Ouija - A Review

Ouija is a 2007 GMA and Viva Films horror movie starring Judy Ann Santos, Jolina Magdangal, Iza Calzado, and Rhian Ramos. Incidentally, this is Magdangal and Santos' first horror movie, and they're also cast together, Santos belonging to a different network at that. I heard that this movie will have international screenings under the title Seance.

The Plot
Cousins Ruth (Ramos), Sandra (Calzado), and half sisters Romina (Magdangal) and Aileen (Santos) are reunited due to the death of their grandmother. After the burial, the girls and their friend Lucy decide to use their grandmother's Ouija board which they've used before when they were kids in order to call their grandmother's spirit. Hoping that their grandmother may still have some message for them, they call upon her spirit using the Ouija board. What happens is that they call instead a different spirit, a hostile one at that. By accident, the ouija board is burned, trapping the spirit they've called into our world. What happens next is a series of disastrous events that can only be stopped unless the girls find the body of the spirit they've called and put it's remains to rest.

What I Think
I'd have to commend the director, Toppel Lee, for making this film. I think this movie is absolutely superb. I love how the movie leads the viewers into thinking one thing, and proving you wrong at the end. Yes, there is a twist at the end of the movie, something that the girls only realized until it was too late, but still, the movie was well done. The actors chosen for this movie were all great, they acted really naturally, and they were all perfect for their roles. Just hearing the sounds alone used in this movie is enough to make your hair stand on ends. And the visual effects - wow. This is honestly the first time I was actually scared while watching a local horror movie. The effects was truly awesome. I'm proud that Filipinos can now actually make a movie of this caliber. Hopefully, this movie will also be noticed by people in Hollywood, like one of Calzado's previous horror movie, "Sigaw" which as we heard, an international remake is already in the works.