Sigaw (2004)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Yam Laranas

Writers:

Roy C. Iglesias (story) and
Yam Laranas (story)

Release Date:

19 May 2005 (Singapore)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

May kasama ka, 'di mo lang alam... (You have companion, you just don't know)

Plot:

Marvin savors his independence in a newly acquired unit of an old apartment building. He is frequently visited by his girlfriend Pinky...

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Haunting | Little Girl | Caretaker | Blood

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Jomari Yllana	...	Bert
Richard Gutierrez	...	Marvin
Iza Calzado	...	Anna
Angel Locsin	...	Pinky
James Blanco	...	Jude
Ella Guevara	...	Lara
Lui Manansala	...	Marvin's Mother
Tessie Villarama	...	Pinky's Mother
Pocholo Montes	...	Pinky's Father
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Geric Albero
Ronnie Lazaro	...	Caretaker

Directed by
Yam Laranas

Writing credits
Roy C. Iglesias		(story and screenplay) (as Roy Iglesias) and
Yam Laranas		(story and screenplay)

Produced by
Jocelyn D. Bracamonte	....	associate producer
William Lao	....	executive producer
Roselle Monteverde-Teo	....	producer

Original Music by
Jesse Lucas

Cinematography by
Yam Laranas		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Manet A. Dayrit

Production Design by
Sammy Aranzamendez		(as Sammy Arranzamendez)

Art Direction by
Greg Lipit

Makeup Department
Lilia Benoza	....	makeup artist
Edel Mercado	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Nieva Paz Eraña	....	general manager: LVN Pictures (as Nieva Paz Erana)
Grace Monteverde	....	general manager
Edmundo Sol	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jay Abello	....	assistant director

Art Department
Arnel Capistrano	....	props/sets
Anacieto 'Clay' Dapula	....	props/sets (as Cleto Dapula)
Henry Dela Rosa	....	props/sets
Ronnie Jakosalem	....	props/sets
Rex Javier	....	props/sets
Ben Lipit	....	props/sets
Aimee Paycana	....	poster design and layout

Sound Department
Aurel Claro Bilbao	....	adr editor
Aurel Claro Bilbao	....	sfx/foley editor
Lamberto Casas Jr.	....	adr editor (as Bebet Casas)
Lamberto Casas Jr.	....	sfx/foley editor (as Bebet Casas)
Ross Diaz	....	adr editor
Ross Diaz	....	sfx/foley editor
Arnel S. Francia	....	adr editor (as Arnel Francia)
Arnel S. Francia	....	sfx/foley editor (as Arnel Francia)
Hilario 'Buboy' Gatdula	....	boom operator: Cineforce (as Boboy Gatdula)
Albert Michael Idioma	....	sound
Arnel Labayo	....	adr editor
Arnel Labayo	....	sfx/foley editor
Rick Loresto Jr.	....	adr editor (as Ric Loresto)
Rick Loresto Jr.	....	sfx/foley editor (as Ric Loresto)
Lucy Quinto	....	dubbing supervisor
Arnold Reodica	....	sound
Carmen Serafin	....	dubbing supervisor
Addiss Tabong	....	adr editor
Addiss Tabong	....	sfx/foley editor

Visual Effects by
Indoy Austria	....	optical printer operator: LVN Pictures
Andrew Jayson Coo	....	compositor
Dayan M. Enriquez	....	compositor (as Dayan Enriquez)
Richard Francia	....	compositor
Richard Francia	....	digital scanning and recording
Ryan Grimarez	....	compositor (as Ryan 'Hamaring' Grimarez)
Ryan Grimarez	....	digital scanning and recording (as Ryan 'Hamaring' Grimarez)
Reg Gutierrez	....	compositor
Ian Hontanosas	....	compositor
Arthur Jarlego	....	optical printer operator: LVN Pictures (as Arturo Jarlego)
Noel F. Lim	....	compositor (as Noel Lim)
Mary Vivien Madelo	....	compositor (as Vivian Madelo)
Aseneth Jane C. Miquiabas	....	compositor (as Aseneth Miquiabas)
Aylmer Alfred Ong Velez	....	compositor (as Aylmer Alfred 'A' Velez)
Aylmer Alfred Ong Velez	....	digital scanning and recording (as Aylmer Alfred 'A' Velez)
Fel Rodolfo	....	visual effects supervisor
Roimee Salandaman	....	visual effects producer: Roadrunner Network (as Roimee G. Salandanan)

Camera and Electrical Department
Nonito Cesario	....	second assistant camera
Sanny Chua	....	still photographer (as Sany Chua)
Henry Martinez	....	still photographer
Jun Muro	....	video assist operator: Cineforce (as Jun Murro)
Jojo Rivera	....	clapper loader: Cineforce
Carlito Salonoy	....	camera operator (as Charlito Salunoy)
Romeo Villanueva	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mario Lipit	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Evalyn T. Canapi	....	assistant film editor (as Evalyn Canapi)
Ely Carangian	....	telecine operator
Dansel Cruz	....	post-production producer: Roadrunner Network
Jun H. De Guzman	....	dailies editor (as Jun De Guzman)
Jun Enriquez	....	laboratory negative processing supervisor
Ma. Tatiana Escarcha	....	post-production producer: Roadrunner Network (as Tana Escarcha)
Nonoy Flojo	....	post-production coordinator
Julie Galino	....	post-production secretary: LVN Pictures
Sheryl Lopez	....	assistant editor: AVID (as Sheryll Lopez)
Annabel W. Magalona	....	assistant film editor (as Anabel Magalona)
Rocky Magsino	....	color grader: LVN Pictures
Rachel Mañalac	....	post-production producer: Roadrunner Network
Nestor Mutia	....	post-production technician: LVN Pictures
Roberto Q. Nicolas	....	telecine operator (as Oveth Nicolas)
Sol Quindoyos	....	assistant film editor
Cheryl Rivera	....	post-production producer: Roadrunner Network
Joseph Samala	....	assistant editor: AVID
Armen Teh	....	color grader: LVN Pictures (as Armen The)
Che Ventura	....	color grader: LVN Pictures

Transportation Department
Hazel De Leon	....	traffic coordinator

Other crew
Ida Arcaina	....	production secretary
Patrick Benitez	....	utility man
Elmer Buencamino	....	film specialist
Rey Cabanauan	....	crew: Cineforce
Nelson Cammaga	....	schedule master
Billy Capulong	....	crew: Cineforce
Manuel Chavez	....	booking staff: Regal Entertainment
Frank Chico	....	technical operations engineer
Ronald Constantino	....	publicist
Rolando Cruz	....	positive film checker: LVN Pictures
Paul Daza	....	creative consultant
Ernesto Decena	....	booking staff: Regal Entertainment
Hazel De Leon	....	traffic coordinator
Jun De Leon	....	technical operations engineer
Cristy Dizon	....	continuity supervisor
Francesca Dizon	....	positive film checker: LVN Pictures (as Fransisca Dizon)
Gay Ace Domingo	....	publicist
Uriah Dypuekeng	....	technical operations engineer
Jose Romar Galang	....	project coordinator: LVN Pictures (as Jomar Galang)
Henry Gambol	....	project coordinator: LVN Pictures
Joey Gosiengfiao	....	publicist
Dolor Guevarra	....	publicist
Chuck Gutierrez	....	web master
Stephanie Holinski	....	production assistant
Jojo Jamito	....	crew: Cineforce
Willy Jardinazo	....	printing department supervisor: LVN Pictures (as Wilfredo Jardinazo)
Nancy Jubac	....	booking staff: Regal Entertainment
Efren C. Lopera	....	laboratory projectionist: LVN Pictures (as Efren Lopera)
Jaime Lumangaya	....	utility man
Rachelle Malapitan	....	project coordinator: LVN Pictures
Marivic Manguiat	....	project coordinator: LVN Pictures
Peter Manibo	....	crew: Cineforce
Christopher Manjares	....	crew: Cineforce (as Cris Manjares)
Darlino Marquez	....	crew: Cineforce
Ofelia Merto	....	booking staff: Regal Entertainment
Jynett Monteverde	....	comptroller (as Jyn Monteverde)
Daye Moralita	....	technical operations engineer
Gina Elba Murro	....	production secretary (as Gina Elba-Murro)
Edna M. Pacardo	....	production secretary (as Edna Pacardo)
Odie Pacheco	....	crew: Cineforce
Jun Poblador	....	creative consultant
Pablo Portes	....	crew: Cineforce
Florentino Rivera	....	positive film checker: LVN Pictures
Gorgy Ruta	....	advertising and promotions
Siony Sipin	....	booking staff: Regal Entertainment
Ligaya Tan	....	booking staff: Regal Entertainment
Melody Tolentino	....	advertising and promotions
George Toralba	....	assistant technical operations manager: LVN Pictures (as George Torralba)
Imelda Ulaso	....	post-production accountant: LVN Pictures
Nar Umali	....	technical operations engineer
Rosalyn Valeza	....	project coordinator: LVN Pictures
Luz Veras	....	production accountant
Helen Villamar	....	cashier
Buenaventura Yambot	....	laboratory projectionist: LVN Pictures

Production Companies

• MegaVision
• Regal Films (line producer) (as Regal Entertainment)

Distributors

• Cathay-Keris Films (2005) (Malaysia) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Cineforce Corporation  camera and lighting equipment provided by
• LVN Pictures  post-production facilities
• Roadrunner Network  digital editing and negative handling
• Roadrunner Network  digital sound recording facility
• Roadrunner Network  negative developing

Also Known As:

The Echo (International: English title) (USA)
The Scream (USA) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

Philippines:102 min

Country:

Philippines

Language:

Filipino | Tagalog

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Manila, Metro Manila, Luzon, Philippines

Company:

MegaVision

Trivia:

Supported by Globe, Mercury, and imanila.

Quotes:

The Caretaker: Don't mind them and they will not mind you. Convince yourself that you are not hearing the noises.

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Echo (2008/I)

Great cinematography, strong acting and script, and a very subtle horror.

During the opening scenes the dark, decrepit apartment block provided plenty of claustrophobia and paranoia and set me at unease before the titles had even finished.

The story is a strong and very visual one, and at times does seem to borrow from Asian horror, a fact that Laranas disputes in the audio commentary, but it never feels wrong. The characters are quite identifiable, even from such a different culture, and the actors are surprisingly good. They have their moments though, and the beautiful Locsinplays a few moments awkwardly, while Gutierrez has a few lines where his dialogue feels wrong for his character. The other male leads Yllana and Blanco provide very convincing performances, and as for Calzado, well she has some truly terrifying moments.

Calzado and Yllana manage to give such a believable performance as the abused wife and abusing husband respectively. This is done with suggestion and intent, and no actual violence. It's the looks in their faces and their utterly convincing tone that captures this, and I suspect that many will find these scenes very uncomfortable without them actually having any violence. This shows the strength of the script and Director.

By far the creepiest moments are with the child . When the apartment door opens without warning it's enough to scare you, but when the child runs in and hides under the bed, and with a blood red face, I admit Laranas had me freaked out. This feeling is reinforced when it occurs again and there is no child, just the camera hinting at the movements of someone. An excellent method of building unease in the audience.

Laranas knows the tricks of the trade when it comes to horror, the scares, screams and tension building is done very well, and even without the child moments there are some very scary moments...The scenes in the cinema and the toilet cubicle are superbly filmed. There's great use of the camera throughout, and the understanding that less actually more and subtlety is a wonderful trait.

The cinematography and sound are very strong aspects of the movie, perhaps the strongest, and there are some superbly visualised and filmed scenes. The sound effects and score are very complimentary to the movie and provide for excellent tension building.

However all is not great, there is a short section of the film where the characters leave the confines of the buildings that they inhabit, both home and work, and this feels slightly out of place in the movie. Suddenly the world is opened up and it feels as though they could just leave and the tension is temporarily halted. As soon as they return to the confines of the apartment though, the tension returns and builds back.

The story builds to good climax, where you genuinely are unsure what's about to happen. Indeed I wasn't sure as the final scenes played out, and I was quite surprised at the ending.

Picture: 1.85:1 Unfortunately this is the failing of the DVD. The picture is extremely harsh in white balance, bright areas very over exposed and at times far too bright, with dark areas being very dark, but not overly. It gives a good feeling for most of the movie but there are some scenes where it's very distracting.

At first I thought this was down to the style of filming, and I found it was starting to annoy me more and more, however when I watched the trailers in the Extras afterwards I discovered that it wasn't the filming, it was the picture on the DVD. Since then I've read another review that says this very same thing. The picture on the DVD heavily let's the movie down, and that's indeed a shame.

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 \ 2.0 Subtitles: English The sound is one of the strongest features in this movie, with a good use made of the DD5.1 available to it. Effects happen around the scene, and it's not overly used so you're hearing sounds all around you, but it is used enough to provide depth to the scenes.

The score stands out and is a major contribution to the tension of the movie. It's very haunting and keeps itself in the background, slowly building and gently tapping at your shoulder. During key scenes it provides the weight to let you know the seriousness of the moment, but it never overpowers the movie.

Extras: Commentary, Behind the Scenes Featurette and Trailers Laranas is perhaps being one of the most mellow Directors I've ever heard. However he provides some good insight to the movie, the actors and some of the problems they faced. I actually found I enjoyed watching the movie a second time with his commentary, and it felt like it added more to the experience.

The Featurette provides direct footage of some of the scenes being filmed, but with no commentary it's not very interesting.

I was slightly disappointed that the trailers didn't carry subtitles. There are a number of trailers for other movies alongside all the trailers for Sigaw, and it is here that you see the picture was not filmed with this harsh contrast.

Overall This is a simple, and very effective story made so by excellent film making techniques in editing, cinematography and sound. This combination is what makes the movie effective in tension building and scare delivery. It's almost a traditional horror, a scary movie without the slasher and special effects that have been employed in the modern horror film.

The acting is strong, and provided a surprise for me in the quality of talent available to the Philippines. There are some weak moments, but nothing that distracts from the story which is kept going at an ever increasing pace.

This is a scary movie with some excellently filmed moments and superb soundtrack that will keep you tense and jumpy. A very enjoyable horror showing subtlety over slashing.