Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)


I had only one reason to watch Ouija, and that is because I heard good things about this prequel.  I have also heard that this one could be enjoyed without seeing the first, which is kind of true.  The thing this movie does right is concentrate on the only interesting part of the original movie which was the origin of the board itself.  Some futzing is done to make it a better story, none of the actors who played the ghosts in in Ouija return, but that's not a big deal.  The original movie was not that good, and in fact one of the worst examples of the PG-13 horror trend that stretched from the late '90s into the 2010s. 

Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser) is a fortune teller and fake psychic who often involves her older daughter Lina (Annalise Basso) in her act.  Her younger daughter Doris (Lulu Wilson) is, like the rest of the family, reeling from the loss of her father, and suffers teasing at school because of her mother's profession.  Lina has begun acting out in defiance of her mother and, at a party she goes to, is introduced to a Ouija board.

Alice takes up the suggestion of including it in her act and rigs it so it appears to work on its own.  However, when her mother is testing it, Doris suddenly begins to hear and communicate with spirits.  Alice initially uses this to her advantage to increase her customer base.  Lina, however, becomes concerned and speaks with Father Tom (Henry Thomas), the principal of her school, who has his suspicions about Doris's powers.  It soon becomes clear that the spirits controlling Doris are not benign and that they have plans now that they have a vessel to work through.

The reason Ouija: Origin of Evil got attention, or even an audience, after the horrible Ouija was because of Mike Flanagan.  He had not yet started to adapt Stephen King stories but had success with horror fans with his films Oculus and Hush.  Some of the reputation of this movie is well-deserved as Flanagan does manage to work a good story from the little bit that is revealed of the Zander family and turn it into something much more interesting than the original.  

Still, he couldn't escape that movie.  Much of what happens, including a post-credits scene, serves to tie in with it.  One can enjoy Ouija: Origins of Evil without ever seeing the original, and it is probably better that way, but it feels more like Flanagan rescued a flailing franchise from being completely forgotten and maligned.  In the end it is still a movie sponsored by Hasbro and meant to sell Ouija boards.

It also has some questionable CGI, something I often feel Flanagan uses too much of in his movies.  What is supposed to be creepy often looks so fake that it ruins any illusion of it being a scary movie.  There is also the heavy determination to make it PG-13 to the point where it has a PG level of blood.  Almost everything that does happen is off screen.  What the makers of this needed to do was go for an R-rating to differentiate it from the original, but the decision was still made at some point to neuter it as well as cut a good deal of Doug Jones's role and erase others entirely.

It is still a decent film but, if it wasn't hamstrung by being a prequel to one of the worst horror films of the 2010s, it would be better.  There is still too much of an attempt to bring in teenagers and not enough concentration on making an actual horror film.

Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
Time: 99 minutes
Starring: Elizabeth Reaser, Annalise Basso, Lulu Wilson, Henry Thomas
Director: Mike Flanagan

 

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