Movie Madness: I Am Zozo (2012)

(Available on Tubi)

Are you sure you’re Zozo? I mean, who are you trying to convince here — us or yourself?

A group of friends meet at an isolated lake house for some Halloween fun. They use a Ouija board. Things get interesting, but don’t worry – it’s only interesting for a minute or so. Then one of the guests dies – just one, I guess? Although we never see the others again, except for one girl, who says she is being driven mad by Zozo, but we never really see that, even though you kind of think that’s what the movie is going to be all about. She has really chapped lips in her last scene, though, so I guess that could have been caused by Zozo?

Where did those other guys go??

So, have you heard about Zozo? This is one popular demon. He (it?) is said to show up when you are innocently trying to talk to the dead by playing with your Ouija board. He is supposed to be very difficult to get rid of and he causes all kinds of chaos (as demons do). Reports of him range far and wide, which I guess is what makes it all kind of spooky, like how have all of these people all over encountered the same demon?

He has been the subject of ghost hunting shows and movies (well, obviously). You can surely find out more about him if you want to (although, even though I have my doubts, I wouldn’t advise it, seeing as how I am worried that he is standing behind me right now. Seriously. It feels kind of cold over my right shoulder. But my dog is sleeping on his couch without a care and doesn’t seem concerned that there is an evil presence in the room, so maybe I’m OK. Look at him snoozing away over there, not a care in the world. Surely if there were a demon in the room he would at least be awake?).

Anyway.

So this movie starts out with a voice-over from this girl, and then she’s in the shower (not sure what the point of that was – you might think the point is superfluous nudity, but there was none of that), and then she gets a call from this guy who I guess is just a friend even though she seems really interested in him – I mean, she seemed really excited to hear from him. Apparently, they aren’t as interested in each other as I thought they were – I was afraid there might be some sex scene but there wasn’t, thank goodness.

So she meets him and his other friends and they take a boat out to the one guy’s father’s lake house and this one other guy’s girlfriend is a Wiccan (which you think is going to make some kind of a difference, but it really doesn’t seem to – or does it? Did I miss something?), and then they drink some wine and hang out and there are magic card tricks. It all sounds very nice, actually, and makes you wish you had a friend with a father with a lake house. Then they get out the Ouija board and they make contact with a few dead people, and then there’s Zozo. (Unfortunately, this last line has reminded me of the theme song from “Maude” [“And then there’s Maude!” remember that show? It’s a little before my time, but I have heard the song] and it is now stuck in my head.)

So there are some minor scares and some weird stuff with the Ouija board and they all seem mildly troubled that there might be a demon wandering around and then they all go to bed and the one chick from the beginning – I guess she is getting attacked by Zozo? Sexually attacked? I don’t know. In the morning she seems mildly troubled (again) and tells some story about her mother also being harassed by demons (using words and phrases no normal human would ever put together) and then they all go and catch a fish and have a nice dinner and we find out how they all met (one of them was apparently an “ambulance guy.” Seriously, he’s described as an “ambulance guy.”) Then it’s about over. I won’t give away the ending, although I guess I kind of did up above when I mentioned her chapped lips.

It had potential. The actors weren’t great, but they were likable (although admittedly I do have a very high tolerance for people in movies and liking them even when maybe they don’t deserve it and nobody else would like them). There must have been a way to make the story more interesting, even if it wasn’t the most original idea ever. Is it scary? No. There must have been a way to make it scary, even if you don’t have a huge budget and all, right? And what the hell was with that song at the end??

Wait, was it scary? I think I am kind of just scaring myself now thinking about demons….

Animals harmed: 1 fish, who is horribly gutted and served with lemon.

Seriously, is there something right over my shoulder?