Vivamax: Review of SA HABA NG GABI: Clumsy Chiller

October 29, 2021

One day, Jhermelyn (Kim Molina) went to work as a housemaid in a huge mansion to help out her cousin Neneng (Candy Pangilinan) who was already working there. That night, the chauffeur Nhoel (Jerald Napoles) drove home the owner of the mansion, Senator (Johnny Revilla), who was accompanied by a young woman Agatha (Andrea Barbierra). Meanwhile outside the house, the village was being ravaged by green-blooded zombies who were roaming the streets biting and killing everyone in their path. 

This horror-comedy was only 1 hour and 20 minutes long, but it still felt long. Despite the fact that the film had practically not much substance in it, there were even plenty of scenes that did not really need to be there at all. We did not need to see Jhermelyn say a long goodbye to her parents (Rolando Innocencio and Yayo Aguila), whom we do not see or hear from again for the rest of the film. We did not need to see the tour of the three living rooms of the house, since it did not really matter in the plot. 

Poor Kim Molina tried her best to keep Jhermelyn a grounded character, but the odds were really stacked against her with so many senseless situations and lines. One can only tolerate Candy Pangilinan's over-the-top shrill voice so much, but her Neneng just had to be a non-stop chatterbox spouting absolute nonsense. Jerald Napoles's lusty driver Nhoel did nothing much but play serial lover boy to all three female characters. Newcomer Andrea Barbierra still had limited improv skills, and simply could not keep up with the other three veterans.  

The "comedy" was more of annoying than funny. The actors seemed to only be making up their silly lines themselves and improvising gags on the fly, so most of them missed than flew. Furthermore, director Miko Livelo was not able to create enough creepy atmosphere for the horror aspect to work. The musical score and the editing did not build up any sense of dread, danger or suspense. The lighting of the scenes was very uneven, and there seemed to be a different color filter even in consecutive frames. 

There was no explanation and set-up at all as to why there were zombies. All we get is an inane TV bulletin from the Public Health Department where an incompetent official was advising the public not to call situation a zombie apocalypse, but a blessing to be able to see dead relatives again.  There was something about the blood turning green that came up towards the end, but it was just a throw-away line that did not make any sense. At least, the zombie make-up was quite good, so that deserves a point at least. 1/10.