Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

PA-SIYAM is another lame Filipino ghost story that fails to do the job properly. It was supposedly the first Filipino film to be shot in high definition, but it looks as cheap and tacky as the rest I've watched. The set-up isn't too bad at all, another stab at the 'old dark house' genre in which a woman's death leads to her children assembling at her home, a gloomy, rambling old pile, to observe pa-siyam, the nine days of prayer following death. They discover a malignant spirit instead. There are one or two gory scenes but this is mostly static and slowly-paced, with too much trite dialogue bogging it down.

The scares are repetitive, not because the filmmakers ran out of tricks to dish out, but because they are coming from a nagging ghost-mom, trying to make her children aware of their wrongdoing. At first, it's just a few pieces of poo, a puddle of urine, a pack of Pancit Canton. The next time, it's a bucketful of poo, overflowing urine, and more Pancit Canton to feed a squatter colony. She's obviously nagging them, but the children are headstrong on their innocence, insisting that they're guilt-free of their mom's suffering.

Pa-Siyam is a truly rare Filipino horror film that can compare well to the other well known and copied Asian horror counterparts. While many horror films copy the usual Ringu, Ju-On, and Dark Water trio, Pa-Siyam draws upon local superstition as a source. The film builds up the tension and atmosphere to deliver scares that are not cheap. Special kudos to Paulate who is tremendous and is able to break out of the usual fare he was involved in. The rest of the cast did good as well. Despite the small budget, the film delivers the goods in a more efficient and effective manner than some of the bland and big budget copies of successful horror trends. Note, I didn't use the subtitle so I can't comment on it.

I was just expecting some average horror film that would come out in my monitor. But as I had the video rolling it had hooked me in a very fashionable and stylized movie; a rare feat for most of the Filipino directors we have in this movie industry. These movie as I can consider is a neo-classical gem of a movie. I have watched many horror movies both foreign and local. But honestly I didn't like most of the local movies especially Sukob (which I find at the least boring), and Feng Shui, with the clichéd long black-hair-covered-faced-woman. But this movie can stand on it's own.The story starts at the wake of the main character's mother. He (Roderick Paulate)had decided with his 4 siblings that they should stay for their mother's Pasiyam. But during the Pasiyam rites they start experiencing horrid manifestations that occur while they are asleep. With the help of the strange lady they uncovered the truth on what really is happening.The movie is dark, and entertaining. It really got me smiling at the ending. Though I was sad about Ruth (I found Aubrey cute for the first time). A nice film to add in the pantheon of Asian movies. A must see.