Alapaap

Alapaap was released as a cheap X-rated film in a sleazy theatre in Singapore, despite it is a production made in 1985.

It is a mixture of horror and sex, with poorly done technical effects (well, we can't expect the technical effects to be greatly done, as this is make 21 years ago.)which makes the movie laughable.

The story revolves Jake, a young movie maker who was hospitalized for drug overdose. He recovers and together with his good friend Dave and Donald (two brothers), who are also movie makers, they make their way to a hilly tribe to make a short film. Accompanied with them includes Dave and Donald's girlfriend.

They rented a house and the landlord told them not to enter his deceased daughter, Byens, bedroom. The night the lived in, they could sense something unusual is going on in the house. To be exact, it was Byen's spirit that came to them, where she was raped and murdered by 3 thugs 2 months ago.

Byen returned as human being and seduced Jake in the waterfall. Dave and Donald caught them and tape the process down. However, when they see the clip, they found out that Byen is not in the clip they taped it down. Never did they realized that Byen is seeking vengeance on them.

The plot is simple, just like the usual Asian horror film where a group of people meet a female ghost in rural areas. However, Alapaap delivers us with more than just the usual horror. Endless sex scenes make the whole movie look ridiculous, where it does not seems to go along with the flow of the film. Sex is the weapon used for vengeance, which makes the movie look like cheap X-rated film than a horror.

In short, put Alapaap as your last choice for the fare of movie you want to watch in the world, unless all movies in the world extinct except for Alapaap.

This is a flick that is hunted down by the geeks for a few reasons. It's coming from a country not known for horror and it do has a few good moments. Still, it's an ultra rare flick to catch on VHS, it's only release. But it do is available on DVD-R. Don't expect to have a good copy because the original one do has a lot of scratches. But face it, being made in a country not well-known for flicks it is normal that it is in bad shape.

It was director Tata Esteban his 4th flick but it's for many his real first flick. I was surprised that the actors did speak English. Almost all of them involved are still in the scene but are more common in their natives then here. Sometimes they do pop up in a Hollywood production.

But back to Alapaap. I was surprised that a flick coming from the Philippines did had some nudity. On the other hand, due being boring sometimes and having real cheap effects like, stop/motion with a face of a dead girl coming back alive or playing backwards of a reel so that smoke vanishes from a house, it do has some nice parts. But indeed, it's only towards the end that the real horror comes in. Some will laugh it out aloud like the scene with the hair-dryer. But for others that scene do add towards the gore. I liked it to see someone's face being burned until the eyes do drop out. There's also a small part of bestiality to see.

Alapaap is only for the lovers of cheap supernatural horror, don't expect to see a gory slasher or have some suspense. It doesn't but I recommend it for the old-school buffs.

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 1/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5