Ouija
Thanks to the efforts of its talented cast and crew,Ouija: Origin of Evilis more solid horror film than soulless franchise continuation.
Alice Zander ( Elizabeth Reaser ) is a widow woman living in Los Angeles circa 1967 with her two daughters : the teen Paulina ( Annalise Basso ) and her younger sister , Doris ( Lulu Wilson ) . While she makes money by performing fake seance for grieve masses seeking to contact their set off loved 1 from beyond the grave accent , Alice is struggle financially and still aggrieve over the death of her hubby - at the same clock time , doing her best to raise her two nipper . represent on something of a whim , Alice thus ends up taking Paulina ’s advice and buy a Ouija circuit card to incorporate into her business , in the hope of attracting more customers .
Alice and Paulina are then ball over to chance on that Doris , upon using the Ouija board herself , canactuallytalk to the dead - and in doing so , is able-bodied to help her family line cover with their money problems ( in more ways than one ) . However , it soon starts to become clear that Doris ' newfound " friends " from the other side are not what they seem … and that the only matter more dangerous than the mystical spirits whom the young Zander daughter has been communicating with , might be Doris herself .
A prequel to the critically - badmouth 2014Ouijaboard game movie , Ouija : Origin of Evilis a surprisingly square supernatural repugnance drama / thriller - considering that it easily could have been ( and most people were probablyexpectingit to be ) a empty effort to transform a half - baked cerebral property adaption into a full - fledged franchise . Credit for that belong in no modest amount toOrigin of Evilco - writer / director Mike Flanagan , a film maker who has made a name for himself as a repugnance theatre director in late years thanks to his critically - acclaim work onHushand , in particular , Oculus .
As a issue of this - in Flanagan ’s hands , Ouija : Origin of Evilmakes for an by chance effective court to the now - classical repulsion movie that were released in the 1960s and ' LXX ( The Omenin particular and its edition of the " evil small fry " figure hang big overOrigin of Evil ’s read/write head ) . This initiate from the film ’s very offset , asOrigin of Evilopens with the retro adaptation of the Universal Pictures logo , and continues with the design of the over - arching narrative ; one that takes an old - forge slow - buildup feeler , as cautiously head by Flanagan and his frequent conscientious objector - writer , Jeff Howard . At the same time confessedly , Origin of Evil ’s commitment to dish up theOuijafranchise do hold it back from scaling the same heights as the good horror offerings publish this year so far .
When it descend down to it , the actual standoff - in to the Ouija card game inOrigin of Evilis pretty unconvincing . The large mythology plotted out by Flanagan and Howard here ( and used to tug the story forward ) could have easily stood on its own - without the board ’s inclusion . The mass - produced Ouija board is equally tenuous as a plot equipment - raising more questions about how , exactly , the board social function than it resolve . Nevertheless , the family unit - in - peril storyline at the core ofOuija : Origin of Evilis expert enough to make up for the less - impressiveOuija - pertain news report element that have to be included here for the sake of the enfranchisement .
Moreover , as was indicated before , Ouija : Origin of Evilhas fun imitating some of the popular stylistic component among horror films that were being released around the fourth dimension of the motion-picture show ’s historical backdrop - including , big ' 60s - style title font and soft focus visuals . However , Flanagan and the movie ’s manager of picture taking , Michael Fimognari ( another frequent Flanagan collaborator ) , do n’t go overboard with the flourish here and add enough modern refinement to makeOrigin of Evilfeel like more than a kitschy impersonation of ' 60s horror picture palace .
Although the film succeeds more at conjuring up creepy moments and unsettle individual television camera gibe than creating as - unsettling scary succession ( the kind that someone like James Wan excels at),Origin of Evilis buoy up in the scares department by the performance from Lulu Wilson as Doris . In fact , many of the picture show ’s most unforgettably spooky and in darkness - risible moments come from Wilson during the scenes where sheisn’tassisted by freaky practical or digital effect . While Doris ultimately boils down to a variant on the " malign child " original , she ’s a memorable variation on the theme too .
Elisabeth Reaser ( The Twilight Saga ) , by equivalence , does fine body of work as Alice Zander - thought her character ’s motivation and actions more than extend believability at prison term , in parliamentary law to serve the large plot and bringOrigin of Evilto the inevitable remainder point that it has to attain , so as to mark - up the firstOuijamovie . The same goes for Annalise Basso ( who plays the younger version of Karen Gillan ’s role inOculus ) as Paulina , a even teen whose own arc in the chronicle is n’t as well - uprise as it could have been , had the firstOuijainstallment not already established what her net terminus is .
Nevertheless , these three lead mold a gracious family dynamic together and giveOrigin of Evilan aroused core - to go along with all of its scares and foundation - laying for the first installment in theOuijafranchise . The rest of the cast only includes two outstanding supporting player in Parker Mack ( Faking It)and Henry Thomas ( Betrayal ) as , severally , Paulina ’s love involvement Mikey and Father Tom , a widower himself who has semi - romantic tensity with Alice . Of the distich , Henry has the larger encroachment on the film ’s story proceedings - those his primary procedure is to move the game forward , as Father Tom himself does n’t go on much of a apparitional ( or physical ) journey inOrigin of Evil .
Alice (Elizabeth Reaser) in Ouija: Origin of Evil
Thanks to the efforts of its talented cast and crew , Ouija : Origin of Evilis more unanimous horror cinema than soulless dealership continuation . Still , although the movie is better than one would expect aOuijaprequel to be , it does n’t on the button make the case that this property should inhabit on ; rather , it propose its director and stamp would be better off working on material with fewer built - in originative restrictions . All in all , though , Origin of Evilis good Halloween time of year entertainment - and since the prequel can be enjoy as a standalone movie ( the moving-picture show ’s post - credits picture aside ) , look out the firstOuijaahead of time is n’t a necessity . Origin of Evilsuggests that even apparent cash - snap revulsion franchise installment can turn out well , with the right theatre director onboard ; perhaps there ’s Bob Hope forLights Outdirector David F. Sandberg’sAnnabelle 2yet .
TRAILER
Ouija board : Origin of Evilis now play in U.S. theaters nationwide . It is 99 minutes long and is Rated PG-13 for disturbing icon , terror and thematic elements .
Ouija board : Origin of Evil is a 2016 prequel to the 2014 Horror film Ouija . Written and directed by Mike Flanagan , the picture sees a Medium and her family using a Ouija board to attempt to contact her departed husband . She ends up making touch with another spirit that start out to have one of her daughters .
Alice (Elizabeth Reaser) in Ouija: Origin of Evil
Ouija: Origin of Evil is a 2016 prequel to the 2014 Horror film Ouija. Written and directed by Mike Flanagan, the film sees a Medium and her family using a Ouija board to attempt to contact her deceased husband. She ends up making contact with another spirit that begins to possess one of her daughters.
