Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
Plot: Nala, a 13-year-old girl from the city, travels with her family to her grandmother’s home in the countryside to try to find a cure for her little sister’s mysterious illness. But she’ll soon find her granny is not exactly what she seems.
Review: Mal de Ojo or Evil Eye isn’t what I would call a scary movie, but it is a creepy one with a well-crafted almost twisted fairy tale-like story that effectively conveys how past family traumas can haunt the present. As someone who had to stay with their grandmother when they were young and didn’t enjoy it, I could relate to young Josefa who due to her little sister’s mysterious illness is taken to her mother’s family home way out in the country in the hopes that a cure can be found. While there Josefa learns of an old legend about a woman who had three beautiful daughters (identical triplets) and when they disrespected a local witch (as one is wont to do I guess) the family was cursed. It’s a bit more complicated than that but to dive deeper would be to spoil the mystery.
Overall, Mal de Ojo has some solid practical effects, solid acting by both young lead Ofelia Medina and Paola Miguel, and does a wonderful job of utilising Mexican folklore in ways Western audiences don’t normally get to experience. With nods to other classic films like Suspria and even Hellraiser, this is one evil eye I don’t think you’ll mind seeing yourself.
Score: 6 out of 10
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Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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