Jungle
Ouija: Origin of Evil

Ouija: Origin of Evil

Movie
Director(s): 
Genre: 
In Theatres: 
Oct 21, 2016
Grade:
B-
Running Time: 
99 minutes

By all accounts, Ouija was a terrible film; an uninspired horror-less mess that relied solely upon the brand recognition of the board game it’s based on. Still, it managed to make enough at the box office to warrant a sequel. That’s not the surprising part. What’s truly surprising is how Ouija: Origin of Evil  manages to improve upon the original in every way possible to become a solid horror film.

 

Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser) works as a medium and fortune teller out of her own home, using her daughters, Paulina (Annalise Basso) and Doris (Lulu Wilson), to help scam people into believing that she can actually communicate with the dead. But after purchasing a Ouija board as a new prop for her routine, Doris surprisingly begins communicating with the dead for real, including with that of her deceased father. As Doris uses the Ouija board more and more to communicate with the spirits, she begins to change and disturbing things begin happening around the house. It turns out the dead aren’t just speaking to Doris but using her to return to the world of the living. With the help of the local priest, Alice struggles to find a way to get her daughter back from the spirits possessing her before it’s too late.

 

As the title suggests Origin of Evil acts as a prequel to the first film and explores the Zander family and the events that led to the mother dying, Doris having her mouth sewed shut, and her older sister Paulina being committed to a psychiatric hospital. The story makes much more sense than the original and doesn’t revolve solely around jump scares. Lulu Wilson as the little girl is perfectly terrifying and makes the film as good as it is. Her presence alone is enough to send shivers down your spine. Her creepy smile is icing on the horror cake.

 

Ouija: Origin of Evil is not without its faults, though. The story is your standard haunting fare plotline. It’s simple and predictable yet still effective. The dialogue can be overwhelmingly cheesy at times, and the acting unfortunately doesn’t lend a helping hand. In a time where the horror genre has stepped its game up considerably, this just doesn’t cut it anymore.

 

While I knew Origin of Evil couldn’t be any worse as the original Ouija, I never expected it to be as good as it turned out. Director Mike Flanagan has done a complete 180 with the franchise by focusing on making a good horror film rather than just a horror film that’s used as product placement for a board game. As far as sequels/prequels go, I couldn’t be more impressed with the turnaround.

Matt Rodriguez
Review by Matt Rodriguez
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