'The Road' praised by NY Times for powerful atmospherics

Published May 12, 2012 9:48pm

The venerable New York Times, the most important cultural arbiter among American newspapers, called it a “powerfully atmospheric blend of ghostly encounters.” The Filipino horror film "The Road" has garnered mostly positive reviews from critics since it debuted in US and Canadian theaters this week.

Reviewer Jeanette Catsoulis of the New York Times praised Filipino director Yam Laranas for his ability to scare the viewer from the “simplest of setups,” without the “need of crashing chords or wailing musical cues.” The Village Voice said "The Road" turns the “scantest of plots” into “something grave and lingering.” The pop culture magazine added that the movie has a “whispering menace and visual grandeur all its own.” Meanwhile, Todd Rigney of the entertainment website Beyondhollywood.com described the film as a “fantastic” and “well-written” horror piece that “boldly assumes that its audience has a brain and knows how to use it.”

Rigney added that he liked the film’s “quiet” pace. He said that its simplicity—“no idiotic one-liners, no pointless pop culture references”—worked to effectively deliver a good scare. The horror movie review site Dread Central gave "The Road" a score of four over five, saying the film’s every frame “oozes with dread.” It also credited Laranas’ background as a cinematographer for making the film not only frightening but “beautifully shot” as well.

"The Road" currently has a score of 7 out of 10 from entertainment aggregator Metacritic.com, and a 6 over 10 rating at the Internet Movie Database, the largest online source of film-related information.

A GMA Films production, "The Road" was first released locally in November last year. It stars Carmina Villaroel, Rhian Ramos, TJ Trinidad, and Alden Richards. It is Yam Laranas’ second horror film to have been commercially released in the United States after "Sigaw" in 2004. "The Road" tells the story of a police investigator who, while searching for missing teenagers, stumbles upon gruesome murders committed on a deserted road.

GMA Chairman Felipe Gozon said the network is honored to showcase to the world the ingenuity and creativity of Filipino filmmakers. In a previous interview, Laranas talked about the pioneering role of his film in the industry, paving the way for local directors to take on more daring projects. - Ralph Angelo Ty/YA/HS, GMA News

Tags: theroad, yamlaranas, horrorfilm, moviereviews