Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This Filipino thriller starred,written and director by Filipino actor Cesar Montano entitled "Ligalig",a Filipino word for "Trouble", is obviously an imitation from the French slasher flick directed by Alexandre Aja and starred by Cecile De France and Maiwenn "Haute Tension",also known by its English title,"High Tension.Although Montano denies it by claiming that this was an original work,the viewer who has seen both films cannot deny the fact that this Filipino film indeed has taken on the concepts involved with the French movie from the story,the characters,the moods,the settings and the much talked about "twist" that involves a character with a split personality that had many of the viewers of the French flick divided.So instead of trying to prove that Montano is lying,I will just focus my review on the comparison between "Ligalig" and "High Tension".No question that Montano was amazed by the French movie that he decided to take a Filipino counterpart without giving acknowledgment to director Alexandre Aja and his writing partner Gregory Levasseur.Instead of having best friends Marie and Alex going to the latter's family at the rural area in Southern France to study,the story involves a taxi driver Junior who is going to his girlfriend's family Trixie.But before everything was set up,we get to see a man named Damian driving a truck who is apparently responsible in killing people for reasons even the Filipino actor does not know just like the killer who was lurking behind truck in the rural area of Southern France.Junior and Trixie was with a female friend as they drive towards the latter's family.Familiar elements from High Tension was taken as they drive which I felt had no connection whatsoever in the overall story such as Trixie leaving Junior when the former wanted to pee in the plantation, the masturbation "scene" which the female friend did to Junior as a homage to Marie's masturbation "scene".Then when they all arrived in Trixie's house,the female friend decided to take a bath with her lingerie on as a homage to Alex's taking a shower.I felt those scenes were simply placed there to remind us of the French film. Nothing more.They have no overall effect to the story.What's worse,unneeded elements on the story were added such as Trixie's mother who loves to shoot with her gun and Trixie's brother who is stricken with PTSD.This was to show that her family are psychologically impaired but does not provide any impact in the story.Probably they tried to serve as a diversion from Damian.Nothing more. Too bad that it didn't.The mother and the brother were just there for entertainment.Or better yet,to remind the viewers that the killer shot Alex's young brother.Finally,came the twist.When Damian appeared,he started to kill Trixie's family and took Trixie into captive.While the French movie made clear on the steps the personality change of Marie occurred - Marie saw Alex taking a shower and felt lust,she masturbated and the split of personality occurred - this movie only showed that Junior turned into Damian as the movie needed him to.In short,the twist was simply contrived and unrealistic.Added to that,there were a lot of unanswered questions as to why Junior is turning into his dead violent father and starts to kill people.Overall,the only purpose was to show that indeed Montano can direct a slasher flick similar to the French flick.Nothing more.What's more,the characters and the dialogues are silly.The story is weak and contrived.Too bad that melodramatic elements were added too that served no purpose in the story. And what about the special effects? The viewer can see how poor they were.When Junior was taking the police to the headquarters,viewers can see the poor use of green screen as the background of cars looks far different as compared to the taxi.The "lightning effects" whenever Damian appear have become tiresome.Cameras as constantly shaking. The opening and closing credits were just simply too stylish like an MTV video.One might just laugh at these special effects which unknowingly turn this slasher flick into comedy because of it.Saying this,it only shows that it is confused on what kind of movie is it going to be.Overall,this was a poor film and a poor imitation at that.I could go on but there are simply too many things that is wrong with this movie that a 1 out of 10 rating is even considered high for it Why was this given an "A rating" in the Philippines?

I was in the public library and it led me to this particular DVD called "Ligalig".It was a multi-awarded film in the Philippines.I decided to borrow it to see whether it was really a good film.After viewing it,there is only one thing I could say about it. To put it in words,"Ligalig is definitely High Tension". Not in the sense that the movie is filled with suspense and tension but rather due to the fact that it was an imitation of the French film,"Haute Tension" which is also known as "High Tension",for majority of the movie.The story involves a taxi driver named Junior.He is taking her girlfriend Trixie on his taxi together with their fellow friend.We have Junior and Trixie as the main characters instead of having Marie and Alex.A mysterious killer appears named Damian,who slashes people's head.We have Damian riding an old car instead of having an unknown killer riding a truck.When Junior visits Trixie's family,a number of murders take place.Damian kills all member of Trixie's family just like the killer murders all members of Alex's family. As the story progresses,the viewers will be surprised to see Junior is seen performing the killings and has Trixie in captive just as the viewers were surprised when Marie is seen murdering people and has Alex in captive.Then the conclusion has Junior professing his love of Trixie just as Marie is towards Alex.The final scene is somewhat different with Junior getting killed when Trixie tries to escape while Marie locked up in a psychiatric hospital with Alex looking on a window.This Filipino movie as a complete imitation of the French movie as I have previously stated.Most of the scenes from the latter was added to that former.Unfortunately,it does not match the suspense filled French version.What's worse,the viewer is exposed to poorly handled special effects.Except for the great performance of Cesar Montano,there is nothing really positive that could be said in it except possibly the guts and courage that the filmmakers have in producing another version of the suspense-filled movie that many people are still talking,discussing and debating about until now.

The movie Ligalig was released for DVD rental this month here in the US. I was able to see it over the weekend. I was really disappointed. It's a shame for him and wife Sunshine to claim that he came up with this story. He copied the whole thing from a French movie i saw last year titled 'HIGH TENSION". It was released here in the US as DVD rental movie. I wish Cesar would have just made the movie but should have advertised it as a copy then i would not be very upset and disappointed in him. Oh boy, it's really a shame. I hope someone would be able to send this message to him. I guess, he thought no one would see the French movie and went on claiming he came up with this story.

Having received an "A" from the Philippines' Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB) I immediately became excited to see this movie. After 20 minutes or so, I realized that I had been fooled: I have already seen this movie. No, not exactly This Movie, but a French movie called High Tension, directed by the superb Alexandre Aja. For those of you who are aware of the said film's ending, then babing! there is Ligalig's highly confidential climax (news reports revealed that the stars and the crew of Ligalig were required to sign a contract that restricts them from revealing the film's plot twist).Anyway, if I am going to watch a highly effective slasher film's rip-off, then it must be a better version. I should at least get my money's worth.Aside from this, the film also suffers from MTV-style editing and shots and angles that are supposed to be new in Philippine Cinema, but these end up getting tired as they become more repetitive as the film progresses.4 our of 10 stars.