Veronica (2017)
Stars: Sandra Escacena, Bruna Gonzalez, Claudia Placer
Runtime: 105 minutes
Synopsis: Madrid, 1991. A teen girl finds herself besieged by an evil supernatural force after she played Ouija with two classmates.
Performances: 3/5
Screenplay: 2/5
Costumes/Makeup: 4/5
Editing: 3/5
Cinematography: 3/5
Score/Soundtrack: 2/5
Entertainment Factor: 3/5
Verdict: Ouija boards, evil spirits, nuns and teenage girls. We've seen this cocktail time and time again and every single time it's mediocre at best. "Veronica" came out a couple of years ago on Netflix and I decided to skip it because even then I was tired of cliché paranormal so-called horror movies. And while overall it still does contain a lot of stereotypical moments, I'm ultimately sort of glad I gave it a shot, because something about made it stand out from the typical jump-scare infested Hollywood borefests.
I remember the film being marketed at the time as being one of the scariest movies ever made, and if you go in expecting that, you're going to be massively disappointed. I'd even say that the scares in the movie were on the weak side of the spectrum. But what made the experience of viewing it more memorable than say "The Possession of Hannah Grace" is the fact that you can clearly see that everyone involved actually gave a shit. The cinematography, acting, and set designs were all well above average and do even out the cliché narrative (which the film insists on being inspired by true events, and I don't really know how much of it is) and quite frankly terribly generic score. I honestly did care about the main character of Veronica, played by first-timer Sandra Escacena, and that's always a win when a movie's goal is to make the audience respond to the hardships they're going through.
"Veronica" is certainly no milestone in the horror genre, but enough of it worked to justify a recommendation. Paco Plaza (who also gave us the "REC" franchise) clearly took the project to heart and it's very quickly evident that he knew what movie he wanted to make.
I remember the film being marketed at the time as being one of the scariest movies ever made, and if you go in expecting that, you're going to be massively disappointed. I'd even say that the scares in the movie were on the weak side of the spectrum. But what made the experience of viewing it more memorable than say "The Possession of Hannah Grace" is the fact that you can clearly see that everyone involved actually gave a shit. The cinematography, acting, and set designs were all well above average and do even out the cliché narrative (which the film insists on being inspired by true events, and I don't really know how much of it is) and quite frankly terribly generic score. I honestly did care about the main character of Veronica, played by first-timer Sandra Escacena, and that's always a win when a movie's goal is to make the audience respond to the hardships they're going through.
"Veronica" is certainly no milestone in the horror genre, but enough of it worked to justify a recommendation. Paco Plaza (who also gave us the "REC" franchise) clearly took the project to heart and it's very quickly evident that he knew what movie he wanted to make.
FINAL GRADE: 5/10
Comments
Post a Comment