Veronica

Veronica

2017

Director- Paco Plaza

Cast- Sandra Escacena, Bruna González, Claudia Placer, Iván Chavero, Ana Torrent, Sonia Almarcha, Maru Valduvielso, Leticia Dolera, Ángela Fabián, Carla Sampra

From Spain

           

     If you are a fan of Spanish horror, the first thing you’ll likely notice is how serious this film is compared to other Spanish horror films. Paul Naschy’s films had an overly dramatic soap opera quality that added a sense of fun in spite of the horror. The more modern films of Álex de la Iglesia have a tongue in cheek absurd quality that takes the edge off. Veronica, on the other hand, is so serious it almost seems American.

            

     Veronica (excellently played by Sandra Escacena) is a teenage girl who is both a latchkey kid and the oldest daughter in her family. Her father is dead and her mother works nights so Veronica has the responsibility of taking care of her 3 younger siblings.

            

     She attempts a séance with a Ouija board during an eclipse. Veronica is hoping to talk with her departed father. Well, someone shows up but it isn’t her father. A demon shows up and latches itself on to Veronica. From that point on she starts experiencing all the classic signs of a haunting; strange noises, terrifying visions and the tell-tale bruises and bite marks. Worst of all, it seems like the offending spirit has set its sights on her younger siblings.

           

      Veronica goes to her mother for help but is predictably rebuffed. A creepy old nun in her Catholic girl’s school (who goes by the unflattering name, Hermana Muerte) has a pretty good idea of what kind of trouble Veronica has gotten herself into and instructs Veronica to redo the séance, but to correct mistakes she made in the original. With no one else to turn to, she seems to have little choice but to tempt fate by conjuring up the very entity that is haunting her.

            

     There are a few things that separate this film from other similar films in this sub-genre. The most obvious is that the majority of the cast are not adults. I think this adds a dimension of desperation as kids lack any real agency in the world, and as such, are particularly powerless. Another big difference is the lack of a happy ending. There is no exorcist to show up to save the day.

            

     The movie gets some of the occult elements wrong (such as using an Icelandic rune, vegvasir,  as some kind of symbol of protection). But minutiae aside it’s still a pretty intelligent occult thriller. Veronica is a compact horror film that gets to the point quickly and crams a lot of frights into a relatively straight forward story.