream of your love ones, and him to you, she must light a candle before sleeping, and chant the words in the parchment. But she must wake up before the candle is consumed otherwise she cannot leave the dream.
Eager to try this, Marionne kept the parchment and did as the girl said. After the ritual was performed, eerie events began to manifest to Jerome and Marionne. The red-cloaked figure reappeared and attempted to strangle the two. Thinking it was a hallucination, they both dismissed it.
Late at night, Marionne visited Jerome in the office, stating that she cannot sleep. She and Jerome began to hallucinate again: the phantom reappeared once more and tries to strangle them again. As they share a kiss of comfort, Florence appeared. Shocked by what she saw, she too was nearly strangled by the phantom, but was comforted by Jerome. Seeing this, Marionne cannot stand this, making her chase the two.
Jerome and Florence walked out of the shop, finally ending up in the peak of an overpass. Florence stumbled and she cannot walk. Meanwhile, the phantom once again reappeared, this time, Jerome confronts it and they both jumped off the overpass. Florence discovered that she too was dreaming.
Marionne, having witnessed of the events before, rushed into the hospital, where she reveals the shocking truth: she and Jerome entered a near-death state already after the spell was performed; this explains why Tonton, Florence and Tatin could not feel Marionne's presence. Florence told them everything, and so as Tatin: in a flashback, Marionne's astral projection saw herself performing the spell, afterwards, she collapsed in her bed, apparently dying. Tatin shook and jerked her up but she would not wake up. Florence's story matched Tatin's: the former found her fiancé hunched in the table but he was in the brink of death in his sleep. Another thing is: Marionne's grandfather did not die of a nightmare, but of a heart attack and the events happening now is only a bangungot for Marionne. Jerome, who was on a critical state, dreams of Marionne hugging him very tightly; it was revealed that Marionne was the bangungot all along. As Marionne and Jerome realize this, Florence cries and asks Jerome to wake up. Jerome tries his best, but Marrione holds him down, determined to spend the eternity with the man she love, but does not love her back. Marionne eventually dies, followed by a struggling Jerome.
=== Engkanto ===
A teenage gothic band heads for a gig in a remote province. During the long journey, not many of the young band members talked too much, while, their manager Hans (Jojo Alejar) keeps complaining why he's the one who should drive. Meanwhile, Tonee (Jewel Mische) and Ian (Felix Roco), who were long-estranged couple, ignored each other. Vince (Mart Escudero), the band's leader and Richard (Matt Evans) have a small commotion, only to be stopped by Vince's ex-girlfriend Dang (Melissa Ricks).
The group stopped into a small store beside the road. The others decided to relax while Vince and Dang disappeared from view. The two latter confronted each other; Vince revealed he will be leaving them soon, a fact that Dang objects strongly.
Back at the store, Lucio (Nanding Josef), a local townsfolk, warned them to stay in sight, for they might be kidnapped by an engkanto (forest guardian in Filipino mythology). He then told of the story of his son Paeng (Sam Concepcion): the latter was gathering firewood when he was suddenly grabbed by someone or something. He then also explained that the engkanto was the reason why they are lost in the middle of nowhere.
Worse, the bus ran out of gas, forcing the band to take refuge in an abandoned resort. Dang, Ian and Tonee then encountered a young and beautiful woman clad in white. Tonee and Ian asked where is the beach. They followed the woman's directions but were lost. Tonee lost her temper but Ian wants to court the young woman. Accidentally, he was bitten by the woman, who revealed to be the engkanto (Katrina Halili).
Vince then encountered Paeng, the aforementioned boy who was kidnapped by the engkanto. He, Dang and Richard demanded that who did this to him and who is this. As they speak, the engkanto summoned her slaves to hunt the band down. Hans, who was looking for gas, was bitten. Meanwhile, Dang met a retreating Tonee informing the former that Ian was killed by the engkanto and made her slave. Sadly, Tonee too was choked to death.
Paeng and Vince then lured the slaves to the beach, discovering they fear water. They formulated a plan: he and Dang will ward off the slaves while Paeng, Richard and Tikoy (Hector Macaso) refilled the bus's gas. Paeng then noticed the tree beside them; this was supposed to be the engkanto's lair. They must burn it to kill the engkanto.
The engkanto, who stopped in her tracks for she fears water, rushes to Richard and choked him hardly. The young man can hear what the latter was saying: he (Richard) was the one she need. Paeng, meanwhile tossed the matches in the air, burning the tree and killing the engkanto.
With all things seem to be alright, the remaining band members visit Paeng's home where his father warmly welcomed him. But, something in their plans went horribly wrong: Mang Lucio informs them that destroying an engkanto's home will not kill her, but only leave her temporarily homeless. She will only move into a new dwelling, for she is a spirit of the nature. Mang Lucio was right: Richard was kidnapped by the reanimated engkanto and was never seen again. The next day in the resort, the surviving slave of the engkanto, that was hidden in the box, survived.

Tags: romantic, haunting

Review:
Oh no.... The earlier versions of Shake, Rattle and Roll were very scary, and I'm sad to say that as the sequels increase, it gets a little duller. The segment Christmas Tree had me wanting to get out of my seat and just wait for it to end. My mother said it would scare children away, but I think there were five small children behind me snickering while watching the segment. Bangungot was unique, but I wanted to see Pauleen Luna get killed hahahahaha joke :-). The concept was like The Twilight Zone, and it could have been good on its own. Engkanto was cool also. However, the ending was more comedic and kind of ruined the entire goal of the film. I wish in the 10th installment, they would really make segments that would make the viewers Shake, Rattle and Roll. Mixed products, mixed results. The rejuvenated "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" series, which is now on its ninth installment, is like a package tour where you enjoy certain parts but have to trudge through those that don't. As an entire package "Shake, Rattle, and Roll 9" works if you have a taste for mindless entertainment and a couple of hours to kill.The film starts rather weak with "Christmas Tree," a story of a family who decides to go to their grandmother's (Boots Anson-Roa) house for Christmas. The children have recently lost their father (Tonton Gutierrez) and specially affected is the son Stephen (Nash Aguas) who was in the car with his dad during the accident. But all is not well with the house, as the newly-brought Christmas tree comes to life during the evening, and it's certainly not to spread some Christmas love.Directed by first-time director Paul Daza, this episode is pretty badly in search of an atmosphere. In some parts it wants to go into the way of drama (complete with father and son playing baseball), and in some parts it's unabashedly tongue-in-cheek. The pacing staggers from one set-up to another, and any attempt to humanize the characters are hampered by the fact that those have, at the most, an arbitrary bearing on the plot's structure, if at all.Aguas, who was impressive in last year's "Yaya" segment of "Shake, Rattle, and Roll 8" fails to carry the drowning weight of this episode all by his lonesome. The supporting cast comprised of Anson-Roa, John Prats, John Lapus, Gina Alajar, and Lovi Poe merely sleepwalk through the duration of the episode. Even the Christmas tree, initially creepy yet riveting, becomes silly when the filmmakers decide that a bad CGI/costume would pass of as scary.Then comes Mike Tuviera's episode, "Bangungot," wherein Marionne (Roxane Guinoo) is a young lovelorn woman whose man of her dreams, Jerome (Dennis Trillo), is set to marry another woman, Lauren (Pauleen Luna). Desperate for his affections, Marionne resorts to a seemingly nonsensical spell told to her by some high school students about how a chant can make her and her ideal man meet in a dream. The spell comes true as Marionne and Jerome are together in a peripheral dream, but now they are pursued by a mysterious figure in a red cloak, who is out to kill them.Here, Tuviera returns to his style reminiscent of Asian horror films (which he all but abandoned in last year's "LRT" segment of, yes, "Shake, Rattle, and Roll 8"), and just as with some Asian horror films, "Bangungot" is unintentionally ludicruous, occasionally plodding (even with an abbreviated running time), confusing, and excessively self-aware of the genre it treads on. Tuviera's sledgehammer direction is cranked up at some points that mauls the viewer who expects some sort of subtlety and nuance and the scares merely pile on top of each other and never really gaining momentum. And when you thought it's over, then come the Big Twist, which raises more questions than it answers.Still, "Bangungot" is still enjoyable for the fact that it has its moments, and that Guinoo, despite looking a little young for her role, manages to provide a sense of bitter longing to her demure character that makes her more sympathetic. Her character evokes images of female protagonists from some Korean horror films, of which I'm just a sucker for.Capping the film is current Filipino horror It-Boy Topel Lee, with "Engkanto." A group of young band members (Melissa Ricks, Mart Escudero, Jewel Mische, and Felix Roco), with an assistant (Matt Evans) and their manager (Jojo Alejar), are on their way to a gig when they get lost on the road in a desolate province. After driving for hours, their transportation runs out of fuel and the group is forced to walk to find some sort of civilization. Eventually they stumble upon an abandoned resort where they decide to camp out for a while, but as night falls, a beautiful woman (Katrina Halili) appears and she has no intentions of helping the group get out.Its tongue is planted in its cheek but by failing to present a gleefully fun camp, Lee's episode fails to keep the top spot among the three episodes. "Engkanto" is inferior to last year's "Yaya" episode (also by Lee) in terms of atmosphere and character build-up, although Lee shows he knows enough of the material well to employ a somewhat cheekiness to the proceedings. The production design gives a hint of uneasiness and the location lends an aura of mystery.And despite having an uneven performance from the cast throughout, Halili lives up to her antagonist role. She doesn't attain the creepiness or the nuance in acting as, say, Iza Calzado, but she's definitely alluring, which may be the filmmaker's point. Or maybe not."Shake, Rattle, and Roll 9" is, as usual, a mishmash of works that produce mixed results. It's that kind of movie you're not rushing to see on screen but nonetheless may make you glued once you catch it on cable while channel-surfing. If only each part were consistently good, it may have fared better. Still, for the undemanding viewer, this package tour might well worth be considering.. Filipino horror anthology with a comedic tone. The ninth instalment of the long-running Filipino horror anthology series offers more of the same, with a decidedly comedic edge. The first story of the three is about a killer Christmas tree, and wisely played for laughs; it features some interminable CGI effects and a running time which goes on way too long. The flamboyant gay stereotype is probably the nadir of this particular story, which is near unwatchable. The second story is lower key and a little better, about a girl's quest for a love spell which goes wrong. The last story goes down the usual monster-in-the-woods route and is entirely unmemorable.