K.T Simpson
Director Mike Flanagan has been making a name from himself as the dependable writer-director for the horror genre. Flanagan doesn’t disappoint with the the prequel to 2014 horror “Ouija” with “Ouija: Origin of Evil”, based on the Hasbro game. Starring Elizabeth Reaser (seen in the “Twilight” series), Henry Thomas (remember the kid from “ET”?) alongside a relatively unknown cast, “Ouija: Origin of Evil” goes back in time to set up its 2014 predecessor.
Set in 1967 in suburban LA, the film centres around widow Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser) and her two daughters Lina and Doris (Annalise Basso and Lulu Wilson). The family run a scam seance and spirit-reading business, which Alice justifies as helping people come to terms with having suffered a significant loss, by allowing them to think that they are reconnecting with their lost loved ones. The scam runs from their house, which also happens to fit the mould of the old, large, run-down home in the suburbs. However when Alice adds a Ouija Board to their repertoire, things within get the house get very creepy very quickly.
Her daughter Doris meddles with the new toy late in the night, and tries to contact her deceased father. Her curiosity backfires, and she suffers the brunt of the evil within the Ouija board, sticking to the familiar template of horror films in which the youngest girl unwittingly attracts evil. Perhaps seeming the most vulnerable of the household, 9-year old Doris succumbs to the demons within the house easily, and no longer seems “herself” to her peers and teachers at school, nor her family at home.
What follows is a series of twists and turns and spine-tingling terror as the girl wreaks havoc on the family, their house and the local priest, Father Tom (Thomas), who gets dragged in by Alice to help them. It’s a race against time as Doris becomes scarier and more dangerous with every night that passes. When people begin to lose their lives, Tom and the family will do anything to end the reign of terror at the house.
”Ouija” delivers the scares very well, with the lack of soundtrack delivering the most suspense and a lot of jump scare moments. While the storyline is fairly typical for a lot of flicks within the supernatural-horror genre, the frights are real and the terror the family experiences will have you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
