Shudder Saturday: Itim (1976)

AKA The Rites Of May.

After another few minutes of scrolling through streaming menus to see what I might watch today, I finally settled on this, what I thought would be a folk horror tale from the Philippines. It's actually not folk horror, not to me anyway (although categories and labels are often as personal and subjective to people as any other response they have to a movie), but a slow and moody look at the kind of supernatural quest for revenge commonly seen in the J-horror boom of the turn of the century. 

The whole thing starts with a séance, always a great thing to include in a spooky horror movie. Teresa (Charo Santos-Concio, billed here as Charo Santos) is informed that her missing sister, a Catholic nun named Rosa (Susan Valdez-LeGoff, but at this point just Susan Valdez), is dead. In a seemingly-unrelated event, a young photographer (Jun, played by Tommy Abuel) visits the area to check in with his incapacitated father, Dr. Torres (Mario Montenegro). Jun ends up photographing Teresa, and the two soon discover that they are connected in a way that will only become apparent when Rosa can reveal a long-hidden truth.

The first feature film from director Mike de Leon, this is a strange and entertaining slice of horror that suffers nowadays in comparison to the many similar films that have been made in the intervening years. Not that it was a wholly original idea when first released back in the mid-1970s, but it might have felt a bit less predictable to those who hadn't already experience quite so many tales in the same vein. Writers Gil Quito and Clodualdo Del Mundo Jr. (aka Doy Del Mundo) don't do a bad job, taking their time to add layers of atmosphere without making the 105-minute runtime feel like a drag. Even knowing where things should be heading, the journey is a languid and dreamy wander through a field of pretty flowers and stinging nettles. That metaphor definitely works, in my head anyway.

The acting isn't always great, but the leads do well enough. Santos is quietly captivating as Teresa, helped by the fact that she has moments when she has to act quite out of character. Abuel is a forgettable, but perfectly fine, male lead, and Montenegro is restricted for most of the runtime by the fact that his character is both mute and in a wheelchair. There are some others in supporting roles, but Santos, Abuel, and Montenegro are the main focus for most of the film, which saves me from potentially insulting anyone else who isn't as good in the acting stakes.

Set during Holy Week, Itim (which is the Filipino word for "black") is helped by being stuffed full of imagery that ties in to the timing. Instead of obvious scares and horror imagery, De Leon tries to add a sense of fear via the rites and iconography of Catholicism, as well as the juxtaposition of sunny exteriors and much darker interiors (in terms of both buildings and people). There's also something very interesting about a film from this time that doesn't make the male lead a stereotypical hero ready to charge in and save the day before the end credits roll. Although he helps to put the puzzle pieces together, Jun is mainly just a witness to the unfolding events. He enters the film as a photographer, just an observer who can record individual moments, and end it the same way. The film really belongs to Teresa, which means that is belongs equally, if not more so, to Rosa.

Worth a watch. And then worth a rewatch, because there's more to dig into here than expected. There's a reason why this has been celebrated over the years, as well as being digitally restored for a 2022 theatrical screening at the Cannes Film Festival.

8/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share