Cinema
Movie Review
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Story tools
Vol. XXI, No. 1
Friday-Saturday, July 27-28, 2007 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Cinema
BY ANNA BARBARA L. LORENZO, Reporter
Scary board game
Movie Review
Ouija
Directed by Topel Lee
Local films usually avoid
opening alongside potential blockbusters from Hollywood but one can easily understand why the people
behind Ouija were confident enough to go against Homer and Bart.
Topel Lee’s horror flick starts off as young girls playfully and
innocently call on spirits through their grandmother’s ouija board in Camiguin.
The story fast-forwards 20 years, showing the girls all grown up and leading
different lives before they are reunited on the Mindanao island.
Romina (Jolina Magdangal), Aileen (Judy Ann Santos), Sandra (Iza Calzado),
and Ruth (Rhian Ramos) all meet again in Camiguin in time for their
grandmother’s funeral.
Reliving their childhood memories, the girls take out the ouija board.
Unlike the first time when their Lola was there to put the game to a close
through some Latin-sounding prayer, the girls leave the game unfinished,
prompting a mysterious and fatal haunting.
Although each of the characters have their own tale to tell, the story is
very cohesive with a lot of scare and hardly a dull moment to spare.
There are some forgiveable cliches — the extras fall victim to the
ghost’s wrath and die first, and the obviously computer-manipulated rather than
ghostly voices. There are also overused horror styles which have seemed to
become a trend among Asian movies like the hair-over-face look and the ghost
doing the robot-walk plus some acrobatics and wall-climbing stunts.
At any rate, the haunting parts are artistically done and are well
complemented by an effective play of sound and lighting. In general, all seems
well and creepy until Romina takes to hiding under a blanket, and Sandra decides
to run towards an empty dressing room. So much for protection, girls.
Aileen, on the other hand, shows some courage while chased by the ghost.
Being the logical character, there is an obvious effort of her trying to escape
a building although she is not very successful.
If there is one item which is not established well, it is the part where
an alleged rape victim says she was hearing voices even before all the haunting
starts.
Despite its minor flaws, Ouija is a movie that can show the improvement in
the way Filipino films are made and delivered. All it needs now is some degree
of appreciation from the public.
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