Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles

Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles

Official movie poster
Directed by Erik Matti
Produced by
  • Ronald Stephen Monteverde
  • Jose Dantes III
  • Annette Gozon - Abrogar
Written by Erik Matti
Starring
Music by Von De Guzman
Cinematography Francis Ricardo Buhay III
Edited by Jay Halili
Production
company
Distributed by GMA Films
Release dates
  • October 8, 2012 (2012-10-08)
Running time
 102 minutes
Country Philippines
Language
  • Tagalog
  • English
Budget PHP 80 million

Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles is a 2012 Filipino action horror comedy adventure film written and directed by Erik Matti.The film stars Dingdong Dantes, Lovi Poe, Joey Marquez, Janice de Belen and Roi Vinzon. Dingdong Dantes' company AgostoDos Pictures also served as one of the producers. The film is the first full-length Filipino film entirely shot on green screen chroma key. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics who praised its visual effects while criticizing the plot. Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles was followed up with a sequel in Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2 in 2014 which was also directed by Matti.

Plot

Makoy travels from Manila to the province of Pulupandan to visit and get back Sonia, who is pregnant with their child. While Fely, Sonia's mother, ruins Makoy's visits, Sonia's father, Nestor, and their helper, Bart, befriends Makoy. When Makoy and Nestor prepare for Sonia's birthday, Bart requests them to buy and cook a pig from his cousin Ringo, who will give them a discount. Makoy and Nestor go to the marketplace, where they are surprised by Ringo's kids. Ringo appears and apologizes, but couldn't offer a discount after an exchange of words. When Ringo leaves, Kulot, one of Ringo's sons (who knows Sonia is pregnant), sells Makoy and Nestor a young pig for a cheap price. Nestor hesitates, but Makoy agrees and buys it.

Returning home, Nestor decides that Makoy should spend the night in their home, despite Fely and Sonia's disapproval. When everybody is asleep, Makoy and Nestor hear strange and familiar noises from the forest. Reminded of the aswang tales he heard before, Nestor tells Makoy to secure the house. The pig they bought from the market transforms into Kulot, who is revealed to be an aswang, and quietly enters Sonia's room to get the baby from inside her womb. Makoy and Nestor are alarmed when they hear Sonia's panicked shouting. Nestor enters the room, and Makoy grabs a huge furniture fork to impale and kill Kulot.

Shocked that his nephew is an aswang, Bart is accused by Makoy to be an aswang as well. In the forest, Ringo's children - Hilda, Kulas, Mutya, and Cedric - wait for Kulot's return with the baby. As they wait impatiently, Ringo appears and tells them he is tired of moving from one province to another because of them exposing themselves as aswangs. Ringo and his children go to Sonia's house, and asks Makoy and Nestor where Kulot is. Seeing the lifeless body of Kulot, the whole family angrily transforms into tiktiks. Makoy then takes Bart hostage, and asks him to choose a side. Ringo's family gives chase as Makoy and Bart ride a jeepney into the forest. Makoy and Bart stop at a security checkpoint. Makoy tells the captain, Regalado, that people are chasing them. Regalado orders his men to check but can't find anything. Ringo and his family appears, now back in normal form, claiming that Makoy took Bart hostage. As Regalado's men point their guns at Makoy, Ringo and his family kill Regalado and his men as soon as Makoy and Bart find a truck with a gun inside; they use this to escape Ringo's family. As the truck speesd its way through the forest, Kulas tries to block them but is killed when the truck rams him in a tree, which causes him to explode. Returning to the house, Nestor has already prepared Molotovs and throws it into Ringo, slowing them down.

The humans barricade themselves in the house, putting salt and garlic in every corner, window, and door. Soon after, Rex and his son, Abel, invited visitors to Sonia's birthday, arrive. Nestor tells them to get inside, but Rex is killed by Ringo, and Makoy only manages to save Abel. Ringo sends Hilda and Cedric to search for openings outside the house, and they find a window that is not barricaded. Meanwhile, Sonia goes into labor. Hilda and Cedric enter the house and attack Sonia, but Fely attacks Cedric and is mortally wounded in the process. Nestor, enraged, kills Cedric by slicing his throat. Fely tells Nestor her final words and advises him to not allow Makoy to marry Sonia. Hilda is killed by Makoy. Having been bitten by Hilda in the woods, Bart begins to transform into an aswang. Sonia is about to deliver her baby when a horde of people, led by Ringo's father, Tatang, arrives. Ringo apologizes to his father for his children's deaths, but Tatang kills him instead. Tatang releases a bird from his mouth and he and his group transform into an army of tiktiks. Bart chooses to stay behind in order to buy time for Makoy, Sonia, Abel, and Nestor to escape. As the tiktiks assault the house, Bart manages to kill some of them using molotovs, but when he is overwhelmed, he decides to blow up the house instead, incinerating himself and most of the Tiktiks.

Makoy enters a sari-sari store and confronts the store owner, Pacing. Pacing tells them she has a business with salt farming which can aid them on their fight. Makoy helps Sonia deliver the baby while Nestor crafts the weapons they will use. Sonia is successful on delivering her child, but the cry of the baby attracts Tatang who is searching the house. Makoy, Nestor and Abel, wanting to avenge his father, decide to stay and battle Tatang's army, while Sonia and Pacing escape. After a long brutal fight, Makoy and Nestor narrowly defeat the tiktiks using a whip coated with salt and garlic. Tatang then transforms into a demonic winged creature and grabs the baby, but Sonia throws salt in the air which wounds Tatang. Makoy then whips him one last time and kills him. The survivors then rest and celebrate as a new day emerges.

Cast

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Click The City[1]
Pisara[2]
Neil Rara[3]

Philbert Ortiz Dy of ClickTheCity.com rated the film 4.5 out of 5.[1] He stated, "Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles is a lot of fun. That may be the best way to describe it[...]The film goes to dark, violent places and asks people to laugh along. It is a genuinely unique vision that people really ought to see. The film does it all with tongue firmly in cheek, a streak of cultural satire running through the seemingly endless mayhem. And it still manages to tell a pretty decent story, with characters that feel distinctly familiar, living in a house environment that feels oddly true[...]Dingdong Dantes is really exceptional in roles that call for more of an edge. He excels at being standoffish, at having more confidence than a human should reasonably possess. The film makes great use of Dantes’ particular talents, and it makes for a very enjoyable performance".[1]

Anton Umali of FHM Philippines also gave the film a favorable review.[4] He stated, "If you’re expecting a conventional horror movie that will scare you by altering mood or copping out by taking the all-too-predictable gulat sequence, this isn’t it. Tiktik is fun and fresh, adapting more Grindhouse methods, like excessive violence, to boost the level of entertainment. And if you aren’t laughing your way out of the cinema, or touched by its awareness of the Pinoy penchant for emotion, you’ll probably be raging to maim, mutilate, and whip some aswang ass[...]it is an ultra-modern step in the right direction for local mainstream cinema."[4] Neil Rara gave the film 9 out of 10 stating that, "...it’s one masterpiece worth a special place in the ranks of artistically-crafted Filipino films".[3] He further stated, "The opening credits and title alone, which were entirely 3D animated, were worthy of praise[...]The cinematography of the movie is superb, typical of an Erik Matti film. Every scene seemed carefully shot and every shot seemed creatively composed. It was generally a well-crafted movie with a good balance of form and substance. It may still not have reached the “Hollywood-level” its producers have wished to achieve, it nevertheless set the standards by which will be judged all future films that would attempt to go high-tech"[3]

Rianne Hill Soriano of Business World praised the film, stating "TIKTIK: The Aswang Chronicles is uniquely Filipino in its vision and presentation. Aware of its strong and weak points, it works around its resources accordingly. Proclaiming that it is the first Filipino film to be completely shot on green screen, it mixes elements of action, comedy, and horror in order to juxtapose the old sensibilities of the aswang legend with contemporary style."[5] Jennifer Dugena of Philippine Entertainment Portal gave alson the film a positive review.[6] She stated, "[Tiktik] looks like a made-for-the-big-screen comic book because of shots divided into multiple panels and exquisitely-composed scenes with colors and settings that seem drawn to achieve a ghoulish grittiness[...] film boasts of stunning visuals and graphic novel-inspired backgrounds that exude a sense of foreboding. Filipino viewers have never seen local special effects reach this level of maturity."[6] She further stated, "The movie is technically excellent in form. The storyline is quite simple but it is relentlessly entertaining[...]it blends modern-day genres of entertainment to create a movie aiming to be at par with Hollywood standards".[6]

A review from Pisara gave the film 3.5 out of 5.[2] The review stated, "...good visuals do not automatically mean "great movie." While Tiktik is wonderful to look at, it still needs help with its storytelling. Several issues pervade the movie: weak characters and several scenes that go against logic".[2] However, he also stated, "...several actors should be given praise. Main cast members Dingdong Dantes, Lovi Poe, Janice de Belen and Joey Marquez create a believable ensemble[...]It's not a perfect movie, but it's enjoyable and the visuals are appealing to look at".[2]

Box office

The film was shown in 105 theaters in the Philippines. On its first day, the film grossed 10 million pesos.[7] The film debuted at number 2 on the Philippine box office behind another Filipino film, This Guy's In Love With You Mare, which was on its second week.

International Release

One of the lead stars, Dingdong Dantes, hinted in the TV show Party Pilipinas that the movie would indeed be screened internationally, although no confirmations was made by either the management of GMA Network or its distribution partner, Freestyle Releasing, or the stars themselves, as to where exactly it was scheduled to be screened, but hinted it would most likely be in film festivals initially prior to distribution in North America, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific. But so far, nothing has been made.

Accolades

Sequel

In early 2014, Erik Matti announced that Michiko Yamamoto will write the script for a second film. It will be titled Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles. On October 25, 2014, the teaser trailer was released. Dingdong Dantes and Joey Marquez are set to reprise their roles as Makoy and Nestor, respectively. The film stars a new cast ensemble, Isabelle Daza, Elizabeth Oropesa, Jeron Teng, KC Montero, and Abra. Ramon Bautista, who played Bart in the first film, will play a new character in the sequel. Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles is one of the official entries for the Metro Manila Film Festival 2014.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dy, Philbert Ortiz. "The Joy of the Macabre". Click The City. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "REVIEW: Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles". Pisara. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Rara, Neil. "REVIEW: More than just a movie, "Tiktik" is a masterpiece". Neil Rara. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  4. 1 2 Umali, Anton. "Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles—Gruesome, Sexy Fun!". FHM Philippines. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  5. ↑ Soriano, Rianne Hill (18 October 2012). "Pinoy sensibility". Business World. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Dugena, Jennifer. "PEP REVIEW: Tiktik: the Aswang Chronicles". Movie Guide. PEP. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  7. ↑ Canlas, Nelson. "Ticket sales para sa 'Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles,' pumalo sa P10.8 M". 24 Oras. GMA Network. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
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