[yasr_overall_rating]
In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their seance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by a merciless spirit, the family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.
2014’s “Ouija” had a simple premise behind it, use branded objects to make as much money as possible. The movie wasn’t a large success but with a $5 million dollar budget, it’s hard not to cross a threshold of profit even if your film is full of holes and cheap thrills. “Ouija: Origin of Evil,” is a prequel that does better than its predecessor but still has a lot to fix to be more than just a cheap scare that relies on loud noises and angle cuts to provide a rise out of people.
The film sets out to fill holes in that the previous film left open and it begins with Paulina Zander (Lin Shaye), a mother armed with a false séance workup, buying a Ouija board to spice up her act. With the board comes increased profit but also a channel for spirits to inhabit, which takes the form of Paulina’s daughter, Doris (Lulu Wilson).
The timeline is really pushed in this film and while using an old Universal logo and the soundtrack to match is all well and good, it doesn’t hide the issues within the film that never see their loose ends tied up; Paulina’s relationship with a priest, what happened to their father, what happened to the kid with the slingshot!? All jokes aside though, for a prequel that was supposed to answer questions created within the first film, it created many more than before and only answered the first which was what came before? The final scene doesn’t leave you with a sense of connection but rather a feeling that there will be a third film due to the need for a high profit margin. The film is arguably better than its predecessor, in that it doesn’t rely heavily on the board but rather, utilizes it as a jump off point for the story to take hold of and run, which is smooth. In the end, it is worth a watch but only if the night out isn’t centered around the film. What did you expect from a film that was birthed from a need to market a Hasbro product?
In theaters Friday, October 21st
