Back in 2014 when I did my first
year of horror film reviews for Halloween, you may recall that I talked about a
little film called “Ouija.” If you don’t, well I didn’t like it. The plot made
no damn sense, the characters were all stock and cliché, the jump scares were
extremely frustrating, and it made all of the previous bad horror films that I
talked about that year look like “The Exorcist.” Yeah, it was pretty much the
worst film Hasbro and Platinum Dunes have ever associated themselves with.
However, due to the film being a
Blum House production, it was made on a low budget, which was able to regain
profits, despite the critics panning it down to the bone. And because it made
enough profits back, it meant ANOTHER “Ouija” film…oh boy. However, instead of
having Stiles White and Juliet Snowden, the couple that made the original film,
the studio instead hired Jeff Howard and Mike Flanagan, the duo behind “Oculus,” to
write a new film, with Flanagan attached to direct. I figured since it was
still the month of Halloween, and that there weren’t any other new horror films
out in theaters at the moment aside from Fathom Event re-releases, I decided to
give this one a shot.
“Ouija: Origin of Evil” is a prequel
that tells us the events that transpired in the first film’s house, back in
1967. We are introduced to Alice, and her daughters, Lina and Doris, who work
as con artist fortune tellers. When they acquire a new Ouija board as part of
their business, they awaken a dark spirit that connects itself with Doris, and
all hell breaks loose.
So, where do I stand on the prequel
to what I consider to be Platinum Dunes and Hasbro’s worst film? Well…in an
ironic turn of events, “Ouija: Origin of Evil” is not only better than the
first one, it’s also one of the year’s best horror films. It kind of makes me
imagine that Mike Flanagan stormed into the studio office and told them, “let
me show you bastards how to make an ACTUAL horror film,” and did just that.
For starters, the film doesn’t
exploit itself to the jump-scares, as opposed the first film where they
overused them every two to three minutes. “Origin of Evil” actually takes the
time to let the unsettling atmosphere and the building suspense put you on the
edge of your seat. And whenever you do see something scary happen on screen, it
isn’t framed in a way where you’re predicting something to pop up and scare
you, but rather has a creepy image in the corner of the frame, just slightly
behind a character. I truly applaud Flanagan for reminding us that there are
still proper horror directors being brought into the new age.
With the film taking place in the
1960’s, Flanagan goes all out to make this appear as much like a 60’s horror
flick as much as possible. Not just in the costume design, sets, and music, but
down to the use of the old Universal logo, the title card, and even adding in reel
changes, with the cigarette burns in the corner that pops up occasionally.
Sure, it doesn’t always keep that way, with some scenes adding in CGI and it
looking like it was shot digitally, but aside from that, it still keeps it intact.
It really impresses me how Flanagan took what was originally a cash-grab, and
turned it into a love letter to 60’s filmmaking.
Not only that, but the biggest
accomplishment that Flanagan and Howard did was they fixed the storytelling
problems that I had with the previous film. They actually gave proper
explanations as to why the mother’s spirit was attack the kids in the first
film, and how Lina telling the kids that releasing Doris would be a good thing,
when all it did was make everything worse. Not going to say what she does
exactly, but it is really satisfying to have SOME kind of explanation for it
all.
I also have to applaud the cast for
their work in this film as well. Annalise Basso as Lina and Elizabeth Reaser as
her mother Alice do a great job working off of each other. The two may have
their fights, frustrated by either a failing business or grieving still about
the loss of their father/husband, but they still manage to pull themselves
together for the sake of the greater good, even if it may not be the result
they want. At the end of the day, they still try to keep their family bond
strong, and both actresses succeed at making us feel that. Other cast members
like Henry Thomas as Father Tom, Parker Mack as Lina’s boyfriend, and even an
appearance by Doug Jones as the entity that possesses Doris, all do a great job
adding to the film’s narrative.
Speaking of Doris, I was really
impressed with Lulu Wilson in this film. For a child actress in a horror film, she
really steals the show. The way she transitions from such a darling child to Damien
from “The Omen” is very unsettling. And luckily, it slowly builds with the
film, instead of it being a quick multiple personality disorder. It’s kind of
like Jeff Goldblum in “The Fly,” only…well, you know what I mean.
Does the film have any drawbacks?
Yeah, it does. While it may not exploit the jump-scares, there are at least one
or two times it did it, but that was about it. And like I said, the moments
when it does occasionally use CGI, where you see Doug Jones as the entity, does
take you out of the 1960’s feel the movie was doing so well with. That, and the
effect was reminding me quite a bit of “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost
Dimension,” with Toby the demon looking like a gooey symbiote mess. Aside from
that, there’s not much else I didn’t like about the film.
Overall, I was surprisingly
impressed with “Ouija: Origin of Evil.” After this, “Oculus,” and “Hush,” Mike
Flanagan has a good future set for him in the world of horror films. If you get
a chance, definitely give this film a watch, and be in for a treat. For once, I
can say with full confidence that Platinum Dunes made a really damn good film.
9/10
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