Written by: Michael Den Boer on November 7th, 2007
Theatrical Release Date: Philippines, 1986
Director: Elwood Perez
Writer: Ricardo Lee
Cast: Maria Isabel Lopez, Sarsi Emmanulle, Mark Joseph, Myra Manibog, Pia Zable
DVD released: November 20th, 2007
Approximate running time: 125 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo Tagalog, Dolby Digital Stereo English
Subtitles: English
DVD Release: Mondo Macabro
Region Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Retail Price: $29.98
Synopsis: In the remote countryside of Llongo women are abused and treated as sex objects by the locale men. In this village lives two distinctively different sisters Tanya a sexual repressed young woman who detests men and her older sister Selda is a sexually promiscuous woman who uses her body to manipulate others. Simon is the most desired male in the village and he has had sex with just about every woman but Tonya who refuses his advances. What will happen when Simon finally awakens the sexual desires that Tonya has for so long repressed?
Silip is not you’re typical sexploitation. The film opens with a gruesome killing of a buffalo and while the killing is done for survival (food supply) it is the way in which the Simon the hunter who kills the animal in an almost primal animalistic fashion. The character Simon figures largely into the plot since he is adored by all the women and all the men wish they where him. One thing that is immediate made apparent with this film is that all the male characters are dominate and if necessary they will assault their women to get what they want.
Being that this film is rooted somewhat in sexploitation like themes like adultery and rape it is no surprise that there are many graphic scenes in which the depiction of sex gets pretty brutal. The towns’ people in the film are all still lost in their backwoods ways and when something goes wrong they are quick to name the culprit and condemn them without a trial. This comes into play later when Tonya and Selda are accused of crimes they didn’t commit and in fact many of their accusers are guiltier then they are.
The scene in the film that is without a doubt the most powerful is when Tonya finally gives herself body and soul over to Simon who screws her like a rag doll. The films two hour plus running time does make for a long evening and yet despite its overlong length the end result is well worth the reward. Ultimately nothing is sacred not even religion in this film as director Elwood Perez manages to create a mesmerizing tell about murder, deceit and carnal lust.
The DVD:
The transfer for Silip looks good but not as spectacular as most Monod Macabro releases. The end result is very good despite the films sedated colors and mild print damage. The source material used for this transfer was the original negative so I doubt this film could look any better then it does on this DVD release from Mondo Macabro. In the audio department we are given the choice of either listening to the film in Tagalog with English subtitles or a very poorly dubbed English track which falls out of sync several times. One thing about the English track despite it lacking in quality and performance it does somehow add some minor moments of unintentional humor.
The DVD is loaded with extras all which can be found on the second disc. Extras consist of cast & crew bios, text pieces about the film and interviews with Director Elwood Perez, actress Maria Isabel Lopez and art director Alfredo Santos. Silip is Mondo Macabro most ambitious and accomplished DVD release to date, highly recommended.