Saw a lot of hype about this recently, ranging from people saying it was “so scary that some couldn’t even finish it”, to others saying it was the “most original horror film in years”. So with praise like that, who am I to turn away from it?
Based in Madrid, Veronica is a 15-year-old girl who looks after her brother and two sisters after her father dies and her mother works late in a restaurant and is based on a true story from a police report back in the early 90’s, where Veronica and two of her friends play with a Ouija board and then a bunch of spooky shit happens. Not sounding particularly original at this point now, is it?
There have been a lot of Ouija based films as of late and most of which have been somewhat naff, so does Veronica land in this category? I’d say no, to be fair, but as far as the scare factor goes, it probably lands itself in the same ranks. The writing for this film is very well done and the acting from our lead and supporting cast is definitely a strong foundation, especially from our leading lady (Sandra Escacena) who gives a very stellar performance, especially so seeing as it’s her first acting job, so top merits all-round for that.
The atmosphere that lingers throughout the film is also pretty well done, and there is one point in the film where we get our first real reveal of spookiness that’s pretty effective, but unfortunately it’s a high point that comes before the half-way point and doesn’t really deliver much else after that that we haven’t seen over and over again already, which makes the film very predictable and eventually, somewhat of a chore.
Now, going by some form of source material I can’t really hold that against the writer and director too much, but that being said, all we get really is just another teen horror movie about a girl and some ghosts and that one person who conveniently knows loads on the subject that our leading lady can confide in.
Aaron's Spoiler-Free Verdict: Beautifully acted, well-crafted to a point, but all in all, just another mish-mash of jam that we’ve all seen a thousand times before. Nothing special. – 5/10
Aaron James Waters is a best-selling Pulp Fiction writer who has written more books than he's actually read.
He's also the rotten apple of the group who thinks this whole Star Wars thing needs to hurry up and die already.
You can find Aaron's debut novel on Amazon!
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