Mary Cherry Chua (2023) Movie Trailer Impressions: A Filipino Urban Legend About a Slain Student's Spirit Haunting a School Gets Adapted into the Big Screen

Mary Cherry Chua is a horror film produced by Viva Films under the screenplay and direction of Roni Benaid starring Abby Bautista, Kokoy de Santos, Lyca Gairanod, Krissha Viaje, Ashley Diaz, Joko Diaz, and Alma Moreno and is slated for a July 19, 2023 nationwide theatrical release. Let's check out what this 2023 horror film about the urban legend of Mary Cherry Chua has in store for Filipino horror movie enthusiasts here at Pinoy Movie Blogger.



Mary Cherry Chua
Plot / Synopsis



Merry Cherry Chua is based on a Filipino Urban Legend about a kind, beautiful, and exceptional student who was later found dead within the premises of the school she was attending. While the culprit behind her murder surrendered, her spirit still lingers and haunts the halls of the school and the people within it.

Watch Mary Cherry Chua Official trailer here:



Mary Cherry Chua Official Trailer Impression
Mary Cherry Chua Film Trailer Review



What can be said about the Mary Cherry Chua (2023) official movie trailer? As a big horror movie fan, the premise isn't that revolutionary but it would be interesting to see a popular Filipino urban legend get another big screen adaptation. What is interesting about urban legends is how familiar yet unknown they are. You may hear that it originated at a particular school, but later found out that it isn't. That almost every school has its own version of Mary cherry Chua, just like how every school was once claimed to be a burial grounds or cemetery.



What is interesting is that I am not even familiar with Mary Cherry Chua's urban legend. What I am familiar with is the concept of haunted school grounds and lingering restless spirits haunting people within it. One can say it is a tried and tested formula while others may say it is a tired cliche as well. The only difference is that this time you just have fresh faces or talenst from Viva Films this 2023 acing along with veteran performers like Joko Diaz, Alma Moreno, and Rolando Inocencio. I think this urban legend can seamlessly be blended within one of the segment of a Shake, Rattle, & Roll (SRR) film; but I can also say that Filipino film production studios and creatives are running out of concepts to make for a compelling and noteworthy horror film because of horror franchises like SRR are using all the concept up. The same reason why Pridyider (2012) became its own supernatural horror title even if it was part of an episode of the original Shake, Rattle, & Roll (1984). Will Mary Cherry Chua be scary or engaging enough to justify its normal standalone Filipino film runetime or will it feel dragging and longer than it should. I guess, movie goers will know that once it premieres in cinemas nationwide.



How about you guys? What do you think about this 2023 horror film featuring another popular Filipino urban legend? What popular urban legend are you familiar about? What recent horror film that focuses on urban legends have you enjoyed? Will you be seeing this horror film once it hits the theaters in the 19th of July, 2023? Share your thoughts and opinion about Mary Cherry Chua (2023) in the comments section below and let's talk about it.

The Healing (2012) Movie Review

The Healing is a 2012 supernatural horror film from ABS-CBN Productions, Inc. (Star Cinema) directed by Chito Roño starring Vilma Santos, Vilma Santos, Kim Chiu, Janice de Belen, Pokwang, Robert Arevalo, and Martin del Rosario. Check out Pinoy Movie Blogger's spoiler-free movie review of The Healing

The Healing
Synopsis

A news about the miraculous works of a faith healer spread like wildfire attracting the attention of people suffering from various illnesses coming from all walks of life. All of a sudden, the faith healer stopped her "healing" sessions, but was forced by a group of patients. But at the same time, disturbing and mysterious incidents start to unleash. Will the secret behind the faith healing's deadly curse finally be revealed or will it finally consume each victim?

The Healing Movie Review
The Healing (2012) Film Review

Being a fan of anything horror, once saw that The Healing was now in theaters I didn't have second thoughts and immediately bought a ticket. Thanks to The Healing film trailer, I can say the film piqued my interest. So did the film met my expectation? Will it meet yours?

I gave my initial impressions and predicted what The Healing's story might possibly be, but sadly it wasn't that close enough. The curse that befell each of the unfortunate patients who insisted of still being healed amidst the healer's "unstable" condition is not related to her recharging of her powers as I mentionded in my trailer impressions but something a lot more sinister... and I will end it at that. This is a spoiler-free movie review of the Healing anyways. When this plot point is revealed however, it is only a matter of time before you start patching up the pieces. You might have a glimpse of the ending already. Luckily The Healing movie trailer didn't spoil this opportunity to discover this plot point which have been some of my complaints in most Filipino film trailers and synopsis as of the recent.

The cast delivers a believable performance in The Healing. For a horror film, it sure has some good humor on it. The humor usually comes from Seth's (Vilma Santos) father Mang Odong (Robert Arevalo). But never forget that this is a horror film, you when you least expect it the film delivers this sucker punch jump scare. The Healing has a good number of jump scares which you can either love or hate. I personally prefer the more psychological and creeping form of scare when it comes to horror films. Don't get me wrong, The Healing has these creepy elements as well. The scares in the Healing are okay which have been generally enhanced by CG-effects. The effects of these malignant entities that haunts the patients are pretty impressive which is quite surprising actually. It made me remember how much I like other Asian horror films. It is far from perfection though. There are still some moments when the CGI-effects fail. This ranges from the unbelievable to the laughable. I believe that amidst having supernatural elements, a horror film should still be grounded to some basic logic and rules of reality. For those who are planning to see it, try to watch out for scenes that primarily focus on Alma (Pokwang) and Kakay (Abby Bautista). This maybe because they are working with a child, but I believe the visual effects department is at fault for not being able to portray a more realistic gore and special effects, and then there is that moment with Pokwang which think is a flaw in logic. Normal people don't just go that way. The film also has some weird thing about colors. Can you spot them all?

As for the ending (don't worry spoiler-free remember?) it is relatively okay. It doesn't have that stupid and irritating twist ending ala Segunda Mano. The Healing gave a good ending for a supernatural horror film. I just don't think that the last part was necessary.

The Verdict for The Healing (2012) Film

Star Cinema's The Healing is a good horror film which has some pretty suspenseful and creepy moments. The incorporation of CG-effects has mostly done wonders to enhance the creepy moments in this 2012 horror film, with a some few missed ones in some of its CGI-heavy moments.

The Healing is worth the time, money, and effort. The film is more of a suspense than a horror in the latter part of the film which is not bad which doesn't diminish how the story progressed. Pinoy Movie Blogger gives The Healing (2012) an 8 out of 10 (4/10) film review rating.

The Philippine Horror Movie Title Database: Complete List of Filipino Horror Films

If you are looking for the Massive List of Philippine Horror Film Titles, then you came into the right place. While drama and romantic films are usually aimed for women and action films are to men, the horror and comedy genre will never be out of the picture. It will always have a market.

Yours truly is a big fan of the horror film genre. Although I have already have seen a good number of Filipino horror titles in the past, my mind still usually wonders about those hidden horror gems of Philippine cinema. Unfortunately, there aren't that many websites, blogs and forums that offered a complete list of every horror films in the Philippines. Most of these sites doesn't even come remotely close to the number of Filipino horror films that were actually made. These sites usually have a small list of horror titles consisting mostly of their top list of the best and worst Pinoy horror films which by the way can be very subjective. Even the usual sources like Wiki sites does not have a complete and comprehensive list of Philippine horror films. This is why Pinoy Movie Blogger shall make a complete list or a database of every Philippine horror movie titles. So here we go.