10 Most Underrated High School Horror Movies

Paco Plaza's Spanish-language Ouija horror Verónica (2017) may seem like a typical catholic schoolgirl possession film from afar, but it is anything but.

Verónica (Sandra Escacena) may have three siblings to look after almost single-handedly, but she's your typical teen when it comes to high school – neither popular nor outcast, and comfortable enough to dodge the class eclipse-viewing and go summoning the spirit of her dead dad in the basement. She doesn't bank on what comes to her instead, however, and the shadow of a demon stalks her for the rest of the film.

Like both Ouija films combined, but with a fraction of their budgets, double the artistic credibility, and three times the scares, Verónica is rich with symbolism and creative cinematography. It manages to maintain goosebumps for extensive periods, opting never to rely on jump scares and going deep on the mounting dread that carries it fluidly from first frame to last.

While the film was selected for the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival's lineup, and was nominated for a smattering of awards thereafter, it has since languished within the Netflix algorithms, enjoying neither a wide exposure nor the word of mouth appreciation that often follows an English-language release of similar calibre.