The Horror Show
Ouija
by Stiles White
When I was a child I never owned a Ouija Board…but my friend around the corner did. We would always psych each other out by moving the planchette and claiming “I swear! It wasn’t me!” We’d try to conjure up all sorts of ghosts and spirits with the end result always being us doubled over in fits of giggles, wondering who was able to scare the other more.
Over the years there have been a whole slew of movies about Ouija Boards, including a personal favorite of mine growing up called Witchboard. So when I saw that the film Ouija was coming out in theaters, my excitement grew (despite the PG-13 rating) since I’ve always had an interest in the silly supernatural board game. The cast looked pretty promising as well with Olivia Cooke (The Quiet Ones, Bates Motel) playing the main character Laine.
The story starts out simple enough, two little girls, best friends Laine and Debbie, are playing with a Ouija Board and trying to communicate with some spirits. Flash forward some time and we see teenage Debbie alone, playing with the Ouija (which you’re not supposed to do). Laine calls and Debbie seems distant and cold, not wanting to hang out with Laine and not wanting to invite her inside. We soon watch as Debbie hangs herself with a string of lights from the chandelier in the living room. (Or so we are led to believe).
Laine, refusing to accept Debbie’s suicide, gathers their close group of friends and decides to use the Ouija Board she found in Debbie’s room in an attempt to contact her best friend. In the most basic way possible, the movie then continues on just as you would expect it to. An evil spirit is contacted and one by one, Laine’s friends begin dropping like flies. It’s up to Laine to figure out how to stop the spirit and put an end to its evil reign of terror.
This is where I now pause to yawn.
What could have been a fun movie with a creepy (although unoriginal) premise was one of the most boring films I’ve seen all year. I really can’t say that I was disappointed with Ouija because I honestly didn’t have great expectations, however, I was kind of hoping for something a little more fun.
The character development is basically non-existent and the story is rushed and overly predictable. The writers practically skipped over the most important part of the film: building a solid foundation in the lore of the evil spirit. Rather than deliver a strong story of sinister origins, we are given a lame, commonplace anecdote that barely held my interest.
And let me not fail to mention the over-the-top cornball of an ending. Ouija, like most other horror films, is just a different version of a story that’s been done a hundred times. But Ouija truly failed at developing its own rendition of the overused “ghost story” formula.
If you subscribe to premium channels in your television package, wait for this film to arrive there at some point, I wouldn’t even recommend paying for a VOD, let alone going to theaters to see it.
Stevie Kopas, HMS
The Horror Show Menu.