REGAL Entertaiment’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry Haunted Mansion is making its presence strongly felt at the box office when it earned P10 million on opening day to land on third spot in the annual festival of Pinoy movies.
HM was not a big favorite when the eight entries were announced early this year considering that lead teen stars Janella Salvador, Marlo Mortel and Jerome Ponce have yet to prove their drawing power.
But the mother and daughter tandem of Mother Lily and Roselle Monteverde believed that these fresh talents can hold their own against movie giants and are now proven right in their pick of the three promising stars.
Of course, Mother Lily and Roselle also chose such a multi-awarded director as Jun Lana to steer Regal’s horror entry to box-office success this year. The choice paid off handsomely as moviegoers scream their lungs out in terrifying scenes and come out of the theaters extremely horrified.
Public support to HM is overwhelming and Mother Lily couldn’t be less grateful, “ Thank you for supporting Regal and I am very happy to gross P10M plus. Me and Roselle plus the whole team try our very best to make this picture successful and considering our cast of stars who are all new but we try to make this new stars fulfill their goals in life.”
Due to HM’s impressive box-office performance, several theaters have been added to its roster of 48 cinemas since the third day. These are cinemas at SM Tarlac, Baguio, Sta. Rosa, Lucena, Batangas, Waltermart Tanauan, Sta.Lucia, Robinson’s Iloilo, Dasmarinas and Bacolod.
Haunted Mansion is one MMFF entry you shouldn’t miss this holiday season.
*****
Piolo, other industry people recommend Honor Thy Father
The Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB) found the film Honor Thy Father praiseworthy and gave it a grade of “A,” entitling the film a hundred percent tax rebate. The CEB gave credit to director Erik Matti saying that his work was a “gripping tale told masterfully,” with “skillful and exciting visualization.”
One board member described the screenplay as “thought-provoking, well-written, well-executed… builds up brilliantly to the climax.” Many of the CEB members also commended John Lloyd for “stepping out of his comfort zone and for doing justice to a challenging role.”
Honor Thy Father has earned favorable reviews from filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts. Among those who have given their thumbs-up to the film include actor Piolo Pascual and writer-director Antoinette Jadaone.
Even if actor Piolo had read its script prior to watching Honor Thy Father at a recent special screening, the actor still found the turn of events surprising.
Here’s what the star of On The Job had to say. “I definitely recommend the film… It’s out-of-the-box. (As a viewer) you want to be entertained but you want to learn. So this film will give you that and more.”
Antoinette (who is the director of another MMFF 2015 film, All You Need is Pag-Ibig) notes that HTF is also about love.
“It’s about romantic love, love for family, love para sa isang anak.”
She declares unabashedly, “Nagustuhan ko talaga. Ibang John Lloyd ang makikita nila dito. Sobrang refreshing para sa isang fan ng rom-com John Lloyd na makita siya sa ganitong film… Ibang Erik Matti film. Ang ganda ng story. Ang galing ng actors. It’s a good film. And good films must be watched by people. Good films must be given a chance.”
Those who’ve seen Honor Thy Father swear while the movie is mind-blowing, it also gives a firm tug at the heart. A film with a “killer combo” like that is a true gem.