I Am ZoZo

A group of friends go out to a holiday home on an island on Halloween. The acting is fine and despite the well used setup it's actually pretty believable. The low key story about them playing around with an ouija board is quite good up to a point. The problem is that towards the end they seem to lose interest in telling a story and not a whole heap happens.

Talking slowly and drawling your words isn't scary either, it's just kind of annoying. As is the awful camera-work which bobs around constantly. It's also got the worst music imaginable, especially the last song. It made me laugh out loud it was that bad.

It's a shame there isn't more of a story here because I liked it until they lost interest in trying to scare me. Too much home movie and not enough horror for my tastes. Courtney Foxworthy (the witchy one) is definitely an asset to the movie though and helped me make it to the credits and that awful nasal song!

I stumbled upon this 2012 horror movie titled "I Am ZoZo" ten years after it was released. I had never heard about the movie, but I must say that the movie's cover was actually interesting enough. And with it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I found the time to sit down and watch it.

However, I must say that the whole concept of a horror movie with a Ouija board as a focal point sort of have been done to the point of being redundant already. So I can't really claim that I was harboring much of any high expectations for "I Am ZoZo".

Writer and director Scott Di Lalla didn't manage to deliver a particularly interesting or entertaining movie with "I Am ZoZo". In fact, the whole movie was so insanely slow paced that it was quite a struggle to sit through, especially since a large portion of the movie was just footage of the actors and actresses sitting around the Ouija board and playing the game, asking questions and so obviously moving the marker around the board themselves.

Now, I don't give any notion to the Ouija board thing, as it is just a silly game. If there is such a thing as ghosts and spirits, why does it need people to hold their fingers on the marker? It is just downright idiotic that people actually buy into this concept. But hey, it did make for good horror entertainment at a time, but not so much anymore. And especially not so when the plot of the story is boring and laughably thin.

The movie felt like something that came out of the 1970s, with its dubious image quality of gritty footage and the camera being all over the place. That really annoyed me to the point where it was hard to get into the atmosphere of the movie.

The acting performances in the movie were adequate, although not memorable ones. The lack of a proper script and interesting dialogue and characters is to blame here.

For a horror movie then "I Am ZoZo" was a swing and a miss. And this is definitely not a horror movie I would recommend you waste your time on watching. Some of us suffered through this movie so you don't have to.

My rating of "I Am ZoZo" lands on a two out of ten stars.

The concept was intriguing, and when we read the reviews we figured it was worth a shot! However, the reviews stating it's "excellent" and a "must see" had to have been written by the production company or the actors. I will give credit to the one who said it was eerie. This movie had a lot of build and a fair amount of potential. Unfortunately the characters were, as one reviewer put it "cliche" and there was a lot of build to nothing. The movie ends as abruptly as it begins, no premise, and only a veil of closure. The attempt at character building sort of trails off immediately, only to pick up clumsily in the middle of the movie, at a point where it seems like they were just trying to throw in filler, or some clumsy bridge to tie the fumbling opening scenes and clumsy ending together. All in all, this would be a complete waste of your time to watch, unless of course you have insomnia.

This movie is so very not-good. I usually enjoy Ouija board films, which in general are usually not considered 'good', but I could not enjoy this film. I was very intrigued when I first heard of it, after reading and hearing stories of the infamous, notorious entity named "ZoZo"... oh man this is like the kind of film you would relax to. For real. I wanted to 'get the story', I wanted to understand it and I fell asleep several times while trying to watch this very boring immaterial film. I finally did manage to finish it off, but I will never watch it again unless I'm having insomnia. The filming and music is just awful too. Many times there is a long scene of just nothing, it is hard to hold attention, and you catch yourself trying to entertain yourself in some other way than this boringness, and when there actually is dialogue relevant to this very irrelevant film, you miss it. It is spooky at a very minimal level. It feels as if no effort was really put into this. I give 2 stars for using a very beautiful antique Mystifying Oracle board in this film.

Good evening, everyone! I'm Mr. C Reviewer, and tonight we'll be diving into the film I Am ZoZo. I had the opportunity to watch it on Tubi. This movie originally premiered on February 18, 2012, and has a runtime of 1 hour and 31 minutes. It is rated for viewers aged 15 and older. Notably, parts of the film were filmed in Washington, USA. As an individual on the autism spectrum, I found the inclusion of subtitles to be immensely beneficial, as they significantly improved my ability to engage with the dialogue throughout the film. The film was both directed and written by Scott Di Lalla.

Summary: As the night progresses, the atmosphere thickens with tension as the group encounters a variety of spirits. What begins as a light-hearted séance quickly spirals into a chilling ordeal when ZoZo unveils its malevolent intentions, posing a grave threat to their lives and mental stability.

Review: -The film's opening failed to effectively engage me or establish a compelling tone for the horror experience anticipated from a story cantered around a Ouija board and an evil entity. After an initial scene where a group of friends encounters the demon by name, we are presented with text on screen indicating that the movie is based on true events. This was followed by an introduction to Tess as a child, narrated by her older self as she seeks help from a Mr. Evans. I appreciated how the film focused on the theme of the supernatural, particularly highlighting the risks associated with using Ouija boards. It acts as a cautionary tale, warning viewers about the potential repercussions of invoking malevolent spirits and emphasizing the necessity of exercising caution when engaging with supernatural elements. The pacing was slow from the outset, which hindered my ability to become fully invested in the narrative. I appreciated that the film was set on Halloween night, as I always look forward to holiday-themed movies that are centred around specific celebrations. The casting for the film was commendable, and while the acting was satisfactory, it occasionally fell short of being exceptional. The performances were competent but lacked a lasting impact. This was largely due to an absence of a robust script and engaging dialogue, which I felt limited the actors' opportunities to shine and ultimately affected their ability to deliver truly remarkable performances. The sound design appeared to lack cohesion and finesse, which diminished the overall viewing experience. I feel that the soundtrack failed to deliver the essential suspense and emotional resonance that could have significantly enhanced the film's impact.

-I appreciated certain aspects of the film's cinematography; however, I felt that the use of zoomed-in shots was excessive and somewhat overused. Some camera placements appeared random and detracted from the overall viewing experience, coming across as distracting and lacking professionalism. The camera work also exhibited instability, with certain scenes reminiscent of a "found footage" style, yet without any acknowledgment from the actors regarding the presence of the camera. The use of Super 8mm film and handheld camera added to the home movie quality, but it also made the movie feel low-budget and unpolished. The soft lighting created an appealing atmosphere, though some areas could have used more brightness for clarity. I often adjust my screen's brightness for an enhanced viewing experience, which was particularly helpful with this film.

-I appreciated the storyline, but I believe it had the potential to be much better. It would be wonderful if this movie could have a chance for a re-do, as it feels like a missed opportunity otherwise. I was pleased to discover that there is a short film titled "ZOZO," which was uploaded to YouTube in 2020 by KilkennyVFX. This film has a runtime of approximately five minutes.

I rate each film I watch out of 10 and for this one, I give it a 3.4 Remember this was what I thought about the movie personally and I suggest that you give it a go for yourself.