by Anna Gamboa
The premise was simple and enticing: what can go wrong when you tell ghost stories on Good Friday, when all sorts of entities run free as Christians mark the death of Jesus Christ? Apparently, a whole lot of them, as evidenced by Ang Tulay ng San Sebastian – where an ambulance driver and a male nurse trade ghost stories at the beginning of the film, and realize to their horror that they’re now in the middle of one.
A tale that could have easily been told in 45 minutes, it instead takes the scenic route, throwing in ghosts, zombies, witches, tiyanaks (a badly animated one that reminds you of Ally McBeal’s dancing baby–except this one can sprint barely 10 minutes after being ejected out of a witch’s womb), river entities, and the cursed bridge itself. All the two buddies have to do is last til morning, but apparently the bridge has rules of its own, which the duo discover along the way, finally getting their vehicle to take a shortcut off the bridge itself, splashing it into the river where they (spoiler alert) survive to see another day.
Better editing, and animation could have saved this horror flick, which actually succeeds in making the audience feel that they’re suffering along with the two protagonists. But there are moments of unintentional humor (and if you think about it, this flick could have been played for laughs if it didn’t take itself too seriously) and the camerawork seems leaden.
In CineFilipino’s stellar lineup, sadly, Ang Tulay ng San Sebastian is proof that B-minus movies exist.
The CineFilipino Film Festival will be at UP Diliman’s Cine Adarna on April 18 to 23, 2016.
