Haunted Mansion (2015 film)

Haunted Mansion (formerly Retreat House and originally titled Rest House) is a 2015 Filipino supernatural horror film written and directed by Jun Lana, starring Janella Salvador, Marlo Mortel, Jerome Ponce, Iza Calzado and Janice de Belen. It was the debut film of Janella Salvador after her successful stint on television. It was an official entry to the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival. It was released on December 25, 2015.

The film follows a group of high school kids who are spending the night in a retreat house. When they learn that the retreat house is haunted, they set out to look for the ghosts just for fun, but find out soon enough that the urban legends are real. The film received generally positive reviews from film critics praising its cinematography, visual effects, production design and musical score. The film's cast was also praised for their performances.

Plot
Ella, a clairvoyant student, goes on a school retreat to a mansion owned by a rich woman, Amara, during the Japanese Occupation and which is rumored to be haunted by a lady in black.

On the first night, Ella has a vision of a woman in black committing suicide. Ella recognizes the woman in the photo as Veronica, the younger sister of the owner who committed suicide due to shame from being raped. Ella and her classmates Faye and Adrian are terrorized by a ghost, which is revealed to be a prank by fellow students Megan and her clique. As punishment, the group is not allowed to attend activities and instead serves detention by cleaning the whole property.

The next night, Ella is haunted by the ghost of Jaime, Veronica's rapist, and ends up fainting in fright. Her teachers make the group stay for another day in the mansion to work out their differences. Ella confesses to Adrian that she has the ability to see ghosts and caused her father to be killed, which she blamed herself for. Megan and other classmates Jessie, Allison, Jack and Steve decide to hunt ghosts, despite warnings from Ella and her friends. They leave Megan's cellphone plugged in a battery pack in the confessional in hopes of recording the Black Lady's voice.

A storm hits and causes a power outage, flooding the mansion. Steve remembers Megan's phone and goes to get it alone while the others fix candles and leakages. Father Anthony, a priest notices Allison, Steve and Jack's disappearance and Jessie volunteers to look for them. On the confessional, Steve listens to the recording and is frightened when Jaime's ghost appears pointing at something. He tries to escape but is caught by another ghost and has his tongue severed. Ella and the others hear their screams and find their corpses with their tongues ripped out. Jacob tells everybody that he saw their teacher freaking out over something she heard from the phone. Father Anthony advises them to listen to the recorded message as they might learn something about the killings.

Veronica is revealed to have committed suicide due to Amara's witchcraft practice, which led to her believing Jaime raped her and burning him alive, leading to her losing her love and eventually her own life. Ella, Adrian and Jacob carry Father Anthony to safety, while Megan, Jack, Jessie and Allison flee the mansion. Amara kills two servants by blasting them through a glass door. Father Anthony asks the three to leave him behind, but Amara kills him.

Megan and the others cross a flooded area outside the mansion, where Allison is pulled down by a supernatural force. Jack and Jessie are also killed before they can warn Megan. Megan encounters Amara, who feasts on the tongues of her three friends. Adrian convinces Ella to use her abilities to ask help from Veronica and Jaime. Ella is drawn to a vision of the afterlife and is instructed to destroy Amara's corpse before she takes human form. The trio head to a private tomb in the back area of the house, but Amara appears and captures Jacob, another classmate. Jacob asks Ella and Adrian to leave him before being killed by Amara, leaving Ella all alone. She runs to the chapel where Amara's ghost confronts her, but Ella stabs Amara in the mouth and takes out the latter's tongue, injuring her head.

Ella, wakes up and spends the next three months suffering from amnesia while she recovers. When her memory returns, the spirit of Amara reappears and the two fight, resulting in Ella getting mortally wounded. Ella uses her strength to condemn Amara back to hell by placing a rosary around her neck. As Amara screams and vanishes, Ella collapses unconscious to the floor and the camera pans up to her as she opens her eyes once more and the screen cuts to black.

Main

 * Janella Salvador as Ella Jimenez
 * Marlo Mortel as Adrian Ular
 * Jerome Ponce as Jacob Hanilar
 * Janice de Belen as Miss Gonzales
 * Iza Calzado as Donya Amara Lobregat

Supporting

 * Dominic Ochoa as Father Anthony
 * Sharlene San Pedro as Faye Zobela
 * Ingrid dela Paz as Megan Fabregas
 * Devon Seron as Allison Alcantara
 * Eliza Pineda as Jessie Mendoza
 * Phytos Ramirez as Jack Olivares
 * Paolo Gumabao as Steve Balez

Guest

 * Iza Calzado as Doña Amara Lobregat
 * LJ Reyes as Veronica Lobregat
 * Joem Bascon as Jaime
 * Lilet as Elly
 * Allan Paule as Ella's father
 * Vangie Labalan as Manang Selya
 * Sue Prado as Miss Taas
 * Archie Adamos as Mang Anding
 * Mara Lopez as Teacher

Production
The script for the film, originally entitled Rest House, took five years to perfect. According to Lily Monteverde, Regal Entertainment decided to enter the film for the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival instead of another installment of the Shake, Rattle & Roll series. The budget that would have been allotted for a Shake, Rattle & Roll film was allotted for Haunted Mansion instead. All requests of director Jun Lana were granted by Regal and the production design was deemed very expensive by Monteverde. Monteverde said that the film has the biggest budget among the horror entries at the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival.

Filming
Principal photography for the film began as early as April 2015. Director Jun Lana, said that the film is not rushed so it may be improved. The film was shot in Cabuyao, Laguna in Marcos Twin Mansion owned by the Marcoses.

The house was made to look older for the film while the venue was made to look brand-new for the flashback scenes set in the 1950s. A hole as big as a swimming pool was dug for a two-minute scene. Additional shooting days were made for the final touch ups.

Creepy experiences on the set
Paolo Gumabao, who plays the character Steve in the movie, shared during the press conference that he, his stylist, and his personal assistant (PA) were "ghost hunting" on the second floor of the mansion on a break from filming. He and his stylist went into a room, only to have the door close behind them –there was no wind and his PA was at the opposite end of the hallway outside. Actress Ingrid dela Paz said she, Sharlene San Pedro, and Eliza Pineda, all heard a little boy talking on the second floor too. Meanwhile, after the press conference, Janella told reporters that her mother and brother were inside a tent when they heard an old man moaning.

Release
The film was released on December 25, 2015, under Regal Entertainment as an official entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival. The film had a special screening at Greenhills Theatre Mall on December 18.

Marketing
On October 25, 2015 Regal Films released the first teaser trailer of the film. It was followed by the first official trailer of the film which was released on November 26. Another trailer was released by Regal Films on December 14 to promote the film.

Box office
The film opened in more than 40 cinemas and earned ₱10 million in its first day of showing.The film landed on 3rd spot on its opening day.

On December 27, 2015, according to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) the film is at the 3rd spot from the box office with ₱29 million.

Special screening
Haunted Mansion received positive reviews during its special screening at Greenhills Theatre Mall on December 18, 2015.

A review from jobonsol.net that "I had to close my eyes because it is really scary".

Official release
Haunted Mansion received generally positive reviews from film critics. The film was praised for its cinematography and special effects, Lana's direction was given praises too.The cast was praised for its good performances in the film as well.

A film critic from Ely's Planet gave a rating of 7/10 saying,"DESPITE SOME WEAK points, Haunted Mansion is a breath of fresh air to Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) as it takes the audience to various shocking surprises in the course of around two hours."

Starmometer also gave a positive review stating that, "The film succeeds in building up tension and keeping the story from being predictable. The technical aspects are very strong from sounds to cinematography, and from make-up to production design. The lighting and the location itself create a pretty decent horror experience. The main cast, on the other hand, is all right. The standout in the cast, however, is Iza Calzado who established a scary presence in the second half of the film." Starmometer gave a rating 8.5/10.

Oggs Cruz from Rappler says that in spite of the familiarity of the premise and title, "'Haunted Mansion' is something else." He even added that " Carlo Mendoza’s cinematography is wonderfully precise, lending credibility to the atmosphere that Lana seeks to create. Mendoza knows how to use both light and shadows to evoke a certain sense of unease. The film’s maturely constructed imagery is assisted by a sound design that does not rely on noise and glaring orchestrations to scare. While Lana still employs shock tactics to keep the film’s audience at the edge of their seats, the film is nevertheless deliberate in its pacing. It creeps meaningfully, initially concentrating on the banal concerns of its characters before thrusting its purpose of betraying innocent beliefs with a climax that haphazardly has the lives of all the characters, whether they are good or bad, endangered with explicit savagery."