THE DIPLOMAT HOTEL

Stars: Gretchen Barretto, Arthur Acuna, Mon Confiado, Nico Antonio, Sarah Gaugler and Joel Torre.
Writer/director: Christopher Ad Castillo 

Rating: 3/5

A gripping, tragic opening scene and some chilling, technically proficient scares in a hospital corridor set the stage for a potentially terrifying haunted house yarn in Christopher Ad Castillo’s The Diplomat Hotel.

But the Filipino auteur’s third film takes a muddled slow-paced turn into its second act, relying on some stylish though shallow atmospherics that deny a game cast of the opportunity to more fully define their characters. Castillo was clearly aiming to craft an emotionally resonant narrative within the genre, a la Kubrick’s The Shining, but instead the undeniably talented filmmaker delivers an arty riff on material more closely associated with the Corman/Castle stable (specifically, 1959’s House on Haunted Hill).

The main protagonist is Victoria (a fine Gretchen Barretto), a TV journalist whose career nosedives after a murder/suicide in front of her eyes puts her in a psych ward. Upon release, she pleads for her job back, finally landing the assignment of staying in the decrepit, reputedly haunted dwelling of the title.

Allowing a woman recovering from PTSD trauma this kind of gig first day back is one of the illogical missteps that Castillo’s script occasionally offers up. Along for the ride is Gani (Mon Confiado), the son of cult leader Herman Tau (played in flashback by Joel Torre) who committed horrible acts within the hotel walls; Gani is introduced as a loving family man with a small child, so why he agrees to revisit his bleak pass is never explained.

Veronica’s friend, cameraman Danny (Art Acuña) carries a secret shame surrounding the death of his teenage daughter Heidi (Brooke Chantelle), whose ghostly visage appears to him only to morph mid-embrace into a rotting spectre (recalling Jack Torrance’s encounter in Room 237 in Kubrick’s film). Along for the ride are perky production assistant Anna (Sarah Gaugler) and dope-smoking sound-guy Jake (Nico Antonio), characters who have their moments but both prove to be horror fodder.

Thematically, the film addresses the ghosts that haunt us all and the corrosive nature of memory and guilt left unchecked. As the group wander the deserted hallways, they become lost and disoriented; the building clearly represents the endless downward spiral into madness and depression our characters are trapped within. Castillo sets up the psychological underpinnings of his story with skill, but frustratingly little is ever explored. Ultimately, the film delivers suitable scares staged with consummate skill but falls short of transcending its genre trappings as the early promise suggests it might.

After its recent screening at the Cinemalaya Film Festival, The Diplomat Hotel is positioned well for its domestic debut this week. Adding to the sense of anticipation surrounding Castillo’s work is the publicity-friendly fact that the film’s location is the real-world haunted relic famous in his homeland and that the writer/director is the son of one of the region’s most revered filmmakers, the late Celso Ad Castillo (to whom the film is dedicated and who shot 1987’s The Mystery of the Dove, co-starring his son, on the same site).