It is easy to dismiss today's Filipino horror cinema as subpar and derivative, especially with all the technologically impressive and wonderfully imaginative works out there. Despite its guaranteed box-office draw Embarrassingly bad costumes, plots have no creep out factor whatsoever.

Early horror films have either been technically and artistically accomplished gothic dramas or unintentional comedies that draw on Hollywood influences while more recent ones take halfhearted cues from whatever is making big bucks at the moment, such as Japanese or Korean horror.

There was a time, however, when Filipino horror were well made and, well, scary. Serious filmmakers like Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal (two of the country's most iconic directors who also happen to be National Artists) have dabbled in the craft. The Philippines' Society of Film Archivists (SOFIA) cites Brocka's GUMISING KA... MARUJA (Wake Up... Maruja, 1978), about a woman who commits suicide to escape a forced marriage and who is later reincarnated as a young producer-actress intent on filming a local legend involving a pair of ill-fated lovers. The production is plagued by hauntings, which all come come to a head when the past and present collide. Bernal, on the other hand, leaned more towards fun and campy horror. His "PRIDYIDER," ("The Refrigerator") from the first SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL (1984) trilogy (there are currently 10), is a fun short about a refrigerator that eats those who open it. For a time, the movie made a lot of people afraid of the old-style appliance.

Mike de Leon, another serious director, made what are considered two of the country's scariest films. ITIM (Black, 1976) is a dark, moody piece about a young woman's ghost who possesses her sister in order to seek justice for her death. Charo Santos' portrayal of the possessed Teresa is a mixture of confusion, naivete and eventual understanding, marking her as one of the most memorable characters in the genre. ITIM is also allegedly one of the films that influenced Hideo Nataka's RINGU (1998), the film that sparked international interest in Asian horror. De Leon's KISAPMATA (In the Blink of an Eye, 1981), while not depicting any supernatural forces, spawned Dado Carandang, one of the scariest characters in Philippine cinema. Based on a true story, what looks like a simple family drama turns into a sinister tale of incest, abuse and psychological terror that starts when the daughter Milagros (again played by Charo Santos) announces that she is pregnant. It is then when her hapless boyfriend, as well as the audience, slowly gets initiated into the Carandang family, whose patriarch is an ex-cop who seems to have an extraordinary hold on everyone in the house. Jo Atienza describes it best: "He??(TM)s the kind (of monster) who lives in your home, whose commands you follow because you owe your life to him, and who actually exists in real life." Film critic Erwin Romulo quotes a line from Milagros that sums up the entire state of the movie: "Nagsasama tayo sa takot" -- "We are together in fear." Romulo also points out that the principal players were considered the best actors of their day. Most of the technical crew are now considered the best in their professions, including cinematographer Rody Lacap, editor Jess Navarro, scorer Lorrie Illustre and Production Designer Cesar Hernando.

Film critic Noel Vera notes that one interesting thing about Philippine horror cinema is that its monsters are "almost always humanoid, or some parody of the human form." He explains that this is partly economic ("It's cheaper to slap on slime and gore on a rubber suit and ask some hapless stuntman to put it on.") and partly cultural. "What would make most Americans turn pale in the face and shake their heads politely at, we consider bar chow. Things like giant spiders, giant monkeys, giant snakes and ants and what have you, they don't scare us at all; if anything, they probably would make us hungry. If a giant lizard ever prowled the streets of Manila, it wouldn't be long after midnight when you'll find a few hundred drinking parties grilling skewered lizard meat over a charcoal fire."

More films noted for their subtle atmosphere and unembellished scare tactics include PATAYIN MO SA SINDAK SI BARBARA (Scare Barbara to Death, 1974), Celso Ad Castillo's twisted tale of devotion and revenge. Barbara, who has convinced the love of her life to marry her spoiled little sister, is haunted by her sibling, who has committed suicide and is haunting her to exact revenge for her husband's lack of love. The film was remade in 1995 and made into a TV series in 2007.

Mario O' Hara's box office bomb MORTAL (1975), though categorized as drama, fits into the category of horror as a deftly crafted picture of a man's descent into madness and his eventual redemption, complete with gang rape, grotesque dwarves and a trip to the mental asylum.

"Does horror reflect present-day anxieties? Not very strongly," says Noel Vera, " I'd say horror filmmakers are more concerned about pulling what works from either local culture or from horror films abroad to make their films than they are about reflecting contemporary tensions."

Nowhere was this sentiment stronger than in the 1980's, when box office concerns took precedence over all other considerations - a state that has persisted 'til the present day. But it is nice to know that there was once a time when the point of a Filipino horror film was not just to make money but to tell an unnerving story exceedingly well.