MAX and Poltergeist lead the new releases at Gaisano Mall of Davao this week.
The dog-drama Max opens on June 25, while the horror Poltergeist starts today, June 24.
Two other horror films -- Kruel and Burying the Ex -- also open today, together with kung-fu Die Fighting, modern fairy tale After the Ball, and romantic drama Waves.
MAX
A precision-trained military dog, Max serves on the frontlines in Afghanistan alongside his handler, US Marine Kyle Wincott (Robbie Amell).
But when things go terribly wrong on maneuvers, Kyle is mortally wounded and Max, traumatized by the loss of his best friend, is unable to remain in service.
Shipped stateside, the only human he seems willing to connect with is Kyle's teenage brother, Justin (Josh Wiggins), so Max is adopted by Kyle's family, essentially saving his life. But Justin has issues of his own, such as living up to his father's expectations for him; he isn't interested in taking responsibility for his brother's troubled dog.
However, Max may be Justin's only chance to discover what really happened to his brother that day on the front, and with the help of a tough-talking young teen, Carmen (Mia Xitlali), who has a way with dogs, Justin begins to appreciate his canine companion.
Poltergeist
Legendary filmmaker Sam Raimi ("Spiderman," "Evil Dead", "The Grudge") and director Gil Kenan ("Monster House") contemporize the classic tale about a family whose suburban home is haunted by evil forces. The Bowens, Eric (Sam Rockwell) and Amy (Rosemarie DeWitt), move to a new home in suburbs in the wake of the father's recent firing. The economic tension has the parents on edge, while their kids: teenaged daughter Kendra (Saxon Sharbino), timid middle child Griffin (Kyle Catlett) and five-year-old Madison (Kennedi Clements), cause headaches in the way kids often do.
Practically five minutes after moving into their creaky, bottom dollar home, Maddy is talking to imaginary friends and Griffin is seeing shadows around every corner. When the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and hold the youngest daughter captive, the family must come together to rescue her before she disappears forever.
Die fighting
Die Fighting follows four Shaolin-forged martial artists who have just won the top award at a Film Festival. They immediately set their sights for Hollywood, but from within the shadows emerges a new challenge: the four find themselves in front of the seemingly inescapable eye of a mysterious director who forces them to "act" in his own brutal reality film, with the lives of their loved ones at stake.
Kruel
Jo (Kierney Nelson) is devastated after Elliott (Matthew Weidle), a boy she's nanny for, disappears while she's having a major argument with her ex-boyfriend Ben (Dakota Morrissiey). Now she is sure he was abducted by the creepy local ice-cream man Willie (J.T. Chinn), who frightened the boy to death a couple of days earlier, then hit on her, but everybody else believes Elliott has just ran off and drowned in a nearby river while Jo has neglected her duties. The only one who actually believes her is Ben, the one guy Jo was hoping to never see again since he has cheated on her.
After the ball
After the Ball is a retail fairy tale set in the world of fashion. Kate's (Portia Doubleday) dream is to design for couturier houses. Although she is a bright new talent, Kate can't get a job. No one trusts the daughter of Lee Kassell (Chris Noth), a retail guru who markets clothes "inspired" by the very designers Kate wants to work for. Who wants a spy among the sequins and s...tilettos? Reluctantly, Kate joins the family business where she must navigate around her duplicitous stepmother and two wicked stepsisters.
Burying the Ex
When Max (Anton Yelchin) learns that his new live-in girlfriend, Evelyn (Ashley Greene) is controlling and manipulative, he is afraid to end the relationship. However, fate occurs and Evelyn is killed in a freak accident. A couple months have passed and Max meets his dream girl, Olivia (Alexandra Daddario). The new romance gets tricky when Evelyn comes back from the grave and insists on continuing their once relationship by all means.
Waves
Waves is Frasco's directorial debut, starring Baron Geisler and Ilona Struzik. The film, shot entirely in Palawan and Cebu, is a romantic drama of loneliness and loss ironically set in the backdrop of pristine paradise.
Ross (Geisler) and Sofia (Struzik) are two old friends passionately in love yet life's cultural, geographical, and emotional obstacles get in the way. Despite the intimacy, Ross and Sofia aren't a couple, and they haven't seen each other for some time.
Ross is in rock-bottom state when Sofia flies in the country after ending a modeling contract in Korea. They go on a spontaneous trip to an isolated holiday island only to find themselves rekindling old feelings, but not without some complications.