MANILA, Philippines -- The recent ?horror anthology? film ?Cinco? fields five relatively new directors? idiosyncratic takes on the macabre. It features a veritable smorgasbord (or turo-turo) of young leads in weird situations calculated to elicit shrieks, bleats and screams from easily terrified viewers.

The shrieks do ring out constantly, but as the movie?s episodes sequentially unspool, we realize that little more than just freaky fluff can be expected from this production. Cinematic popcorn isn?t so bad, but if the movie-makers aspire to more than that, it isn?t so good, either.

After ticking off the film?s plus and minus points, we?ve come to the conclusion that its best suit is the occasionally novel and breezily energetic way of updating the old, cold horror film format, with its focus on generally young characters.

This combination of new directors and young stars makes ?Cinco? viewer-specific, with a focus on adolescent and teen viewers ?hopefully of the barkada sort, for maximum profit at the box office.

On the other hand, we must note that this relative freshness and energy are quickly depleted and subverted in some episodes by lack of plot and character development, mainly due to insufficient screen time.

Thus do the movie?s various stories end up ?competing? against each other, instead of working together towards a common goal.

To clutter up the screen picture even more, some episodes are given more screen time than the others, so they benefit while the others ?suffer.?

Well, that?s how this cinematic cookie crumbles, so the stories and filmmakers left with relative crumbs just have to roll with the punches. Some film people are simply better-connected, that?s all there is to it?and, welcome to the club sandwich, or the sandwich club, as the case may be.

If we?re getting our frames of reference all mixed up, blame it in part on the smorgasbord nature of this movie?s proceedings. ?Anthology? movies sometimes work when the stories are done in three?s, but five in one fell swoop is two too much?and five into one won?t go.

Looking back on the five bits and pieces that make up ?Cinco,? therefore, we?re hard-pressed to cite the best director and lead performer. This isn?t a cop-out, simply confusion caused by the excessively sharded nature of the compilation.

Well, what about the worst? That?s more doable: One of the least focused portrayals is turned in by Mariel Rodriguez, who makes a strangely dull and listless lead player in the anthology?s most self-consciously artsy story.

Why is Mariel?s performance off-putting? Perhaps part of the problem is the fact that she?s cast as a nasty, young executive. The ?nasty? part, she can do with both eyes closed, and she?s still relatively young, so that?s okay, too. The big problem is her utter lack of believability as an executive.

That being the desultory case, this monumental bit of miscasting robs the episode of truth?and Mariel?s dismal non-portrayal cements the story?s cinematic corpse beyond all hope of exhumation.