The mystical power of women

You assemble three noted young actresses, add a very promising newcomer to the mix, let horror-meister director Topel Lee go to town, and you have Ouija, a film that  stamps Topel as mastering his craft. With a cast headed by Judy Ann Santos, Iza Calzado, Jolina Magdangal and Rhian Ramos, GMA Films and Viva’s Ouija comes to us with “all guns blazing.” While some of the premises and executions look at times like Topel’s and screenplay writer Aloy Adlawan’s homage to horror films of the recent past, one can’t help but admire the exuberance and attention to detail  they give the film. One can safely place the film alongside Japanese, American and Korean films that have exemplified this genre over the last few years.

The storyline comes out of Central Casting. Four young ladies, cousins and stepsisters are playing with the spirit of the glass and ouija board that they “stole” from their lola, a Camiguin local who favors the black arts. Some strange happenings occur and they leave the board in fright. Fast forward 20 years, and the ladies all have their respective careers and lives.

 Judy Ann is Aileen, a no-nonsense, very rational laywer. Iza is Sandra, a narcissistic stage actress and Rhian is Ruth, younger sister of Iza’s character and a med student. Jolina is Romina, a grade school teacher who opted to stay in Camiguin and stepsister to Judy Ann. When the lola passes away, the girls come back to the island and the ouija board is brought out with very dire results. They’ve unleashed a malevolent spirit (or spirits) and mayhem ensues, as horrible deaths seem to hound the four girls and the people around them. Using a snake, a Ring-like girl and the ouija board itself, Topel piles on the horror and suspense-filled moments.

Hats off to Topel for brilliantly casting against type. Iza plays funny woman in the shafts of humor that permeate the film. Staring dumbfounded with cigarette in mouth and peeping when they all should be keeping their eyes shut are two wonderful examples of how Topel creatively utilizes Iza’s serious mien. Similarly, Judy Ann plays the brittle, bitter elder stepsister of Jolina, never having gotten over how their father deserted their mother. Cameos by particular personalities pepper the film, adding to our enjoyment. Editing is especially brisk and works in Topel’s favor.

I particularly like how, in the middle of the film, he jumps from Judy Ann to Jolina and to Iza, and sequentially and repeatedly back again, building up the tension like a puppet master.

There is nothing earth-shaking in the treatment of the material or the performances he elicits from the ensemble. But in much the same manner that I loved his Yaya episode with Iza in the last installment of Shake Rattle & Roll, it’s the manner in which he attacks the material at hand, and meticulously chooses his camera angles to sustain the suspense while keeping the audience engaged that augur well for Topel’s flourishing film career and credentials.