REMINGTON AND THE CURSE OF THE ZOMBADINGS
Philippines, 2011, 96 minutes, Colour.
Martin Escudero, Lauren Young, Kirby Zamora.
Directed by Jade Castro.
One would not be expecting a masterpiece when reading the title of this film.
However, it is set in a Filipino village, something of a fantasy, something of a drama – with some comic touches.
There is little boy in the village who goes around, playing pranks, very cheeky, calling out to most of the men in the village that they are ‘Bakli’, ‘Homos’, in fact, there do seem to quite a lot of homosexuals in the village. He also shouts at the parish priest, sitting in his confessional – and who is very embarrassed about being outed. The little boy taunts a Drag Queen in the cemetery – and is cursed that he will become homosexual when he grows up.
The film is a sometimes raucous attack on homophobia.
When Remington grows up, he mixes with a group of young people his own age, especially Jigs who drives a local taxi. He becomes infatuated with Hannah when she returns home from college to be with her father.
While this romantic theme is the background of the film, the curse comes into effect. Remington begins to assume the manner, very camp, a local gay men. He wears different clothes, speaks in a different manner, behaves with what can be seen as a kind of parody of the camp style. There is also a complication with Jigs and some homoeroticism.
However, they all go to seek out the Drag Queen so that the curse might be lifted. In the meantime, there is somebody going around the village killing off all the gays (including the priest who makes a reappearance), with a scientific breakthrough taser called a ‘gaydar’ which detects (and outs) homosexuals, killing them.
Much of the action is corny, especially when the dead start to rise again and we have a Filipino version of a zombie film – but all in the context of gays, anti-homophobia, parody.
Martin Escudero does quite a good job of combining touches of a macho young man with his moments of camp exaggeration.
A curiosity item!
