100 Reasons Why I Love The Philippines (In No Particular Order) Part One

100 REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES #1: Howdy Pilgrims! Daniel Palisa and I outside the ruins of the Diplomat Hotel in mountainous Baguio, scene of the ultimate nuns-with-machine-guns battle in They Call Her Cleopatra Wong (1978). It was originally a Dominican monastery in the 1800s before it was a hotel, then taken over by a Faith movement, and has been in ruins for over 20 years. And there it was, after a 20 minute drive uphill: the convent from Cleopatra Wong. Scanning the mouldering rooftops, my head was filled with visions of Bobby's moustache-clad nuns falling to their deaths in slow motion. I'm sure, somewhere amidst the slime-covered fountains and bombed-out rooms there's a metaphor for the Philippines film industry somewhere...

100 REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES #2: Cebu. Man I love that place. We stayed at a fantastic backpackers called Kukuk's Nest (actually more like an artist's retreat) for two days with our incredible host Maria Victoria Beltran and her zombie-filmmaker progeny Ivan Zaldarriaga, ate and drank like kings, dropped anchor off an island and lazed in pith helmet on the crystal-clear sea, tore through the Church of Santo Nino, and managed to squeeze in a "Bamboo Gods" talk at the University of San Carlos courtesy of the VERY generous and welcoming head of cinema studies Misha Anissimov. Here's what remained of the USC film geeks...thank you Cebu!!!

100 REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES #3: The desert in Ilocos Norte. The north-west part of Luzon island, twelve hours drive from Manila, is the last place you'd expect sand dunes, and that's what makes the Philippines' terrain so adaptable for movies. Cirio Santiago shot most of his post-apocalypse films nearby, and here at Fort Ilocandia - looking a little greener than usual thanks to the recent typhoon - Jim Gaines Jr shows me where Teddy Chiu shot him and Cynthia Khan in the futuristic kickboxing "epic" ETERNAL FIST/FIST OF STEEL (1992). This shot was taken just one minute before we received the phone call: "Madame Imelda is waiting for you..."

100 REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES #4: Cecille Baun, the Godmother of Gore and Queen of Special Effects. This humble and generous lady, pictured in her workshop with me and Daniel Palisa and one of her many burnt rubber babies, revolutionized the way effects were created for the local film industry way back in the early Seventies, then went on to such diverse projects as Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Hamburger Hill (for which she was nominated for an Academy Award), Shake Rattle And Roll, the Darna series, Raw Force, and John Sayle's recent Amigo. Needless to say, Dani and I completely ran amok in her toystore!!

100 REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES #5: Dolphy. The Pinoy King of Comedy passed away July 10th after seven decades in show business; here's a photo of a screening of his parody film James Batman (1966) - in which Dolphy plays James Bond AND Batman, and often in the same shot! - we did two days later in an artists' space in Baguio. I had the honour of meeting and interviewing Dolphy back in 2007, and having watching around fifty of his films I understood the enormous outpouring of emotion at his passing; as if an precious part of the Philippines' collective consciousness has departed this world forever. Screening James Batman that night was a raw, bittersweet experience, but made that much richer by sharing it with the crazed rice wine-swilling, bongo-bopping Baguio crowd (thanks Uber Alles!). RIP Dolphy.

100 REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES #6: House parties at Richard Somes'. We bring a shopping bag full of Tanduay rum and mixer, Richard cooks up half a caribou, the horror directors come on over with the old Goons, and twelve hour later... Somes (in white t-shirt) is one of the most interesting genre directors currently working in the Philippines, his latest aswang film Corazon making a killing at the local box office; Maria Rico Ilarde (second from right) is also a veteran horror guy, currently completing a Regal film about a killer fridge (!!), while Ato Bautista (right) is the more avant-garde of the three - see his genre-bending Carnivore and The Night Infinite. Daniel Palisa and I are flanked by veteran B actors - and Apocalypse Now extras! - Jim Gaines Jr (left) and Don Gordon Bell (front). Mabuhay!

100 REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES #6: Wallpaper. Specifically, the wallpaper in the home of Celso Ad Castillo, one the of the greatest ever filmmakers the Philippines has ever produced - Burlesk Queen (1977) with Vilma Santos, the horror classics Kill Barbara With Panic (1974) and Maligno (1978), iconic adult films Isla (1984) with Maria Isabel Lopez and the Soft Drink Beauties' Snake Sisters (1984), and that's just a hint at an extraordinary career. Daniel Palisa and I did the pilgrimage to his family house in Laguna, just over three hours drive from Manila, and for the next six hours drank rum and brandy, and talked about movies and laughed and plotted a collaboration. Keep watching this space...

100 REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES #7: Guns. It's a gun-happy culture. Even the signs at the Manila Zoo say "Please leave your handguns at the counter". So OF COURSE you're going to find a shooting range in the sub-basement of the Makati Square trip mall. There were .45s, 9mms, a .22 (pictured) that pierced armour and went off like a landmine, and a pump action shotgun that screamed "F*ck you!!!" every time you discharged an empty shell. And yes, I am still vegan.

100 REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES #8: Jeepneys. Those garishly-decorated reconditioned troop carriers that clog up roads and cost less than twenty cents a trip. Cel was our driver from Laoag Airport and he agreed to be our driver for the two days in Ilocos Norte; in return he received twice his regular wage plus he came to Imelda Marcos' birthday party with us. Believe me, there's nothing classier than turning up to the Marcos mansion in a jeepney!

100 REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES #9: The Kids. These are the remains of UP Diliman's ISA (Interdependent Student-Centred Activism) organization after a three hour lecture and DVD compilation of Pinoy B films, one of four campus talks I did last visit. Watching the kids lose their minds over the collected works of Weng Weng, Bobby A. Suarez and Cirio H. Santiago is a subversive joy unto itself and makes for a loose, fun, carnival-like atmosphere inside those hallowed halls of learning. Thank you Marko Yambao for inviting me, and hope to see you guys soon!

100 REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES #10: Contrabidas, or screen villains. If you were making an action film in the Philippines, you too would cast veteran actor with 25 years of films under his black belt and gold medalist in Tae Kwon Do Monsour del Rosario, pictured here in his Makati City Hall office with me and Daniel Palisa, as your contrabida. Picture this: we've just handed him our script, we get the thumbs-up, and to seal the deal we head down to the police shooting range in City Hall's basement to blast away on his custom-made 45. Even by non-Tae Kwon Do standards, pure Gold.

Crossbone Territory (1985)

1985 - Crossbone Territory (JPM Productions)

[Project started by Tessie Monteverde - daughter of Regal Films' Mother Lily - in 1983, filmed and released around 1985; released on Japanese VHS as “Omega Commando”, in West Germany as "Special Force U.S.A.", in Argentina as "Eliminator", and in Brazil as "Território de Sangue"]

Director Danilo Cabreira Story Rodolfo Dabao Screenplay Don Gordon Bell, Paul Vance [Nick Nicholson worked on the first draft] Producer Jovita P. Monteverde Executive Producer Teresita G. Monteverde Cinematography Vic Anao Music Lutgardo Abad Editor Jose Joe Solo Sound Effects Danny Sanchez Assistant Editors Dante Nava, Tony Acurin Project Co-Ordinator Manolo Maglaya Production Manager Minda Maglaya Assistant Production Manager Nita Co Jim Production Secretary Norma Tang Production Assistant Elena Ching Technical Advisor Don Gordon Bell Animation/Titles Charlie Jaleco Art Director Aurthur Nicdao Set Director Donnie Gonzales Assistant Set Director Waldo Masconi 1st Unit Cameraman Roger Estrada 2nd Unit Cameraman Alfonso Anao Assistant Cameraman Danny Subiaga Stillman Willy Anao 1st Assistant Director Roger Rivero 2nd Assistant Director Totoy Garcia, Johnny Capistrano Makeup Artist Ricardo Villamin Assistant Makeup Artist Choleng Mauricio Prosthetics/Special Makeup Cecille Baun Special Effects/Property Apolonio Abadeza Wardrobe Master Manny Espoloy Assistant Wardrobe Rafael Cui Military Liason Aurthur Bandril Stunt Groups Tanay Stuntmen, Perdiz Stuntmen, Tiger Stuntmen, SOS Stuntmen

JPM Unit Assistant Cameraman Basilio Boy Anao Field Soundman Fred Montesinos Electrician Catcho Lopez Clapper Danny Cabornay Assistant Clapper Gerry Laluan Boom Man Romano Anao Grips Andy Estrada, Jose Rory Anao

Cast Michael James (Captain John Gabriel), Don Gordon Bell (Sargeant Evans), Rex Lapid (Chief Y Bang), Paul Vance (Sargeant Smitty), Willy Williams (Sargeant Washington), Peter Barker (Lieutenant Johnson), Gabby Ferro (Sargeant Mallory), Michael Kruze (Lieutenant Epstein), Mike Cohen (Brigadier General Brown), Doc McCoy (Msgt. “Top” McCoy), Philip Gamboa (NVA Colonel), Den Montero (VC Major), Glenda Areneta (Wife of Captain Gabriel), Totoy Garcia (High Priest), Joe de Guia (Aide of NVA Captain), Mike Neylan (POW), Brent Muller (Helicopter Pilot) Montagnards Vic Santos, Carlos David, Jay Grama, Fred Quidlat, Greg Sta. Ines, Chock Agustin, Rene Nival  

Mini-review by Andrew Leavold:

From Filipino company JPM Productions, the brainchild of Tessie Monteverde – as in daughter of Regal Films’ Mother Lily – comes an attempt to enter the export market via the well-trodden Ho Chi Minh Trail. Its bare-bones narrative charts a cross-border mission led by Captain Gabriel (Searchers Of The Voodoo Mountain’s Michael James) into VC-infected Laos to destroy a radar station, and the long march back to base camp through countless ambushes and bamboo traps while being pursued by a tenacious NVA Colonel (Philip Gamboa). Some negatives, like the same loop of native fucking flutes (!!!), are outweighed by the positives: an abominably high body count, beheadings, a belt of sliced ears, exploding limbs, and a tree groaning under the weight of its severed heads, all courtesy of the Philippines’ Godmother of Gore, Cecille Baun. This emphasis on brutal realism is hammered home by the presence of real world Marine Don Gordon Bell, playing Sgt Evans as well as co-writing and acting as “Technical Supervisor”, and ex-Navy Willy Williams as the jive-talking, Stones-listening Sgt Washington. Rounding out the team are Dutch-born Paul Vance (co-writer with Bell and “Bugsy” Dabao, and also in JPM’s bizarre 1984 post-apocalyptic Mad Warrior/Clash Of The Warlords) and Rex (brother of Lito) Lapid as leader of the Montagnards, cutting an impressively heroic figure throughout with a machine gun welded to his hand. In final analysis, director Cabreira seems a lot more comfortable with action scenes than dialogue, so it comes as a relief there are very few moments where M16s AREN’T chewing the living cud out of the Philippines’ jungles. See the entire movie here.

Nick Nicholson: Crossbone Territory was with Tessie Monteverde of JPM Productions. Bugsy Dabao, Paul Vance and I wrote the script, but we were stuck with Cinex on Firebird Conspiracy. This was back in 1983 and Don had just finished Stryker with Cirio and was brought into the project and ended up rewriting the script (which was terrible, since we were writing at Bugsy's brother, Vic Dabao's home in Santa Ana on Hollywood Street (of all places). LOL At the time Don was sharing an apartment with Michael James in Ermita, and even had a Burger and Chili Stand in front of Walt's "Cathouse" in Makati... After those projects were done we worked together on Kings Ransom aka The Destroyers with Cirio.

Don Gordon Bell: Tessie Monteverde of JPM Productions. I do remember that Bugsy asked me to work on changes on the script because you were on the EPIC Firebird Conspiracy that took FOREVER to finish. We did use REAL RATS caught from the hotel of a certain producer, I will not name...in the scene with Aussie Mike. He had the balls to let five rats lick "movie blood" Karo pancake syrup with #5 Red dye. Poor rats died from the red dye. The two girls that worked at the Burger and Chili stand took it over and did quite well, according to the Man himself, Nigel Hogge.

Yes, Paul and I worked on the screenplay together, with Bugsy Dabao. We were almost locked up in the hotel of Mr. Lim night and day for three weeks. During the day we worked on everything like uniforms, web gear, military supplies, insignia, props for both Viet Cong, North Vietnamese Army, Green Beret 'over the fence' or Special Observations Group team members.

Bugsy taught us the how to figure the Production Breakdown of sequences and requirements for Daily Shooting Schedule, based on Sequences/set locations/Day or Night/special requirements, etc.

At night we would pound out the scenes with me manning the Corona manual typewriter. I went through three ribbons and many revisions. Actual shooting was done in under 7 weeks start to finish. Later I helped out on the rough cut with the director. It was a good film for the price Mr. Lim paid, AND we even convinced him to have "Smokeless" Squibs on the BODY HITS. That was progress.