The Horror Show
Veronica
by Paco Plaza
The occult is one of the most popular tropes in horror. It might be my favorite sub-genre, I love anything that has to do with summoning demons, contacting the dead, or opening doors to other worlds inhabited by unspeakable things. What is the best thing to do all of that? Ouija or spirit boards! There are so many films where a Ouija Board is the main culprit and of course, Veronica is no different, and yet it is.
Veronica is a Spanish film that about Veronica, her siblings, and her absentee mother. During a total eclipse in Madrid 1991, Veronica and two of her friends decide to play with a Ouija Board in the basement of their Catholic school. Veronica is trying to contact her father that had recently died. Something responds to her chat request and it wasn't her dad. Vero starts to wig out. She wakes up in the nurse's office. Apparently, whatever she was talking to decided to stick around.
Things begin to happen to Vero and her siblings. A black, lanky figure shows up and tries to kill her little sister. She sees visions of her father. He even appears to her little brother at night. She seeks the advice from Sister Narcisa, also known as Sister Death, the blind nun and she explains that she can see the evil shadows too. Sister Death tells Veronica that she has to fix what she has done, she must protect her siblings. That night there is a battle between Veronica and the evil entity. She understands what Sister Death means by she must protect her family and will do anything to keep them safe.
I was surprised to find out that this movie was based on true events that involved Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro and her family in 1991. Estefania and two friends tried to contact one of their boyfriends who had died in a motorcycle accident. It's a sad story.
This is Sandra Escacena's first role. You feel for her as Veronica. You see how frustrated she is with how her life is at the moment and it tears a hole in your heart. The effects were top notch. The shadow man was creepy how he moved. He floated just like you would imagine a shadow would. The best thing about Veronica is that it wasn't made in America so it lacked the over used stings seen in most modern horror. It was so refreshing and it made everything have weight. Some scenes had a perfect stillness that gets broken by a scare. It makes everything scarier.
Veronica isn't really anything new. However, the tropes that they use they use really well. It was a long movie coming in at almost two hours, but it didn't feel long. I wasn't annoyed by the child actors. This is how you do a Ouija Board movie. Veronica is on Netflix now. Check it out!
Robin Thompson, HMS
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