The symbolic biologies of the aswang

• Main Author: Dela Pena, Monique
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: Horror films > Philippines > History and criticism; Horror; Tales > Philippines; Fiction
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/2519
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study looks into the imagery or symbolic biologies of the aswang in five Filipino films: Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes Halik ng Vampira (1997), Erik Mattis Exodus: Tales from the Enchanted Kingdim (2005), Topel Lees Dilim (2005), Richard Somes Yanggaw (2008), and Tony Reyess Ang Darling Kong Aswang (2009). By applying Noel Carrolls ideas of the symbolic biologies of horrific creatures from his critical essay Nightmare and the Horror Film, this study aims to examine how the aswang is either reinvented or deviated from the myth. The study also adopts Carrolls ideas of the kinds of symbolic structures of the monster and plot structures of the film to determine whether the aswang characters analyzed could be classified and whether the film follows a plot structure. Based on the studies findings, Vanessa the vampire that seduces men in the romance-horror Halik ng Vampira embodies an imagery of oral aggression. Dilim the viscera sucker that kills criminals in the anti-hero fantasy film Dilim incarnates an imagery of destructive aggression and moods of guilt and shame. Bangkila the aswang that is said to be the cruelest creature in the sci-fi and fantasy film Exodus reflects destructiveness in her futuristic appearance. Amor whose affliction turns her into an aswang in the horror film Yanggaw brings out an imagery of the fear loss of self-control. All of these characters are fusion figures, whereas Eliza and the other weredog characters that embody repression and aggressiveness in the comedy film Ang Darling Kong Aswang are fission figures. With regard to the plot structure, only Yanggaw follows the Discovery Plot while the other films do not because of the genre each film follows.