Great horror never gets old. The genre was as alive as ever in 2023, with the year's buzziest titles ranging from the large-scale devastation of "Godzilla Minus One" (yeah, sci-fi monsters bring horror too!) to the gnarly indie frisson of "Talk to Me," from the franchise-galvanizing prowess of "Evil Dead Rise" to the surprising earnestness of "Saw X" (and the whatever-the-heck-that-was of "Infinity Pool"). However, many of the year's best horror offerings did not achieve the levels of buzz generated by the aforementioned flicks.
This list compiles 15 exercises in fear and dread from 2023 which were grossly underrated, in that they received mixed or poor responses from critics and/or audiences. We've honed in on the ones that failed to garner the amount of attention or acclaim that their efforts deserved. Some have a lot in common with each other, and some are wildly different, but all of them are worth watching if you're a horror enthusiast.
This list compiles 15 exercises in fear and dread from 2023 which were grossly underrated, in that they received mixed or poor responses from critics and/or audiences. We've honed in on the ones that failed to garner the amount of attention or acclaim that their efforts deserved. Some have a lot in common with each other, and some are wildly different, but all of them are worth watching if you're a horror enthusiast.
- 12/24/2023
- by Leo Noboru Lima
- Slash Film
Kenneth Dagatan’s latest horror movie, In My Mother’s Skin, premiered at this year’s Sundance Festival and received quite the ovation for being one of those horror movies that just click. Starring Justin Curtis-Smith, Beauty Gonzalez, and Felicity Kyle Napuli, among others, this is a horror movie that might remind you of the 2006 horror Pan’s Labyrinth. Replete with folk horror imagery and themes of a destructive war, here’s a detailed review of the latest Filipino horror movie, In My Mother’s Skin.
Spoilers Ahead
What’s This Movie About?
With the Japanese occupation of the Philippines almost coming to an end towards the end of World War II, a secluded family living amidst the jungles has to suddenly deal with a horrible situation. Romualdo, the husband of Ligaya and father of two kids, is threatened by a Japanese man to hand over the gold that he’s suspected of having stashed at his home,...
Spoilers Ahead
What’s This Movie About?
With the Japanese occupation of the Philippines almost coming to an end towards the end of World War II, a secluded family living amidst the jungles has to suddenly deal with a horrible situation. Romualdo, the husband of Ligaya and father of two kids, is threatened by a Japanese man to hand over the gold that he’s suspected of having stashed at his home,...
- 10/12/2023
- by Indrayudh Talukdar
- Film Fugitives
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Central Europe’s biggest cinema fest and party, has a reputation for offering up a healthy mix of regional and international films, as well as a mix of serious and fun fare, including some more outlandish and challenging movies.
The festival’s 57th edition, running June 30-July 8 in the Czech spa town, is no different.
Here is THR‘s look at some of the more outlandish and bizarre-sounding films that it will offer up to cineasts and industry insiders from around the globe.
Sisu, Midnight Screenings section
Described as “a survivalist action film stripped down to the bone” on the Karlovy Vary festival website, Sisu features a tired unit of Nazis at the end of the war picking a fight with a lone man, portrayed by Jorma Tommila, in Finland. “Part Western and part ironic Finnish answer” to action flicks starring the likes of Sylvester Stallone,...
The festival’s 57th edition, running June 30-July 8 in the Czech spa town, is no different.
Here is THR‘s look at some of the more outlandish and bizarre-sounding films that it will offer up to cineasts and industry insiders from around the globe.
Sisu, Midnight Screenings section
Described as “a survivalist action film stripped down to the bone” on the Karlovy Vary festival website, Sisu features a tired unit of Nazis at the end of the war picking a fight with a lone man, portrayed by Jorma Tommila, in Finland. “Part Western and part ironic Finnish answer” to action flicks starring the likes of Sylvester Stallone,...
- 6/29/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Kenneth Dagatan's sophomore feature “In My Mother's Skin” is set in the Philippines during the last months of WWII, following the story of Tala, a young girl (Felicity Kyle Napuli) who strikes a deal with a flesh-eating fairy (Jasmine Curtis-Smith) in exchange for food for herself and her little brother Bayani (James Mavie Estrella), and a remedy for her mother Ligaya (Beauty Gonzalez), who fell sick with a mysterious illness. That this comes with a big price to pay, is no wonder.
“In My Mother's Skin” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival
Dagatan leans on local legends about ghouls to build the plot, adding his specific touch to it with metaphors about the war and its impact on people's urge to survive and protect their closest ones. Written as the script for a short film in 2015 largely inspired by a self-canibalism story in Marina de Van's...
“In My Mother's Skin” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival
Dagatan leans on local legends about ghouls to build the plot, adding his specific touch to it with metaphors about the war and its impact on people's urge to survive and protect their closest ones. Written as the script for a short film in 2015 largely inspired by a self-canibalism story in Marina de Van's...
- 4/28/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Gory, glittery and irresistibly bleak, In My Mother’s Skin represents a stylish, ripe contribution to the folk-horror canon. Not unlike his acclaimed debut, Ma (2018), Manila-based writer-director Kenneth Dagatan’s second feature revolves around a young person who makes a bargain with a malevolent insectoid forest spirit to help her family — with disastrous consequences.
This time round, Dagatan and his team have added a period frame by setting the story on a rural estate in the Philippines during the final days of World War II, just before the defeat of the occupying Japanese forces. Inevitably, that fascism subtext coupled with the creepy-ancient-being stuff strongly brings Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth to mind, at least to a Western viewer’s eyes. But if you’re going to steal, steal from the best. And there’s plenty that’s fresh, frisky and original here. It’s no surprise the global rights were...
This time round, Dagatan and his team have added a period frame by setting the story on a rural estate in the Philippines during the final days of World War II, just before the defeat of the occupying Japanese forces. Inevitably, that fascism subtext coupled with the creepy-ancient-being stuff strongly brings Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth to mind, at least to a Western viewer’s eyes. But if you’re going to steal, steal from the best. And there’s plenty that’s fresh, frisky and original here. It’s no surprise the global rights were...
- 1/30/2023
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Horror and cautionary fairytales go hand-in-hand, making the perfect marriage between fantastical and terrifying. Kenneth Dagatan’s In My Mother’s Skin is a Filipino feature film that does exactly that, which will inevitably draw comparisons to Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. However, this rural Filipino setting offers its own horror, drawing from local mythologies to keep you up at night.
‘In My Mother’s Skin’ digs its teeth into rural Filipino horrors L-r: Jasmine Curtis-Smith as Fairy and Felicity Kyle Napuli as Tala | Epicmedia / Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Set in the Philippines at the end of World War II in 1945, a wealthy family tries to live in peace in their rural country mansion. However, the Japanese soldiers still occupying the island nation continue to torment them. They heard a rumor that the father of the family, Aldo (Arnold Reyes), stole gold and is hiding it somewhere on his property. He...
‘In My Mother’s Skin’ digs its teeth into rural Filipino horrors L-r: Jasmine Curtis-Smith as Fairy and Felicity Kyle Napuli as Tala | Epicmedia / Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Set in the Philippines at the end of World War II in 1945, a wealthy family tries to live in peace in their rural country mansion. However, the Japanese soldiers still occupying the island nation continue to torment them. They heard a rumor that the father of the family, Aldo (Arnold Reyes), stole gold and is hiding it somewhere on his property. He...
- 1/27/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Squelching sounds radiate over a dark screen as we fade in on a humanoid creature chowing down on a victim’s throat. After pulling away and exposing an inhumanly long tongue, the creature begins to gag, vomiting up a small black bird. So begins Kenneth Dagatan‘s In My Mother’s Skin, a horror fairy tale that will undoubtedly draw comparisons to Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth, but has a much more sinister side in store for audiences who are willing to sit through its more deliberately paced plot machinations.
Set in the Philippines at the end of World War II, In My Mother’s Skin follows the story of Tala (Felicity Kyle Napuli), a 14-year-old daughter of a textile merchant who lives in a war-worn colonial house with her sickly mother Ligaya (Beauty Gonzalez) and younger brother Bayani (James Mavie Estrella). Under suspicion of stealing Japanese gold, Tala’s...
Set in the Philippines at the end of World War II, In My Mother’s Skin follows the story of Tala (Felicity Kyle Napuli), a 14-year-old daughter of a textile merchant who lives in a war-worn colonial house with her sickly mother Ligaya (Beauty Gonzalez) and younger brother Bayani (James Mavie Estrella). Under suspicion of stealing Japanese gold, Tala’s...
- 1/23/2023
- by Trace Thurman
- bloody-disgusting.com
Folklore and horror are often two sides of the same coin. Genre filmmakers the world over have either drawn from or created local myths to jangle the nerves of their audience, from “The Wicker Man” in Britain and “The Blair Witch Project” in America to “La Llorona” in Guatemala and “Kwaidan” in Japan. For the latest evidence, look no further than the Philippines and “In My Mother’s Skin” — already picked up by Amazon ahead of its Sundance Mdnight premiere. Writer-director Kenneth Dagatan’s second feature after 2018’s “Ma” (no relation to the Octavia Spencer picture) takes place in the waning months of World War II, as Japan’s occupation of the Philippines is nearing its (un)merciful end. Though that watershed conflict is mostly confined to the background, the film’s very first line of dialogue makes it clear that political and supernatural horrors shall intermingle: “Did you hear...
- 1/21/2023
- by Michael Nordine
- Variety Film + TV
Antonio (Ronnie Lazaro), a Filipino comprador for the Japanese Imperial Army, harasses a well-to-do family for the whereabouts of gold bars. He suspects the patriarch, Aldo (Arnold Reyes), a “great merchant importer,” of stealing some from the kōgun (Imperial Army) and hiding them somewhere among their cavernous colonial home or surrounding property. Flanked by two armed Japanese soldiers, Antonio leaves the family with a threatening impression and suggests his patience will wear thinner upon subsequent visits. Left alone, Aldo’s wife Ligaya (Beauty Gonzales) asks her husband whether he took the gold. “I will never do anything to put the family […]
The post “We’re Making Cinema Now, a Universal Language”: Kenneth Dagatan on In My Mother’s Skin first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We’re Making Cinema Now, a Universal Language”: Kenneth Dagatan on In My Mother’s Skin first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/21/2023
- by A.E. Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Antonio (Ronnie Lazaro), a Filipino comprador for the Japanese Imperial Army, harasses a well-to-do family for the whereabouts of gold bars. He suspects the patriarch, Aldo (Arnold Reyes), a “great merchant importer,” of stealing some from the kōgun (Imperial Army) and hiding them somewhere among their cavernous colonial home or surrounding property. Flanked by two armed Japanese soldiers, Antonio leaves the family with a threatening impression and suggests his patience will wear thinner upon subsequent visits. Left alone, Aldo’s wife Ligaya (Beauty Gonzales) asks her husband whether he took the gold. “I will never do anything to put the family […]
The post “We’re Making Cinema Now, a Universal Language”: Kenneth Dagatan on In My Mother’s Skin first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We’re Making Cinema Now, a Universal Language”: Kenneth Dagatan on In My Mother’s Skin first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/21/2023
- by A.E. Hunt
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The first big pickup out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Deadline reports today that Amazon Prime Video has acquired In My Mother’s Skin, a buzzy Filipino horror movie.
Kenneth Dagatan directed the film, which premieres this Friday at Sundance.
Prime Video has acquired global rights.
Deadline notes, “A Q4 drop date in several countries is currently scheduled.”
“Set in 1945 Philippines, at the tail end of World War II, the pic follows the story of Tala, a 14-year-old daughter of a Philippines textile merchant who lives in a war-worn colonial house with her sickly mother Ligaya and younger brother Bayani. When Tala’s father mysteriously leaves once more to barter for his family’s freedom with the Japanese, his family finds themselves alone in their isolated forest mansion, awaiting his return.
“With Ligaya’s condition rapidly deteriorating, Tala seeks out a mysterious fairy who has promised to protect her.
Kenneth Dagatan directed the film, which premieres this Friday at Sundance.
Prime Video has acquired global rights.
Deadline notes, “A Q4 drop date in several countries is currently scheduled.”
“Set in 1945 Philippines, at the tail end of World War II, the pic follows the story of Tala, a 14-year-old daughter of a Philippines textile merchant who lives in a war-worn colonial house with her sickly mother Ligaya and younger brother Bayani. When Tala’s father mysteriously leaves once more to barter for his family’s freedom with the Japanese, his family finds themselves alone in their isolated forest mansion, awaiting his return.
“With Ligaya’s condition rapidly deteriorating, Tala seeks out a mysterious fairy who has promised to protect her.
- 1/19/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Tagalog-language selection to debut on platform by end of 2023.
Prime Video has picked up worldwide rights to Filipino Sundance Midnight premiere In My Mother’s Skin ahead of Friday night’s world premiere.
Kenneth Dagatan wrote and directed the horror fairytale about a young girl whose duty to protect her dying mother is complicated by her misplaced trust in a bewitching, flesh-eating fairy.
Beauty Gonzalez, Felicity Kyle Napuli, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, James Mavie Estrella, and Angeli Bayani star in the Tagalog-language film – the only entry in this year’s Midnight selection not in the English language.
Prime Video will debut In...
Prime Video has picked up worldwide rights to Filipino Sundance Midnight premiere In My Mother’s Skin ahead of Friday night’s world premiere.
Kenneth Dagatan wrote and directed the horror fairytale about a young girl whose duty to protect her dying mother is complicated by her misplaced trust in a bewitching, flesh-eating fairy.
Beauty Gonzalez, Felicity Kyle Napuli, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, James Mavie Estrella, and Angeli Bayani star in the Tagalog-language film – the only entry in this year’s Midnight selection not in the English language.
Prime Video will debut In...
- 1/19/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
In what reps the first acquisition of this year’s Sundance Film Festival by a streamer, Prime Video is taking global rights to Kenneth Dagatan’s Filipino horror movie In My Mother’s Skin which is premiering in the Midnight section on Friday, Jan. 20. A Q4 drop date in several countries is currently scheduled.
In My Mother’s Skin is the only non-English title playing in this year’s Midnight lineup.
Set in 1945 Philippines, at the tail end of World War II, the pic follows the story of Tala, a 14-year-old daughter of a Philippines textile merchant who lives in a war-worn colonial house with her sickly mother Ligaya and younger brother Bayani. When Tala’s father mysteriously leaves once more to barter for his family’s freedom with the Japanese, his family finds themselves alone in their isolated forest mansion, awaiting his return. With Ligaya’s condition rapidly deteriorating,...
In My Mother’s Skin is the only non-English title playing in this year’s Midnight lineup.
Set in 1945 Philippines, at the tail end of World War II, the pic follows the story of Tala, a 14-year-old daughter of a Philippines textile merchant who lives in a war-worn colonial house with her sickly mother Ligaya and younger brother Bayani. When Tala’s father mysteriously leaves once more to barter for his family’s freedom with the Japanese, his family finds themselves alone in their isolated forest mansion, awaiting his return. With Ligaya’s condition rapidly deteriorating,...
- 1/19/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s hard to believe that it’s been three years since I was last in Park City to enjoy the Sundance Film Festival in person, which is why this writer is beyond thrilled to be headed back to Utah next week to partake in their amazing lineup of films once again. Sundance 2023 officially kicks off on Thursday, January 19th, and will be running through Sunday, January 29th. And while we’re undoubtedly stoked for the fest’s slate of Midnight titles, there are also a handful of genre films playing in other categories that this writer is definitely going to check out during my time at Sundance as well.
In anticipation of our return to Park City next week, here’s a look at 12 different horror, sci-fi, and genre-adjacent films that are playing at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. As usual, Sundance serves as a fantastic kickoff for the festival season,...
In anticipation of our return to Park City next week, here’s a look at 12 different horror, sci-fi, and genre-adjacent films that are playing at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. As usual, Sundance serves as a fantastic kickoff for the festival season,...
- 1/12/2023
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Taking place January 19th–29th, the 2023 Sundance Film Festival will spotlight 99 feature films from around the globe, and we have a look at the full list of movies screening in the eclectic and eerie Midnight category, including the world premieres of Brandon Cronenberg's Infinity Pool and Kenneth Dagatan's In My Mother’s Skin:
From the Press Release: From horror and comedy to works that defy genre classification, these films will keep you wide awake, even at the most arduous hour. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Fresh, Hereditary, Mandy, Relic, Assassination Nation, and The Babadook.
birth/rebirth / U.S.A. — A single mother and a childless morgue technician are bound together by their relationship to a little girl they have reanimated from the dead. Cast: Marin Ireland, Judy Reyes, A.J. Lister, Breeda Wool. World Premiere. Fiction. Day One
In My Mother’s Skin...
From the Press Release: From horror and comedy to works that defy genre classification, these films will keep you wide awake, even at the most arduous hour. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Fresh, Hereditary, Mandy, Relic, Assassination Nation, and The Babadook.
birth/rebirth / U.S.A. — A single mother and a childless morgue technician are bound together by their relationship to a little girl they have reanimated from the dead. Cast: Marin Ireland, Judy Reyes, A.J. Lister, Breeda Wool. World Premiere. Fiction. Day One
In My Mother’s Skin...
- 12/8/2022
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
It’s that time of the year again when the Sundance Film Festival shares all of its horror discoveries that we’ll be seeing in the next few years.
Today they announced the comprehensive slate of independent films selected from the fest that will take place January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29, 2023.
Bloody Disgusting combed through the entire program this afternoon and pulled out all of the genre films of note, with first-look images and information where available.
What are you most excited to see at Sundance next year?
Midnight: From horror and comedy to works that defy genre classification, these films will keep you wide awake, even at the most arduous hour. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Fresh, Hereditary, Mandy, Relic, Assassination Nation, and The Babadook.
Today they announced the comprehensive slate of independent films selected from the fest that will take place January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29, 2023.
Bloody Disgusting combed through the entire program this afternoon and pulled out all of the genre films of note, with first-look images and information where available.
What are you most excited to see at Sundance next year?
Midnight: From horror and comedy to works that defy genre classification, these films will keep you wide awake, even at the most arduous hour. Films that have premiered in this category in recent years include Fresh, Hereditary, Mandy, Relic, Assassination Nation, and The Babadook.
- 12/7/2022
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
Kenneth Lim Dagatan’s horror thriller In My Mother’s Skin is set to be revealed as the first co-production between the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan.
Scheduled to start filming in mid-June with actress and Instagram star Beauty Gonzalez, the project is set to be announced tomorrow (May 21) by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (Imda) and Film Development Council of the Philippines (Fdcp) at their joint pavilion in the Riviera’s International Village.
The story follows a girl who trusts a flesh-eating fairy to save her dying mother when they are left behind in an isolated mansion, near the...
Scheduled to start filming in mid-June with actress and Instagram star Beauty Gonzalez, the project is set to be announced tomorrow (May 21) by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (Imda) and Film Development Council of the Philippines (Fdcp) at their joint pavilion in the Riviera’s International Village.
The story follows a girl who trusts a flesh-eating fairy to save her dying mother when they are left behind in an isolated mansion, near the...
- 5/20/2022
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Prolific Filipino filmmaker Brillante Ma Mendoza steps into the boxing ring with the heartfelt if rather thin drama “Gensan Punch.” Inspired by the true story of Naozumi Tsuchiyama, an amputee who was denied a license to box professionally in Japan and traveled to the Philippines in pursuit of his dreams, “Gensan” lands solid punches for the rights of disabled athletes and excels with its depiction of rigorous training and fierce combat. But we learn very little about the fighter’s life when he’s not wearing gloves. Following its world premiere at Busan, where it shared the Kim Ji-seok Award with Aparna Sen’s “The Rapist”, and its November screening in Tokyo, “Gensan Punch” will launch online as an HBO Asia Original.
With his chiseled features and steely gaze, handsome model-turned-action star Shogen (“Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist”) certainly looks the part as Nao, a boxer from Okinawa who has been...
With his chiseled features and steely gaze, handsome model-turned-action star Shogen (“Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist”) certainly looks the part as Nao, a boxer from Okinawa who has been...
- 10/15/2021
- by Richard Kuipers
- Variety Film + TV
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