Friday, July 29, 2022

Vivamax: Review of SCORPIO NIGHTS 3: Undone by Unsubtlety

July 29, 2022


Pinay (Christine Bermas) and her husband Drake (Mark Anthony Fernandez) just movied into a room on the ground floor of an old boarding house owned by Mang Dwight (Lou Veloso). Along with two other guys (Nor Domingo and Raffy Tejada), Drake worked as a bodyguard to a prominent Attorney (Julio Diaz), who was currently being involved with a number of controversial cases regarding the narcotics trade.

Boarding on the second floor was Matt (Gold Aceron), an engineering student who was also a member of a band in school. He was a sexually-preoccupied young man who knew his way around the holes on the wooden floor for him to be able to get the best vantage point to spy on the nightly activities of the couple living below his room. One night, while Matt was enjoying the live show below, Pinay looked up, and saw him looking in on them. 

This third iteration of "Scorpio Nights" was a reimagination of the classic 1985 film directed by Peque Gallaga and written by Uro de la Cruz. The plot was essentially the same, but there had been notable changes made to make it fit into the current urban landscape. There was a prominent mention of extrajudicial killings related to the drug trade, in which Drake was involved. There was always a news report about drugs heard blaring in the background.

In order to fill out the Vivamax quota for more sex scenes, director Law Fajardo decided to turn Pinay into an online sex worker, a camgirl who catered to the fantasies of her virtual clientele. She was also made to wear very skimpy lingerie while walking around their squalid compound, very unrealistic. There was also the extraneous character of Helen (Allison Smith), a voluptuous club manager who had an inexplicable attraction to the barely legal Matt. 

Christine Bermas is still the best natural actress among the current crop of sexy leading ladies of Vivamax, but this role of Pinay did not really give her much emotions to explore. As Drake, Mark Anthony Fernandez is getting stereotyped into these seedy characters with a streak of violence. Gold Aceron was a revelatory talent in his first film "Metamorphosis" (2019) where he played an intersex. However, he felt oddly miscast here as Matt. 

The total lack of subtlety in this version of "Scorpio Nights" was its undoing. Everything was clearly visible -- no dim diffused lighting, no mosquito net, nothing left to the imagination anymore. Fernandez and Aceron both showed off prosthetic members, the latter even inserted an erection through a hole on the floor to be fellated from below. Mac Alejandre's recent "Scorpio Nights"-inspired "Silip sa Apoy" had more erotic tension in its execution.  2/10. 


1 comment:

  1. Poor Roy Iglesia, his decent name dragged into this idiotic overrated pretentious sex flick by this idiotic overrated foolish pretentious director na walang alam sa buhay. "BJ sa butas" sequence would qualify as the most stupid scene in the history of Philippine cinema.

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