THE REEL: Verónica

Verónica is a Netflix horror movie that was based on true events probably shows what the power of marketing can do. If you Google the name Veronica, you get all sorts of references a scary movie and all its synonyms.

It was claimed in some circles of the horror-movie-buffs that this might be the scariest movie yet.

There’s even one site that went on ahead to break down what they thought was the scariest scene in the entire movie.

BIG NAME

The movie is directed by Paco Plaza, who I later found out is a big name in modern Spanish horror cinema. The opening scene sets the tone for the movie.

A police respondent is on a call with a young girl who says there’s someone in their apartment trying to harm her, her two little sisters and their younger brother.

There is a lot of commotion in the background, with screaming children being heard and just violent noises everywhere. We’re then put in a cop car that is responding to the dispatcher’s instructions, as she is still on the phone with the caller.

We see people running out of the apartment building, which the girl gave as her address, and the police run up to the children’s door. The dispatcher can hear the police shouting instructions to the girl to open the door, but there’s no response now.

The cops break in and make their way to the bathroom. There’s a loud shriek from the girl and as, soon as they see inside the poorly lit room, one let’s out a horrified, low “Oh my God!”

LOOSELY BASED ON TRUE EVENTS

The story is loosely based on true events that took place in Madrid, Spain, one evening in 1991. The story follows a teenage girl called Veronica, who has been dabbling in the occult.

Together with two of her friends, they decide to work up an Ouija board during a solar eclipse because the books they were reading said it’s the best time to get super strong signals if you wanted to speak to a departed loved one.

I know, they are dead and that would mean whatever you’re speaking to is a spirit. But people do crazy things for the ones they love, right?

Veronica wants to speak to her father and that’s the reason she runs this show, even buying the board and using her own blood to jump-start the séance. Worst thing, they pick the school’s basement to do the whole thing; the farthest place from anyone else to speak to the dead.

The séance goes according to plan, they reach out to the spirit world, but it’s not her dad who picks up the signal – something else does. This “something” breaks out and uses Veronica to anchor itself to this world, even after the eclipse passes.

Now, you know you’re in trouble when your friend starts to convulse, passes out and then candles go off when you’re dealing with this witchy, dark art stuff.

Unfortunately for Veronica, this spirit is with her everywhere she goes and even manifests itself at her house.

She can see burn marks in the form of a person beneath her younger siblings’ mattresses and also does crazy things to them physically. Now Veronica has to find a way to reverse whatever she did before it causes real harm to them.

That the movie is a scary one is beyond question. I have seen things in that movie that, even as I was writing this review, gave me the goose pimples. Some will even have you jump back and grab somebody.

There was one scene I looked away from and didn’t even bother to ask what I missed from it. However, that this is the scariest movie yet (some said Ouija-board based), is a long shot.

I still remember The Exorcist to this day and that still ranks a little higher than Verónica. So he claims that some people couldn’t make it to the end is just guys trying to drum up your curiosity for it.

I am not a fan for subtitled movies (it’s all in Spanish) but that curiosity stirred by the claims around the movie made me watch it all the way. You still would want to watch it in company of others, and during the day.