Erik Matti's 'Seklusyon' draws praise from US entertainment magazine

MANILA — International magazine Hollywood Reporter gave Erik Matti's ''Seklusyon'' a positive review as the film premiered at Macau's International Film Festival.

Set in the 1940s, the movie follows a young deacon (Ronnie Alonte) who hides from the devil in a sacred sanctuary seven days before he is ordained as a priest.

"Erik Matti's devil-infested horror flick might be set in a farflung monastery in 1947, but it could easily serve as a parable of how the world stands in 2016, a year where amoral populists have found favor with impressionable populations worldwide," movie reviewer Clarence Tsui wrote.

He then praised Matti's "mastery in producing effective genre cinema," explaining: "Set mostly within the confines of a rickety house in the middle of nowhere, the film provides chilling bursts of outright shock and sepia-tinged, creepy atmospherics."

Tsui, however, singled out the "wobbly" screenplay by Anton Santamaria.

"But credit to Matti for rescuing 'Seklusyon' out from the ordinary and its pulpy roots," Tsui said.

"Infusing the widescreen imagery with grainy textures reminiscent of the scary movies from the celluloid era, the director — in partnership with cinematographer Neil Derrick Bion and production designer Ericson Navarro — manages to establish a sufficiently eerie ambience for the evil spirits to wreak havoc in."

"Seklusyon," Matti's follow-up to his acclaimed crime film "Honor Thy Father," stars Alonte (a member of the boy group Hashtags), Rhed Bustamante, Phoebe Walker, Elora Espano, Neil Ryan Sese, Lou Veloso, Dominic Roque, John Vic De Guzman and JR Versales.