Review of Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016) by Brett H — 01 Dec 2016

Ouija: Origin Of Evil is the terrifying prequel to the 2014 Ouija film that absolutely sucked, with this one being helmed by an extremely talented horror director, Mike Flanagan who completely righted this franchise.

The story follows a family of paranormal mediums who accidentally bring a deadly spirit into their home after adding a Ouija board to their seances, which leads to one hell of a creepy ride! The directing of this film is immaculate, with unsettling tension, sharp writing, and an uneasy sense of dread that is capitalized on greatly with some truly surprising scares I did not see coming! Flanagan also gives incredible detail to the period setting of 1967 by having the title card reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood, using the old Universal Studios logo at the beginning, and by including digital blips in the top right corner of the frame, which back then would signal to the projectionist when to switch reels.

The film stars Elizabeth Reaser, Annalise Basso, Lulu Wilson, and Henry Thomas (Elliot from E.T.), who all do a masterful job selling the situation with Lulu Wilson doing a PHENOMENAL job adding new flair to the tired cliché of the possessed little girl trope.

The film is a bit handcuffed by the canon built up from the first film, but Flanagan expertly tip-toes around those trappings and furthers the mythology his own way. This is a straight-up, well-crafted horror film that ticks all of the boxes required for a possession movie, but with Flanagan's passion, breathes new life into the genre and certainly blows the first Ouija film completely out of the water.