Andrés Centenera

Andrés Centenera (also known as Andy Centenera or Col. Andres Centenera; born 1914 in Goa, Camarines Sur, Philippines, died before 1983) was a prominent Filipino character actor and licensed boxing referee. His parents were Doña Rita Garchitorena and Don Candido Garcia Centenera, and his grandfather was Don Andres Garchitorena, revolutionary leader and Governor of Ambos Camarines. He is the uncle of Filipino singer Rafael Centenera. 

Centenera started his career with roles in prewar films such as Teniente Rosario (1937) and Sampaguita Pictures productions like Alipin Ng Palad (1938) and Dahong Lagas (1938). He was also in Genghis Khan (1950), Kahariang Bato (1956), Noli Me Tángere (1961), and Banaue (1975). He frequently featured as a character and bit-player in classic films by directors like Eddie Romero and Gerry de Leon, as well as historical dramas by LVN Pictures.

As Arcadio in Brides Of Blood (dirs. Gerardo de Leon & Eddie Romero, 1966) 

As the blind former bandit in The Beast Of The Yellow Night (dir. Eddie Romero, 1971)

Uncredited as a vising dignitary in Women In Cages/Playpen (dir. Gerry de Leon, 1971)

In the background as human experiment Manuel in The Twilight People (dir. Eddie Romero, 1972) 

Uncredited as boat owner Leonardo in Black Mama White Mama (dir. Eddie Romero, 1972)

Credited as "Andy Centenera" as the old man on Manuel's island in Beyond Atlantis (dir. Eddie Romero, 1973)  

Uncredited as the Police Chief in TNT Jackson (dir. Cirio H. Santiago, 1974)

Uncredited as the Old Holy Man in Magic Curse (1975)

Lauro Flores

Lauro Flores (born Teofilo Flores on March 5th 1943), is a versatile and prolific Filipino actor, stunt coordinator, fight instructor, and assistant director best known for his foundational work in Philippine action cinema. Specializing in high-intensity action choreography, he has carved out a distinct career spanning several decades—frequently alternating between on-screen roles and crucial behind-the-scenes leadership.

Flores became a prominent fixture in Filipino action movies, particularly throughout the late 1970s, 1990s, and early 2000s. He gained a reputation within the industry as a specialized daredevil capable of complex stunts, including precision car stunts.

Beyond his work as a stuntman, Flores expanded his expertise into serving as a fight instructor, fight director, and assistant or associate director for both televised movies and major action features. His contributions helped shape the choreography of local action cinema, ensuring safety and impact on set.

Flores's extensive credits span decades of local and international productions. He began appearing in action films such as Phandora (1977), Alfredo Lim (1977), Gameng (1977), Iligpit Si Pretty Boy (1977), and Sgt. Dalanon (1977). He also contributed uncredited stunt work as a cop in the international production Too Hot To Handle (1977). He is widely recognized for his roles and stunt coordination in Saigon Commandos (1988), Bala Sa Bala (1900), and Hindi Sisiw Ang Kalaban Mo (2001).

Throughout the mid-to-late 1990s, Flores kept a busy schedule appearing in TV movies and feature films, including Batas Ang Katapat Mo (1995), Bunso: Isinilang Kang Palaban! (1995), Terrorist Hunter (2005), and Boy Chico: Hulihin Si Ben Tumbling (1997).

Transitioning into more administrative creative roles later in his career, he served as an assistant director for production companies, with recent credits including the film Security Academy (2022).

Uncredited as one of the bar goons in Magic Curse (dirs. Tommy Loo-Chun and To Man Po, 1975)

Uncredited as a cop in Too Hot To Handle (dir. Don Schain, 1977)

Devlin's goon in Devil's Angels/Pay Or Die (dir. Bobby A. Suarez, 1979/81) 

Uncredited as a turbaned assassin in For Y'ur Height Only (dir. Eddie Nicart, 1981)

Uncredited in American Commandos/Hitman (dir. Bobby A. Suarez, 1985)

Magic Curse (1975)

1975 - Magic Curse (Filmline Enterprises/ACG [Antonio C. Go] Productions/Jowell Films*)

[A Filipino/Hong Kong co-production filmed in the Philippines, with possible South Korean involvement, released between 1975 and 1977, local title "Nangyari Sa Kagubatan"/"Happening In The Jungle"; Philippines release date 20th April 1979]

EXPORT CREDITS Directors/Screenplay “Tommy Loo-Chun”/Chin-Ku Lu, "To Man Po"/Lee Tso Nam [Hong Kong Movie Database also lists Kwon Young Soon (Korean spelling “Gwon Yeong-Sun”) as co-director] Producer Chang Tsung Lung Music Wong Chu Yen Editor Yu Sheung Makeup Artist Mok Wai Hong Production Manager Peter Chen Lau Production Supervisor Wong Chen Yen Assistant Director Cho Kin Martial Arts Perter Chan Lau Lighting Technician Lau Piu Chung Camera Operator Simmy Wong

Cast Jason Pai Piao (Lin Wen Ying), Pinky de Leon (Filona), Peter Chen Lau (Abdullah's Henchman), Tan Chia Bee, Mong Hu (Abdullah's Henchman), Woung Eune En/Woung Eune Hi/Angela Wang En-Chi (Suzie), Nam Soon Joung/Su-Jung Nam (Daisy Chen), Hwang Kun ChiHwang Keon (Abdullah's Henchman), Choi Mu Ung (Police Inspector), Roger Cooquia, Vic Silayan (Attorney Vivencio P. Angeles), Philip Coo, [uncredited] Andres Centenera (Old Holy Man), Lauro Flores (Would-Be Rapist), Max Rojo (Tribal Executioner)

LOCAL CREDITS Director Tommy Loo Chun Writer Antonio C. Go Cinematography Jimmy K.N. Wong Associate Director Alex Sunga Technical Adviser Jesse Ejercito

Cast Pinky de Leon, Tan Chia Bee, Jason Pai Piau, Vic Silayan, Philip Coo, Andres Centenera, Max Rojo, Girlie Radar, Manolo Martinez, Mary Diaz, Janet Herrera, Sauro Cotoco, Tanay Boys

HORROR/FANTASY/KUNG FU

*Kim Yong Lim’s Kinavesa Productions is listed on the Hong Kong poster, suggesting his involvement at some stage either production or distribution; his first two productions in 1975 also involve Hong Kong producers, and his second film Mahiwagang Kris/The Fantastic Sword was also co-directed by South Korean director Kwon Young Soon.

The project began around 1974 as "Valley Of Evil", according to the proposed production and character list submitted to the Philippines' Board of Censors as a co-venture between Hong Kong's Filmline Enterprises and Filipino-Chinese producer Antonio C. Go, who also co-produced 1974's The Black Dragon/Thunder Blow/Super Dragon. At this stage the writer is listed as Philip Coo, who starred in The Black Dragon and later acted in Magic Curse. Note the list of character names bears no relation to the finished film. 

From IMDB: Intercontinental were the quintessential late 70's exploitation film distributors. Their bread and butter lay in cheap Spaghetti Westerns, Kung-Fu movies and sex items like Tokyo Emanuelle, The Sexorcist and the much banned Seven Women For Satan. Released early 1977, The Magic Curse is the most out of control movie to bear the Intercontinental mark. In classic Wardour Street fashion it was sold mainly on the sex angle, the poster illustrating the film's shower and nude bathing sequences and the X certificate on display. What then was an audience to make of this mad mix of horror, jungle adventure and Kung-Fu film with mysticism and a sound-track shamelessly borrowed from Hammer movies thrown in for good measure!!! 

Jason Pai Piau stars as Man-Ying a ten pin bowling playing playboy, whose rich Uncle has crashed his plane in the Borneo Jungle, quick to come to his relatives aid Man-Ying heads out on the next plane trip to Borneo. A few steps into the green inferno and Man-Ying and his less than enthusiastic guides find themselves in a leper colony! Only these `lepers' look more like a bunch of hungover rockabilly singers and practice cannibalism! Confused? it appears that Abdullah the high priest of the jungle's snake tribe cult has a habit of using his black magic on anyone who gets in his way, which goes a long way to explaining why most of the jungle population are gut sucking blue-faced lepers. This Abdullah's a real card all right, cackling like a true lunatic behind his giant white beard and levitating skulls to impress his pals `high priest you're great'. After asking one too many questions Man-Ying is beaten, shot with an arrow and left for dead, only to be saved by a bunch of passing Amazon Women! These Amazons look quite a sight, wearing plastic horns and minimal leopard skins, they turn out to be the other faction of Abdullah's snake tribe, the cult being sexually segregated. In fact the only time the two sides in this battle of the sexes seem to get along is when they are messily sacrificing nubile virgins to the Snake God. But whereas Abdullah and his thugs use their black magic to raise hell, the female Amazons lead by Fleoha (the wonderfully named Pinky De Leon) prefer calmer hobbies like frolicking naked in a pool. One look at his moustached mug and Fleoha soon falls head over heels for Man-Ying's rugged charms, however the sexually frustrated Abdullah tries to put a stop to the romance threatening to stick pins into an effigy of Man-Ying unless he gets out of town. As a parting gesture Fleona bites our adventurer on his lip, no she's not just being kinky she's placed the titular curse on him, whose rules dictate that if Man-Ying has sex with anyone else but her they will die `and very horribly too'. 

Suddenly we're abruptly back to civilization and the film transforms into a Sex and Kung-Fu movie right in front of your eyes!!! Far from heeding her warnings of celibacy Man-Ying hits the chic disco's of Hong Kong like some demented bunny, no woman is safe. Then again what gal worth her weight in blue eye-shadow could resist Man-Ying's fashion sense which suggests that he stopped by Carnaby Street between plane rides from Hong Kong and Borneo. His understandably confused one night stands end up on the receiving end of The Magic Curse, that entails snakes terrorising them until they suffer coronaries. Its not all bad luck though, when Man- Ying gets into a fight with a tough street gang to their disbelief he turns green and his snake friends attack them! With all these girl's tickers giving out the police are soon on Man-Ying's case. What do they do, lock him up, arrest him or have him committed for his rantings about Borneons who worship reptiles? No they happily accompany him around the globe to follow up on his theories. 

The Magic Curse is wildly out there defying any attempt to pigeon-hole it down to one genre- you can just imagine an Intercontinental frontman scratching his balding head over what to do this thing before giving up and sending it on its way to the fluff market. Directors of nominal Kung-Fu movies, Tommy Loo-Chun and To Man Po agreeably push the right buttons for a rollicking little exploitation number, with cheap sex tagged on as an 'afterthought' to ensure a foreign sale. Every trick in the hat is pulled out for our entertainment, be it disappearing acts, earthquakes and flaming rocks- little however will prepare you for Magic Curse's most outragous scene- an Amazon girl Sophia rejects Abdullah's lecherous advances in favour of a passing hunk. Soon Sophia and her boyfriend get down to water bound l'amour, but Sophia is not feeling herself due to Abdullah's ol' black magic that transforms her into a green faced ghoul with very large teeth... and bites her boyfriends privates off!!! Magic Curse's off-kilter narrative, dedication to shock value scenes and not forgetting those rubber snakes being thrown in the direction of slumming Hong Kong actresses- must have satisfied fleapit cinema audiences looking for something different back then, years later its still endlessly fun viewing. `Long live the Snake tribe' indeed.

From The Bloody Pit Of Horror blog: Wen-Ying Lin (Jason Pai Piao) is busy wowing the ladies at a bowling alley when he receives an urgent phone call from his attorney Vivencio P. Angeles (Vic Silayan), who informs him that his uncle's private plane is ten hours late arriving and is assumed crashed in Borneo. Seeing how the plane was also carrying a bunch of valuable jewels, this certainly needs looking into. Wen-Ying immediately books a flight to Borneo and hires a handful of native guides, who basically run off and leave him at the first sign of trouble! And seeing how that first sign of trouble is a tribe of cannibal-zombie lepers, you can't really blame 'em. The lepers scatter after Wen-Ying guns a few of them down. One injured tribesmen reverse time-lapses back to looking human and thanks him for releasing him from the "magic curse" he's been placed under. He also names a culprit for his affliction: Abdullah.

Abdullah is an evil, power-mad high priest/black magician and leader of another tribe who decapitate topless virgins with a huge axe as an offering to their snake god. When he is not overseeing sacrifices, he's busy taking advantage of his position and offering to "help" deflower unsullied young ladies so they won't be the next to lose their head. Quite a scam he's got going on there! One of those girls, Sofia, refuses his kind offer and attempts to run off with another young villager named Shou Ming, but Abdullah casts a spell that possesses her and makes her grow fangs, which she then uses to bite Shou Ming's dick off! She then stabs herself in the stomach with a knife. Wen-Ying stumbles upon the bloody scene long enough to hear Sofia utter "Abdullah" with her last dying breath.

Wen-Ying ends up running into some of Abdullah's thugs and, although he puts up a valiant fight, he's outnumbered, gets shot in the back with an arrow and is left for dead. Some naked female bathers having a giggly slow-motion splash-fest near a waterfall (the jungle equivalent of the slow-mo topless pillow fight most of us have undoubtedly seen a time or two) stumble upon Wen-Ying's injured body. Filona (Pinky De Leon), a pretty high-ranking priestess in the tribe, takes him back to her hut, nurses him back to health and falls in love with him. However, when Abdullah finds out she's harboring an outsider (which is against tribe rules... not that he typically follows those himself), a power struggle erupts. As snake priestess, Filona is technically a higher-ranking tribe member but she and the others are no match for Abdullah's powerful sorcery.

When Abdullah gets even nastier (using voodoo dolls and threatening to kill Filona's kid brother), Wen-Ying is forced to leave the village. But before heading back to civilization, he confesses his feelings to Filona and the two make love in front of a fire. Wen-Ying promises he'll return one day but, just to be on the safe side, she bites his lip and releases another curse. Not content being another hump-n-dump, pounce-n-bounce or nail-n-bail to the city dweller, Filona now has ownership over him. If he touches another woman while he's away, the curse will kick in and said other woman will die a horrible death. Also, he's to come back in one year's time to marry her or else he'll also be the recipient of a nasty demise.

Wen-Ying returns to Manila, inherits some money from his late uncle's estate and tries to resume life as normal which, for a swinging bachelor like himself, includes going to discos in a leisure suit and flares, drinking too much and picking up chicks. One night out, he hits it off with a lady named Suzie ("Woung Eune Hi" / Angela Wang En-Chi) and inadvertently infuriates a group of hooligans in the process. Outside the club, a shitfaced Wen-Ying gets viciously beaten and chain-whipped by the gang but, thanks to the "magic curse," a snake emerges to scare them off and he's no worse for wear at the end of it. The same cannot be said for Suzie a few hours later when she's killed in the shower by snakes immediately after having sex with Wen-Ying. A police inspector ("Choi Mu Ung" / Mu-ung Choe) shows up and the death is written off as a heart attack.

During a party at his attorney's home, Wen-Ying meets Daisy Chen ("Nam Soon Joung"/Su-jung Nam), who at first seems bashful but then proves to be no shrinking violet. The two skip out on the party and go for a ride, which quickly leads to a different kind of ride back at her parent's home. Afterward, Wen-Ying takes his usual post-coital customary nap which enables more snakes to sneak in. Daisy is killed after getting knocked down the stairs. The inspector returns but this time he's certainly not convinced of Wen-Ying's innocence. That is, until Wen-Ying drags him back to Borneo so he can see what's actually going on with his own two eyes.

This is reasonably fun assembly line mash-up of schlock jungle adventure and black magic horror, with adequate pacing, decent atmosphere and plenty of exploitative content to keep things humming along. Still, one can't get too caught up in the little details... like how hilariously misogynistic this whole thing is! I mean, why does a fidelity curse placed upon our male protagonist end up punishing oblivious women who have no clue there's even another woman in the picture, and not him? One would think there'd be some kind of "Make his dick fall off if he touches another woman" or equivalent spell instead of this "Killing innocent women just because a guy can't keep his dick in his pants" spell. And since both Wen-Ying and Filona are both basically terrible people, their happy reunion at the very end doesn't possess much in the way of charm.

There's a decent (albeit dark and dingy) English-language widescreen print of this one out now, which is derived from the French release Au pays de la magie noire ("In the Land of Black Magic"). As for its country of origin, well...

IMDb lists this twice and under two different titles (once as a Hong Kong / Filipino co-production and another time as a Korean production), the Korean Movie Database lists it as an entirely Korean production, the Hong Kong Movie Database lists it as a Taiwanese production and Hong Kong Cinemagic lists it as a Hong Kong production. Who's correct? Who knows! Maybe all of them. What we do know is that it was filmed entirely on location in the Philippines and the cast is widely varied and contains fairly well-known actors from all four of the countries in question. The credited director changes depending on which print you view (Korean director Yeong-sun Kwon was not listed on the print I watched) as does much of the crew, so it's difficult to even tell.

The given release year also fluctuates depending on the source, though this may have received a release in South Korea a year or two before it was ever released in Hong Kong or Taiwan. Again, I'm not entirely sure due to lack of consistent information. The cast includes Hok-Nin Lau and Peter Chan Lau (who also receives credit as production manager and action director) as tribesmen, though the actor I was the most interested in - the guy playing "Abdullah" - I wasn't able to find the identity of.

There were VHS releases in a number of countries including the UK (an English-dubbed version, released by Hokushin in 1981) and France (dubbed in French and from Socai Films in 1986), though no official U. S. release that I'm aware of. (Note: A number of bootleg outlets offer the English version but you may as well just save your money and watch it for free on Youtube).

Jason Pai Piao (Lin Wen-Ying)

Pinky de Leon (Filona, the Snake Priestess)

Peter Chen Lau (Abdullah's Henchman)

Tan Chia Bee [aka Ernesto Tan] 

Mong Hu/Lau Hok-Nin (Abdullah's Henchman)

Woung Eune En/Woung Eune Hi/Angela Wang En-Chi [South Korean actress] (Suzie, the first victim of Filona's curse)

Nam Soon Joung/Su-Jung Nam [South Korean actress] (Daisy Chen, the second victim of Filona's curse)

Hwang Kun Chi/Hwang Keon [South Korean actor] (Abdullah's Henchman)

Choi Mu Ung/Mu-Ung Choe [South Korean actor] (Police Inspector)

Roger Cooquia

Vic Silayan (Attorney Vivencio P. Angeles)

Philip Coo

Andres Centenera [uncredited] (as the Old Holy Man)

Lauro Flores [uncredited] (Bar Goon)

Cho Kin/Tsao Kin/Tsao Chien [uncredited, standing] (Policeman)

Max Rojo [uncredited] (Tribal Executioner)

UNKNOWN ACTOR (Abdullah)

UNKNOWN ACTRESS (Sofia, the virgin with fangs)

UNKNOWN ACTOR (Shao Ming, Sofia's love interest)

UNKNOWN ACTOR (Lukat, Filona's Little Brother)

STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

THEATRICAL

HONG KONG - released as 摧花毒降頭/Cui Hua Du Jiang Tou, date unknown (possibly 1977)

PHILIPPINES - eventually released as Nangyari Sa Kagubatan/"Happening In The Jungle" via ACG Productions and Jowell Films on 20th April 1979

SOUTH KOREA - released as 인사여무/Insa Yeomu/"Human Affairs Are Nothing" at the Piccadilly Theatre in Seoul on 17th July 1975 to around 80,000 admissions, and at the Taehwa Theatre on the Busan National Road on 2nd August 1975 to about 100,000 admissions, according to a South Korean blog. Its sole director is listed as South Korean filmmaker Kwon Yeong-Soon [later the co-director of The Fantastic Sword] 

SINGAPORE - released as "Magic Curse" by the Shaw Organization on 31st January 1976 

UK - released as "The Magic Curse" in a double bill with Prisoner Of Passion [original title La Orca, 1976] in 1978, distributor unknown

THAILAND - date unknown

FRANCE - released as Au Pays De La Magie Noire/"In The Land Of Black Magic" via Femina Distribution, dubbed into French with no subtitles 

CANADA - released as "Magic Curse" on the Mandarin-language circuit in October 1977

VIDEO

UK - released as "The Magic Curse" via Hokushin in the early Eighties

FRANCE - released as Au Pays De La Magie Noire/"In The Land Of Black Magic", initially via VIP and later on Socai Films

NETHERLANDS - released as "Magic Curse" via IDI (International Duplicating Industries)

DIGITAL

US/UK - COMING SOON!

- mp4 file [dubbed into English]