About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

The Ouija concept has potential, but there's little meat to the story or the scares.

Pros

• Intriguing concept
• Admirable attempt at drama

Cons

• Amateurish acting
• Thin plot
• Stale dialogue
• Distracting Super 8 formate

Description

• Starring Kelly McLaren, Courtney Foxworthy, Demetrius Sager, Caleb Courtney, Caleb Debattista, Darren Wayne Evans
• Directed by Scott Di Lalla
• Rated NR
• Release Date: November 19, 2013

Guide Review - 'I Am Zozo' DVD Review

I Am Zozo is based on the supposedly real-life encounters that people worldwide have had with a demonic entity known as Zozo via Ouija boards, a phenomenon that is chronicled by "Zozologist" Darren Evans on his website. In the film, a group of five young friends head to an island vacation home for an overnight Halloween bash -- and by "bash," I mean getting drunk and playing with a Ouija board. Tess, the resident good girl, has reservations about contacting spirits, and when they end up communicating with a threatening entity called Zozo, it turns out she has right to be afraid. Although they end the Ouija session, ominous occurrences continue to occur around the house, with Tess seeming to be a target. It seems that once you contact Zozo, tragedy isn't far behind.

The core of I Am Zozo -- the Ouija board scene in which the protagonists contact the titular entity -- is tense, creepy and ripe with potential. Unfortunately, the other 75 minutes or so of the film undermines the scare factor with an uneventful script, slow pace, stilted, overly explanatory dialogue and stiff acting.

Curiously, writer-director Scott Di Lalla chooses to film the movie with a Super 8 camera, giving it a grainy, handheld feel that presumably is designed to lend an artsy edge, but it ends up feeling distractingly like an old home video. It might work if this were a "found footage" film, but as it is, it comes off as amateurish. There are some nice exterior shots that take advantage of the natural scenery, but in an already lethargic movie, they feel like extraneous padding, especially since they tend to be accompanied by an overbearing emo rock soundtrack that makes it feel like we're watching a series of pretentious music videos strung together with a threadbare plot.

The DVD

Special features include a featurette and interview.

Movie: D
DVD: D+