Veronica Review
By: Nik S
Director: Paco Plaza
Producer(s): Enrique Lopez Lavigne, Maria Angulo
Starring: Sandra Escacena, Bruna Gonzalez, Claudia Placer
Production Company: Television Española, Expediente La Pelicula, Apaches Entertainment
Distributor: Netflix
Runtime: 106 minutes
Paco Plaza, known for directing [REC] the inspiration for Quarantine, returns with his latest film Veronica. The film is being labeled as his magnum opus, since fans and critics alike seem to be horrified to the point of turning the movie off halfway through. It released on Netflix for an international release and instantly created a buzz online. Twitter users even recorded themselves in real time to show their dread and horror of scrambling to turn off their TV. Most fans of the film credit the creepy music, the crooked camera work, and the uneasy feeling the characters give off for the film's popularity.
The movie is inspired by the police reports known as the "Vallecas Case" in Madrid, Spain. Some details change depending on where you're able to read the reports, but here's what we I was able to gather.The case takes its name from the neighborhood where Estefania Gutierrez Lazaro (the reference for the character Veronica in the movie) performed a seance with her friends at school. One of the school's teachers happened to find them and broke the Ouija board, abruptly ending the ritual. It was said by her friends that smoke came through the broken Ouija board and entered Estefania. She started to experience seizures and hallucinations of shadows following her. The police case only touches lightly on Estefania, since her family only got the police involved a little more than a year following her death her death in August of 1991. The family believed they were being haunted, as a crucifix with Jesus was said to have drooled a brown liquid and they were hearing loud noises from an empty porch. The police were never able to find a valid reason for anything.
The movie plays out similarly to the story it's inspired by. We follow a young girl named Veronica (Sandra Escacena) who is the head of the household, as her mother is never around, as she takes care of her three younger siblings. She sneaks off with two of her friends during school, as the rest of the staff and students are watching the solar eclipse. Something goes awry during the seance and paranormal things start happening around Veronica in her small apartment. She must protect herself and her three younger siblings from the entity that is tormenting them.
Veronica is by no means the scariest movie ever like some fans are claiming. The movie is, however, a well put together haunted house flick that attempts to go beyond your average haunting. Since Plaza is a veteran horror director he knows that it takes more than just jumpscares to make a good horror movie, it takes buildup. He incorporates lots of dark tones and clashing colors during the haunt scenes, and bright with muted colors when Veronica is trying to figure things out. It doesn't follow the trope of going into an empty old house that happens to be haunted, but instead looks at what happens if you bring something otherworldly into your own place of comfort.
The film does well to show foreshadowing throughout the film when Veronica isn't going up against the entity in her apartment. There's an effective use of subtle hints like the literature teacher's lessons describing different points in the story, and then there's the more on-the-nose hints like a lingering shot on a painting of wolves. The visuals are very well done, especially the practical effects. There's a good usage between digital and practical throughout the film and they blend together nicely. They don't use anything digitally for more than a minute, so it never feels overdone or too cheesy.
The move is really overhyped, since it's not scary but more suspensful. The film does well at creating this unsettling atmosphere throughout, but feels like it stumbles on trying to follow certain haunted house tropes. When it goes off of the beaten path it works really well and is an enjoyable movie. It starts with the creeps pretty early in the movie, but keeps building up the suspense from there to the climatic conclusion. There are a few shots that feel a little artsy and unnecessary, but it's not enough to spoil the film. The movie never scared me while watching, nor made me feel too nervous, but it certainly kept me entertained.
Producer(s): Enrique Lopez Lavigne, Maria Angulo
Starring: Sandra Escacena, Bruna Gonzalez, Claudia Placer
Production Company: Television Española, Expediente La Pelicula, Apaches Entertainment
Distributor: Netflix
Runtime: 106 minutes
Paco Plaza, known for directing [REC] the inspiration for Quarantine, returns with his latest film Veronica. The film is being labeled as his magnum opus, since fans and critics alike seem to be horrified to the point of turning the movie off halfway through. It released on Netflix for an international release and instantly created a buzz online. Twitter users even recorded themselves in real time to show their dread and horror of scrambling to turn off their TV. Most fans of the film credit the creepy music, the crooked camera work, and the uneasy feeling the characters give off for the film's popularity.
The movie is inspired by the police reports known as the "Vallecas Case" in Madrid, Spain. Some details change depending on where you're able to read the reports, but here's what we I was able to gather.The case takes its name from the neighborhood where Estefania Gutierrez Lazaro (the reference for the character Veronica in the movie) performed a seance with her friends at school. One of the school's teachers happened to find them and broke the Ouija board, abruptly ending the ritual. It was said by her friends that smoke came through the broken Ouija board and entered Estefania. She started to experience seizures and hallucinations of shadows following her. The police case only touches lightly on Estefania, since her family only got the police involved a little more than a year following her death her death in August of 1991. The family believed they were being haunted, as a crucifix with Jesus was said to have drooled a brown liquid and they were hearing loud noises from an empty porch. The police were never able to find a valid reason for anything.
The movie plays out similarly to the story it's inspired by. We follow a young girl named Veronica (Sandra Escacena) who is the head of the household, as her mother is never around, as she takes care of her three younger siblings. She sneaks off with two of her friends during school, as the rest of the staff and students are watching the solar eclipse. Something goes awry during the seance and paranormal things start happening around Veronica in her small apartment. She must protect herself and her three younger siblings from the entity that is tormenting them.
Veronica is by no means the scariest movie ever like some fans are claiming. The movie is, however, a well put together haunted house flick that attempts to go beyond your average haunting. Since Plaza is a veteran horror director he knows that it takes more than just jumpscares to make a good horror movie, it takes buildup. He incorporates lots of dark tones and clashing colors during the haunt scenes, and bright with muted colors when Veronica is trying to figure things out. It doesn't follow the trope of going into an empty old house that happens to be haunted, but instead looks at what happens if you bring something otherworldly into your own place of comfort.
The film does well to show foreshadowing throughout the film when Veronica isn't going up against the entity in her apartment. There's an effective use of subtle hints like the literature teacher's lessons describing different points in the story, and then there's the more on-the-nose hints like a lingering shot on a painting of wolves. The visuals are very well done, especially the practical effects. There's a good usage between digital and practical throughout the film and they blend together nicely. They don't use anything digitally for more than a minute, so it never feels overdone or too cheesy.
The move is really overhyped, since it's not scary but more suspensful. The film does well at creating this unsettling atmosphere throughout, but feels like it stumbles on trying to follow certain haunted house tropes. When it goes off of the beaten path it works really well and is an enjoyable movie. It starts with the creeps pretty early in the movie, but keeps building up the suspense from there to the climatic conclusion. There are a few shots that feel a little artsy and unnecessary, but it's not enough to spoil the film. The movie never scared me while watching, nor made me feel too nervous, but it certainly kept me entertained.
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