Aswang (1994 film)

A desperate pregnant woman agrees to an odd pact agreeing to play wife and surrogate to a wealthy man living with his mother and sister in their luxurious mansion. He and his mother inexplicably spent many years in the Philippines. Heavily pregnant, the wife is taken to the secluded mansion where, unbeknownst to her, there are plans to feed her unborn child to an aswang, which is a shape-shifting Filipino vampire demon that lives among them through the workings of their Filipino maid, Cupid.. The aswang, which kills and feeds via its seemingly endlessly long, flexible, and strong tongue, nourishes itself on blood, especially that of a pregnant female. The demonic spirit of the aswang has the ability to possess others, which it does with reckless abandon. Many scenes of grotesquely long tongues traveling around the property looking for blood and an entryway into the surrogate's womb can be enjoyed by the viewer. An innocent but scholarly mushroom forager with a refusal to give up similar to Jason Voorhees enters the mix, as does a woman reported to be the family's mentally challenged sister but turning out to perhaps be the heir's wife. There are a number of unfortunate incidents with gardening tools.

Upon its original release reviews by mainstream critics were mixed. TV Guide wrote that "For much of its running time, 'The Unearthing' is a gripping and unsettling journey into fear. Towards the end, however, it abandons its aura of Cronenbergian repulsion, descends into camp, and blunts the impact of its memorably unpleasant build-up".[1]

Film Threat claimed that the uncut release was "completely loaded to the teeth with nerve-wracking suspense, an atmosphere of sheer dread, stomach turning gore and just a dash of black humor. "Aswang" is a very effective and nightmarish film that deserves far more attention than it has garnered over the past 11 years".[2]

• Aswang (1994) at AllMovie
• Aswang at IMDb
• The Unearthing (1994) at Rotten Tomatoes