(OUTscene NW) Eddie RE-views 2 Gay Films at SIFF, 'Remington and Curse of the Zombadings'; 'Prime Time Soap'!

by Eddie Walker

The 38th Annual Seattle International Film Festival is here. It will be running from May 17 - June 10. I had the opportunity to pre-screen and review two gay films that will be showing this weekend.

The first, ‘Remington and the Curse of the Zombadings’ (directed by Jade Castro) is a definite hit with me. The film is a crazy, campy, comedic, horror flick that definitely can not be mistaken for a B-movie. I had my suspensions. I thought, ‘not another gay zombie movie’. Instead, I was happily surprised with an original storyline and plot, terrific acting, and the fiercest Filipino voodoo drag queen I ever did see.

The synopsis for the movie is as follows:

Remington is content being another bum along with his gin-loving friends in the sleepy town of Lucban, Quezon. Until the lovely Hannah comes along. Suddenly, Remington is becoming neater, nicer, more sensitive. Is it for Hannah? But then why do his hips start to sway, and his heart begins to beat for his best buddy, Jigs. To find the answers, he must first deal with a curse from his past, and a serial killer on a rampage against gay men. With the help of Hannah, Jigs, and a cast of colorful characters, Remington sashays into an adventure that will unravel the mystery of the murders, spirits, curses, and the gay zombies roaming the streets.

I would love to share what happens in the movie, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who intends on seeing it this weekend. I will tell you that the movie is well made. You can tell the director is an experienced professional. Also, the acting is superb. The actor, Martin Escudero (Remington), shows obvious talent with the way he plays both a ‘straight’ and ‘gay’ character in the movie. He acted both parts extremely believably. But what’s a gay movie without a few muscle clad, naked torsos running around and a good old fashion cat-fight between queens. They have both in this film.

In general, the film is a parody of gay-bashing, gay sons, gay fathers, and gay friends, all in one. I would suggest this movie to the young and old alike, and as a family-friendly film. The film is in Tagalog and Baklese (local gayspeak), with English subtitles.

The other gay film I prescreened was ‘Prime Time Soap’, which really wasn’t all that gay. Having a ‘gay’ character in a movie, does not make a movie ‘gay’. I did not enjoy this film as much as I did Remington. This movie is pretty much a communist film set in 1978 Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The plot is too simple and cliche. There is no character development. The only thing I liked about this film was the soundtrack, which was comprised mostly of disco music. Although I didn’t like the film, I want the director, Odilon Rocha, to know that I understand what the film was about. It was simply his way of paying tribute to those who have fallen in the name of the revolution. That being said, I can’t, in good conscience, suggest that anyone see this film in the theatre. Wait for it to come out on DVD.