I'm a big horror fan. The problem lately is that I can't make it to the end of one either.
It's not because I'm scared, but because I'm bored or because everything gets too predictable and nonsensical far too quickly.
Veronica is the first horror movie I've actually made it to the end of in some time.
The story, set in the 90s, follows 15-year-old Veronica who looks after her three younger siblings while her mother works long hours to keep the family afloat.
During a solar eclipse, Veronica and her pals hold a séance in the basement of their catholic school and over the course of the next few days, Veronica is plagued by supernatural occurrences and a creepy-as-hell figure that looks like some human version of the Stranger Things Demogorgon.
Was Veronica as scary as everyone says? No. Not by a long shot. It wasn't even a particularly great horror film, but it was good and it had a point of difference in that it was driven by children.
One of the scariest things about Veronica is that it's inspired by a true story: the Vellacas case which is famous in Spain. The film is based on an emergency call and official police report from the case, the latter of which was reportedly the only time an official report mentioned the officer witnessing anything paranormal.
There's nothing quite so scary as a true story. Plus Paco Plaza does suspense well, lingering too long on certain shots, building the anticipation and following through in the most horrifying ways. The biting scene, for example.
There's also a mind-twist element in that we don't know what is real or not, or who to trust as things start to unravel in the most unnerving way; the scene in which everyone around Veronica is moving in reverse, before she encounters herself, is particularly troubling.
But the kids, and the stakes involved with keeping them safe from a threat that cannot be stopped - or worse, that wears a friendly face - make the film far more intense.
Other than that, there's really nothing new here. It's your stock-standard séance/possession story.
Plaza also misguidedly tries to make it some kind of metaphor for a loss of innocence - a problematic comparison of demonic activity to a teenage girl's sexual awakening.
But honestly, even that's not new.
That said, Veronica is worth watching just for the difference in overall tone and vibe.
Unlike the bolshy, over the top American horrors of late, Veronica treads softly, ramping up the creep-factor rather than banking on jump-scares.
