I didn’t think I’d still catch it, but I got to watch Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles. I’m not entirely fond of watching horror films alone in an empty cinema but I survived this one, because it’s the fun type of horror movie.

It’s not the kind that leaves you with a lingering disturbing feeling (The Exorcist); or with the feeling there’s something creepy following you or ready to come out of your mirror when you get home (Ringu).

One of the cool things about Tiktik is the art direction. According to Wikipedia, Tiktik is “the first full-length Filipino film entirely shot on green screen,” hence allowing the CGI artists to give the movie the feel of the comic book (which hit the shelves a few months before the film). You have the grim dark palette of the sky mixed with dark orange and sepia tones. And then the dividing panels for a few scenes.

Barren landscapes surround a neighbor-less home on the island of Pulupandan, a home soon to be besieged by aswangs hungry for the crème dela crème of fleshy delights: A new born baby.

That newborn baby belongs to Sonia (Lovi Poe) and Makoy (Ding Dong Dantes)—will they be able to protect the little one from the onslaught of flesh eaters? Will the other humans around them survive? There’s Nestor and Fely, Sonia’s parents (Joey Marquez and Janice de Belen), their family friend Bart (Ramon Bautista), and a few more. Most of the characters are the stereotypical: the hero, the comedian, the coward who learns to stand up for himself, the damsel not always in distress, the annoying motor mouth, the skeptical non-believers. Thankfully Dantes does a good job as the cocky father to be/city slicker in the province.

Tiktik starts out comic book and ends up video game when you get the final boss, which morphs into this giant creepy winged flesh eating monster and his minions going all out to get the baby.

Director Erik Matti acknowledges the influence of my all-time favorite Shake, Rattle and Roll episode, Aswang and you can see that in the film. While those of us who live in the city have to deal with the monsters you see on the news and in newspaper headlines, I like how Aswang and Tiktik give us that little notion, that should we escape the confines of the big bad cities, it doesn’t mean we can let our guard down.

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By the way, those of us who have been following “Sottogate” and the incidents of “Sottocopying” have read the letter written by Kerry Kennedy on behalf of The Robert Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights summarizing her dismay over Sen. Tito Sotto’s not only using her father’s words without proper credit, but also using them out of context. The senator has replied by saying translation to Filipino is not plagiarism and upon receiving this communication, suggested it was fake. (The veracity of the letter has already been confirmed).

Despite this and a similar complaint from three other writers, the Senator refuses to own up. What’s worse, the Senate President stands by this saying there exists immunity for senators form suits like these.

Journalist Alma Anonas Carpio suggests the presence of a syndrome she likes to call “airborne mass stupid” in our country’s legislature. I told her this might be our version of the zombie apocalypse.

Only scarier.