Shake Rattle and Roll Fourteen: The Invasion (2012)
Written By: DMG
Film Information
| Segment: | Director: | Producer: | Screenplay: |
| Pamana | Chito S. Roño | Lily Y. Monteverde | Ricardo Lee |
| Lost Command | Chito S. Roño | Lily Y. Monteverde | Rody Vera |
| Unwanted | Chito S. Roño | Lily Y. Monteverde | Roy C. Iglesias |
Date Released: December 25, 2012
| Cast: | ||
| Pamana | Lost Command | Unwanted |
| Herbert Bautista as Donald | Dennis Trillo as Master Sgt. Martin Barrientos | Vhong Navarro as Hank |
| Janice de Belen as Myra | Rommel Padilla as 1st Lt. Bert Garces | Lovi Poe as Kate |
| Arlene Muhlach as Faye | Paulo Avelino as Corp. Lamberto Upaon | Carlo Aquino as Rex |
| Dennis Padilla as Benjie | Martin Escudero as Private Solomon Conde | Eula Caballero as Ming |
| Ms. Snooky Serna as Rosalda | Alex Castro as Pvt. Hilario Tabios | Chokoleit as barber |
| Dimples Romana as Filomena | JC Tiuseco as Pvt. 1st Class Maximo Ornedo | Eric Tai as Tom |
| Lou Veloso as Katiwala | AJ Dee as Pvt. 1st Class Blas Rogado | Albie Casiño as Neil |
| et. al. | et. al. | et. al. |
Rating = 1/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Pamana
Mang Lando has died and has sent for his relatives upon his death. When the relatives are called, they are told they will inherit 20 million pesos divided amongst them in one months time. But if someone dies, the money is shared among the remainder relatives. As a condition, they must take with them and protect various paintings depicting monsters that were drawn by Mang Lando. But, when some relatives throw away the pictures, the monsters from the drawings come alive putting the group in danger.
Lost Command
The film opens with a group of militia trying to find something in the woods. Unsure of why they are in the forest, some of the soldiers start to question what their real mission. As they explore the forst, they come across a young man who informs the soldiers that “takers” have taken his father in order to recruit members to build their lost platoon. The young man volunteers to take them to the place where he believes his father to be. This becomes the new mission of the soldiers as they have yet to find out what kind of enemies are ahead of them.
Unwanted
Unwanted follows couple, Hank and Kate. Kate has recently become pregnant but may not be willing to through with the pregnancy. One day, Hank and Kate go to a mall to pick up a gift for Hank’s parents. When the couple separate in the mall, an sudden and astronomical explosion occurs causing the entire mall to be destroyed. With the mall destoyed and multiple people dead, Hank must try to find Kate through this disaster. But on his way, he encounters horrid monster-like creatures that have since occupied the mall. Hank must fight his way through to find his lost girlfriend, Kate.
Gore Factor
Pamana – There was no blood or gore which was impressionable. This short does incorporate some CGI work which too is nothing unique.
Lost Command – As expected with zombie-like monsters, there is the visual of the cannibals eating the body parts of the dead. The prosthetics and make up are not impressive. The CGIs move so fast to even notice them on the screen. There are a few jump scares while the monsters are attacking people. But not enough to scare you out of your seat.
Unwanted – There is a lot of CGI incorporated in this film. Most if not all of the monsters are CGI. Some of the monsters have an interesting design but easily forgettable.
The Grave Review
Pamana
The story of Pamana is clear in some ways and unclear in others. It is clear that Mang Lando has died and has left an inheritance for his relatives. However, it is unclear why his paintings are coming alive and why they all evil. There is virtually no character development and no backstory. The film simply depicts the protagonists being terrorized and ultimately killed and/or trapped in some way. Of course, the short film makes no attempt to seek the sympathy of the audience. By the end of the film, you may have more questions than answers. In addition, the one character who you thought should have been taught a lesson gets to keep the money but ends with a less than satistfying cliffhanger. Overall, Pamana was neither entertaining nor engaging.
Lost Command
The second anthology is very confusing. The story is not clear as to how the monsters came to be. Aptly titled as Lost Command because you will get lost in the narrative. It does not explain a lot of the premise of the story. To add to the confusion, the monsters move so fast on screen that you do appreciate any of the action scenes that are happening. As to the appearance of the monsters themselves, they appear comical to say the least. In some ways, you can also tell that there was no effort into making the soldiers “act” like soldiers just by the way they spoke and carried themselves.
There are also a few scenes that are not necessary in the story. One example is the presence of the blind girl who led the soldiers to where the monsters are supposed to be camping out. It does not lend any explanation where the girl came from and why she knows that they are coming at that exact time. By the end of the film, after you believe the story to be over, the monsters naturally appear just to create an unpleasant ending. Overall, Lost Command created a poor script that did not provide any explanation or backstory leading up to the current events.
Unwanted
By the time you reach the third anthology (if you do), you will be tired and bored. Unwanted is the only chance that this film has to save itself. So is the third anthology worth seeing? No, it is truly
“Unwanted.” From the time main character, Hank, is seeking his girlfriend, Kate, to the end, most of the story leaves you in the dark. You do not know what is happening or why. Unwanted tries to create a hybrid story between War of the Worlds and The Ring but fails miserably. Between the subpar acting, the forgettable CGI work and the lack of story or character development, there is not much else to say. Unwanted like the other shorts is unfortunately just a mash up of overdone stories. On a side note, did anyone else notice the random food dreams during the story?
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Usually, there is always one good short film of the three in this franchise but not in this case. I would not recommend this film to anyone. Fortunately, the franchise generally creates stand-alone short films, so there is no need to watch this film if you want to skip this one altogether.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Shake Rattle and Roll Fourteen: The Invasion (2012) one grave out of five graves.
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