DOTA: Nakakabaliw (lost Filipino drama film about video game addiction; 2014)
Theatrical release poster for the film.
Status: Lost
DOTA: Nakakabaliw (lit. DOTA Drives You Crazy) is a 2014 Filipino independent drama film directed by Dyzal M. Damun and produced by Manchester Talent Productions (also doing business as MMTP Talent Productions), starring amateur teen actors James Matthew, Joyce Ching and comedienne Whitney Tyson (erroneously billed as "Whitney Tyzon")[1] alongside an amateur supporting cast.[2]
Premise
As the name suggests, the film decries the supposed dangers of online video games, particularly the multiplayer online battle arena Defense of the Ancients which gained popularity in the Philippines in the 2010s, and revolves around the melodramatic events that ensue when high school students become obsessed with playing DotA to the point of skipping school—and be mired in delinquency and eventual insanity. The film apparently saw a limited theatrical release in the province of Cavite where the Manchester film studio is based.
Reception
The film gained some minor notoriety in its native country and was widely ridiculed in Filipino internet circles both for its absurd and moralistic premise as well as its highly amateurish production values,[3][4] especially considering its theatrical release.[5]
Of particular note was the poorly edited poster, with hastily cut out pictures of the lead actors apparently pulled from their social media profiles and a badly cropped screenshot of DotA in the background. Some netizens compared it unfavourably to the 1936 American exploitation film Reefer Madness, which was initially released as a social guidance film portraying the purported horrors of recreational cannabis but later gained a cult following as a campy exploitation movie, while others—in a textbook example of Poe's law—half-jokingly wondered if this was an (overblown) high school class project or a purposely bad satirical comedy;[3] the film's director, Dyzal M. Damun, also helmed a few other low-budget action and exploitation films with similarly poor production values.[6]
Availability
Despite its relatively recent release, only a trailer and a theatrical release poster of the film are known to exist as the full movie remains lost,[7] though it is also noted that the trailer itself inexplicably summed up the entirety of the film including the ending.
Gallery
Trailer
Images
Photo of the film's cast posing in front of an alternate poster for the film
References
- ↑ IMDB entry Retrieved 23 Jun '24
- ↑ Philippine Daily Inquirer article Retrieved 23 Jun '24
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 DotA: Nakakabaliw – Where do I even begin? Retrieved 23 Jun '24
- ↑ cursed ph movies: dota nakakabaliw Retrieved 23 Jun '24
- ↑ Locally-Made “DotA: Nakakabaliw” Is One Of The Worst Movies We Hope We Never See Retrieved 23 Jun '24
- ↑ Dyzal M. Damun Retrieved 23 Jun '24
- ↑ LOST FILMS of the PHILIPPINES (VOL. 2) Retrieved 23 Jun '24