Vivamax: Review of HUGAS: A Wanton Waste

January 14, 2021

Al and Liezel were young members of the bank robbery gang of Boss Dencio. The two lovers wanted to get married and break away from the gang, One day, some of their gangmates were ambushed and killed by members of a rival gang. Dencio decided to show their activities down and left Al in charge of their spacious hideout. Wanting a change, Al decided to convert the warehouse into a car repair shop. 

The movie started in a place where sexy women were washing cars. But no, this movie was not about a car wash at all. There were scenes of robbing money in a bank, but no, this was not a movie about money laundering as well. Ironically, this had to be the one Vivamax sex film where there was no prominent sex scene set in a shower or a pool. It was only at the very end, when Al delivered his final line when the title "Hugas" would make some sense.

Sean de Guzman is back in a lead role as Al, a former pest exterminator turned gang executioner. When he gets philosophical, he would talk about blindsides of various insects, as to presage a blindsiding that was going to happen to him later in the movie. However, there was no background info to show why it was easy it was for him to kill people, as it was for him to squeeze in a not-so-quickie with the bank teller in the cash room (no vault).

AJ Raval played it fearless this time as tough firearm-toting Liezel. But as was expected of her, she was also fearless in doffing off her clothes at a snap when she and Sean got into a huddle, which happened multiple times here. Matching AJ in the bosom-baring department was Cara Gonzales as Dianne, the girlfriend of Boss Dencio, played by Jay Manalo, the original Totoy Mola himself, who was a bit more modest now with age.

Familiar character actors play Dencio's gang members like Soliman Cruz (as the religious Boyong) and Bob Jbeili (as the stuttering James). Joko Diaz had a short appearance as Dencio's nemesis Dido, as the two discussed gang business and personal debts over a lunch of noodles. Director Roman Perez Jr. tried to inject some stylistic ideas in his shots, lighting and blocking, but frankly, there wasn't really much substance or story going on here. 2/10.