ngelica Panganiban has reached the stage where she's not supposed to feel squeamish about love scenes anymore.

The first time she played a rebel daughter in Santa Santita, Angelica didn't know what to expect. She felt ready for the daring new dimension in her career, but was tentative about playing it.

Today, however, times have changed. Angelica is more confident about crossing the line that separates the wholesome from the daring. At 21 and of age, she's entitled to it.

As flight stewardess Karyn Torres who falls for businessman Ian Montes (Aga Muhlach) in Star Cinema's upcoming film, A Love Story, she does a couple of love scenes with her leading man. But she doesn't spend sleepless nights worrying about its effect on moviegoers.

All Angelica knows is that she has a competent director in Maryo J. delos Reyes; respected co-stars in Aga and Maricel Soriano (as a doctor who finds love again). No way will the movie exploit Angelica's to-die for body just for the heck of it.

So she meekly submitted to a love scene by the swimming pool which Aga and Angelica shot from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The weather was oh-so-cold at that time. Her sexy body, clad only in a bikini, quivered, not so much from the close encounter with Aga, but from the drop in temperature. To top it all, the area where the scene was shot gave Aga and Angelica little room to move around.

But there was a job to be done. So Angelica closed her eyes, forgot all about the discomfort around her and did it.

Mission accomplished, she got home after sunrise the next day.

“Yes, I felt nervous,” she admits. But with all the cameras focused on you, you just have to go ahead and do it.

Boyfriend of eight months Derek Ramsey would ask her how the kissing scene went. But he doesn't raise a fuss. He's also in showbiz and knows it's just part of Angelica's job. In fact, he should even expect these kinds of scenes from time to time. So he doesn't get in the way.

Besides, Derek has no reason to feel jealous. Angelica is on Cloud Nine when her hunk of a boyfriend becomes the topic conversation.

“We see each other daily,” she admits. “He's fond of surprises. Time flies whenever he's around.”

Angelica has learned a couple of sports from her athletic boyfriend. He has taught her how to play frisbee (he's now nursing a knee injury after playing the game in Brazil ). She and Derek also bond in the golf course.

The guy, nine years her senior, is ultra-sensitive to Angelica's feelings about the way he plays frisbee.

“He apologizes when his team doesn't win because he thinks I'll get disappointed,” Angelica reports.

It's still too early to tell if the relationship is serious enough to end up in the altar. They'd rather take things one step at a time. They're enjoying each other's company and that's good enough for now.

Suffice it to say that Angelica is happy. She and Derek count each month that passes by since they first met as their anniversary. And they celebrate with a quiet dinner in a restaurant whose name Angelica refuses to divulge.

Suffice it to say too, that Angelica's protective mom has yet to complain about how Derek treats her only child.

Now all we have to do is sit back and relax. Angelica Panganiban is having the time of her life.

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So you want to get a good scare?

Topel Lee started as a short filmmaker and in December 2006, he eventually got into mainstream cinema via one of the episodes — Yaya — in Shake, Rattle & Roll.

Yaya was impressive — about a nanny literally from hell because she turned out to be an aswang (played by Iza Calzado). It had a lot of scenes that were truly scary and it helped that the actors playing the principal characters turned in excellent performances: Calzado and child star Nash Aguas, who played her ward.

Now that Lee has finally made his first full-length movie — Ouija — it doesn't come as a surprise at all that the film product he churned out is way above average and was, in fact, graded A by the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB).

Partly set in beautiful Camiguin, Ouija traces the misfortunes that trail half sisters Judy Ann Santos and Jolina Magdangal and their cousins Iza and Rhian Ramos after playing spirit of the glass and accidentally destroying the ouija board in the process. Terror hounds them from then on as they battle an evil spirit that tries to annihilate them and succeeds in killing a whole lot of the people associated with these women.

Like most local horror films we have today, Ouija also derives inspiration from foreign scream flicks. In fact, with the young girl there haunting the characters, Ouija in some parts is like The Grudge Goes to Camiguin. But in spite of these derivative scenes, there is a whole lot to appreciate about Ouija.

The film has a good narrative to begin with and is careful about not leaving loopholes along the way of its storytellling. Fleshing out the lead characters in the film are four of the most glamorous women in Philippine entertainment, who prove in Ouija that they are not just pretty faces, but endowed with acting skills as well.

Ouija may not be a drama movie, but it has some dramatic points that utilize the great acting talent of Judy Ann. She may not look sad here all the time, but moviegoers at least get to see her acting scared. And you know what? She's also good at looking frightened. This only proves that an actor/actress, if he/she is really talented would excel anywhere you put him/her. Judy Ann is one of the few in the acting profession who can do this.

On the technical side, Ouija scores very high points once more, especially with the music and cinematography that make the film the glossiest local horror movie ever made. (The underwater scenes showing the sunken cemetery are spectacular and breathtaking.) The production design, however, is a little problematic because the supposed ancestral home of the grandmother, Anita Linda, apparently was embellished with fancy antique reproductions that obviously were smoked just yesterday to look old.

Ouija is also a winner when it comes to fright scenes, which is the most crucial because this is a horror film. For those who easily get scared, there are scenes here that you may have to see through your five fingers. It actually helps that the special effects are seamless.

Ouija in its narrative also imparts some lessons in life — especially about treading into the realm of the unknown (the women in the story not knowing what they were getting into when they played spirit of the glass). But this much you should know: If you want a good scare, Ouija is definitely the horror flick for you.

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