The critics seem to be tripping over themselves to talk about how scary this new Ouija film is for audiences. I’ll tell you friends, I was scared; scared at how totally-nothing-special-in-any-way this film is in reality. If this is the future of horror, I think we should go ahead and pronounce the genre dead and gone.
First of all, the film is not scary—at all! Maybe first-time horror-goers will find some of the jump scares spooky, but other than that, it is just boring. Just about every jump scare in the film is spoiled in the preview, so that’s always a letdown. I had hoped for a relentless tale of terror, but instead we get a boring and pointless introduction. The hardest part for everyone on set was probably not openly laughing at the idea of a haunted board game.
The film follows scam-artist psychic reader Alice Zander who also drags her two kids into the con. Why the film chooses to start this way (and hamper on it for too long) is beyond me. The 90-minute run-time could have easily been cut down to 70. The boyfriend and priest characters (they don’t even need names) are completely pointless. The con artist angle is pointless. You might see a theme emerging here…
The possession portion of the film is interesting, but overdone. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, here you haven’t seen in every other horror film they are cranking out on the assembly line these days. The face of Doris while she is possessed is interesting and sometimes offers a slight level of creepiness, but nothing else does. The climax of the film will make you laugh out loud. A stupid climax filmed in a stupid way. Following the absurd climax is a painfully dumb conclusion.
I suppose I should mention the “period-piece” aspect of the film. Yes, it is set in 1967. The wardrobe, cars, home, and even the film quality seems to fit with this period. Why this is a reason to celebrate the film is beyond me. Great, they made a crappy movie that has a distinct temporal feel. The film has around four locations—so this accomplishment needs to be tempered. The creators made the film with love, but it cannot escape the moorings of a cheesy premise and a thin script. 5/10
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