Ouija: Origin Of Evil - movie review
Ouija: Origin Of Evil
Plot: 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.
Cast: Elizabeth Reaser, Lulu Wilson, Annalise Basso
Director: Mike Flanagan
Rating: 15 (strong threat, horror)
Runtime: 1hr 39 mins
Release Date: Friday 21st October 2016
Cast your minds back two years ago. It's 2014. A film entitled Ouija was released. And here's my story... Before seeing it, I saw the trailers and they were dreadful so I don't even know why I bothered. I should have seen the signs. Then, an embargo was lifted and to say that it was panned by critics is an extreme understatement. Nevertheless, for some idiotic reason, I still went to see it. My story doesn't end there. I endured Ouija twice. Allow me to explain. About halfway into that shit-fest, I was so bored that I actually fell asleep in the cinema only to be woken forty-five minutes later by a loud jumpscare to end the movie. I decided that, to actually gain a full perspective of the film, I'd go and see Ouija again but this time, stay awake. So I did. Worst. Decision. Ever. Ouija was, and I'm not saying this for effect, a clusterfuck of boredom. It honestly was one of the worst films of that year and I thought it was long behind me. So, imagine my shock when I discover that a sequel was in production. Then imagine my disbelief that it turns out to be good.
With Origin Of Evil being a prequel and set in the 60's, thankfully, none of the cast from the original return so the only thing really keeping these two films linked is the board. The film focuses on a family consisting of a single mother and her two daughters who are struggling to get by with housing debts amounting. So, to counteract this, the mother sets up a business where she basically scams the general public into contacting their deceased loved one through rigged props and her two kids acting. Immediately, this doesn't strike you as the most likeable group of people as they're conning vulnerable people out of their money and emotionally assaulting them. However, this con eventually becomes real when the youngest daughter forms a connection and acts as a real conduit for the dead. Then, as horror movie logic dictates, things go wrong. The mother of the family is played by Elizabeth Reaser and she might not be brilliant but she is phenomenal in comparison to everyone that starred 2014's Ouija. Reaser pulls off the caring mother for the first half who is only looking out for her daughters and as far as emotional pulls go, I've seen a lot worse. The problem begins to arise when Doris (the younger daughter) experiences these powers. Having fixed the encounters beforehand and now seeing that this freaky shit is real, her character completely accepts it without question and continues to make money. In all honesty, from seeing her as a struggling and dedicated mother to now sponging off of her daughter, goes against the grain of how she was set up. What's more, is that if I had a kid and she started contacting the dead, writing fluently in Polish, crawling up walls and just basically being really creepy, she's being thrown down the river in a bag. Child or not, she is gone. Damn, that seems dark reading that back.
The only really sane character in the film is the eldest daughter. Annalise Basso is the actress and she's fairly good. Nothing mindblowing but as far as horror films are concerned, her performance is more than acceptable. She behaves in a way that seems totally understandable but the only thing that didn't work was a forced romance story between her and an older teen. It's clear what's going to happen to him and those interactions were ultimately pointless. Origin Of Evil does slip into various horror clichés and one of those is the obligatory presence of a priest. Henry Thomas is given the dog collar this time (known as Elliot from E.T.) and again, he isn't terrible but don't expect a groundbreaking show of talent. Fine is acceptable. The writers try to give his character some depth that can draw him into the story but that side of him is incredibly forced. I wouldn't say he was unnecessary in the film but there wasn't a need that it HAD to be a priest. The character could have been anyone ranging from a binman to a postman. However, the biggest selling point of this film and the primary reason as to why this franchise went from literal dog shit (I would rather pick actual crap off of my shoe or let Freddy Kruger give me a prostate exam, than sit through Ouija again) to creating a good film is all due to Lulu Wilson as Doris. Jesus Christ, this little girl is talented. For the first act, I fell victim to seeing her as a cute and innocent child, that when she gets possessed, Wilson terrified me. Not just creeped me out or was a little scary. 100% haunting. Wilson delivers a monologue describing how it feels to be strangled and I sat there in awe and terror. She stole this frickin film and saved this entire franchise from the apocalypse. By no means has she suddenly changed my opinion on the first film but Origin Of Evil becomes a good film because of her.
FACT: Flanagan also directed the horror film Oculus revolving around a possessed mirror. The same mirror can be found in the basement from this film.
With better performances, Origin Of Evil is already miles ahead of its predecessor. All it needs to do is show me a great story with twists, thrills and scares. It does one and a half of those. For a film based around a wooden board (Ouija actually is a board game produced by Hasbro, creators of Transformers. Because that makes sense) there isn't much inspiration for them to take. However, that being said, Ouija boards are synonymous with being creepy. I've had zero supernatural experiences but the idea that there is a way to contact the afterlife using a plank of wood and cup is a goldmine of ideas for horror films. So what was disappointing about Origin Of Evil is that it never seemed to capitalise off the use of the Ouija board. It was used at intermittent points when required but it was never the focus. The title of Ouija may as well have been removed because there's not much point to it. What Origin Of Evil does succeed in is creating a plot that is at the very least, watchable. I can confirm that I did not sleep during this film. The family dynamic was pretty one note but when shit goes crazy, it pays off. So the scares are at about half and the twists and plot are just about solid. However, a critical downfall was that it isn't as scary as I wanted it to be nor than it needed. Wilson is really creepy and when she's wide-eyed and rattling off freaky monologues, that is when I was unnerved. The rest of the time either was plodding along with no tension or scares or simply weak and ineffective jumpscares. I expected more from the director of Oculus (a film that wasn't perfect, but had real thrills and chills). To unleash my cinephile nature, the way that Flanagan directs this film is a throwback to classic horror films. Long takes, small setting. All of this is a homage to horror movies of the past. He even goes to the effort to have the Universal logo from the 80's, the title appear across the screen in a border and even has the small blips that appear in the top right hand corner of the screen to imitate it was shot on film signifying that the reel needed changing. For most people, that information just went over your heads but it's nice little touches that made this better than an average horror film.
Considering that the first Ouija sent me to sleep the first time and on the second round, being possessed would be the preferable option, Origin Of Evil was a more than acceptable saviour. Lulu Wilson is absolutely terrifying but it stills drags its feet for a while until the scares come. But at least I don't feel like this robbed me of my money (Ouija committed a theft which is a criminal offence so expect to hear from my lawyers).
My Verdict: 6/10
FACT: Flanagan also directed the horror film Oculus revolving around a possessed mirror. The same mirror can be found in the basement from this film.
With better performances, Origin Of Evil is already miles ahead of its predecessor. All it needs to do is show me a great story with twists, thrills and scares. It does one and a half of those. For a film based around a wooden board (Ouija actually is a board game produced by Hasbro, creators of Transformers. Because that makes sense) there isn't much inspiration for them to take. However, that being said, Ouija boards are synonymous with being creepy. I've had zero supernatural experiences but the idea that there is a way to contact the afterlife using a plank of wood and cup is a goldmine of ideas for horror films. So what was disappointing about Origin Of Evil is that it never seemed to capitalise off the use of the Ouija board. It was used at intermittent points when required but it was never the focus. The title of Ouija may as well have been removed because there's not much point to it. What Origin Of Evil does succeed in is creating a plot that is at the very least, watchable. I can confirm that I did not sleep during this film. The family dynamic was pretty one note but when shit goes crazy, it pays off. So the scares are at about half and the twists and plot are just about solid. However, a critical downfall was that it isn't as scary as I wanted it to be nor than it needed. Wilson is really creepy and when she's wide-eyed and rattling off freaky monologues, that is when I was unnerved. The rest of the time either was plodding along with no tension or scares or simply weak and ineffective jumpscares. I expected more from the director of Oculus (a film that wasn't perfect, but had real thrills and chills). To unleash my cinephile nature, the way that Flanagan directs this film is a throwback to classic horror films. Long takes, small setting. All of this is a homage to horror movies of the past. He even goes to the effort to have the Universal logo from the 80's, the title appear across the screen in a border and even has the small blips that appear in the top right hand corner of the screen to imitate it was shot on film signifying that the reel needed changing. For most people, that information just went over your heads but it's nice little touches that made this better than an average horror film.
Considering that the first Ouija sent me to sleep the first time and on the second round, being possessed would be the preferable option, Origin Of Evil was a more than acceptable saviour. Lulu Wilson is absolutely terrifying but it stills drags its feet for a while until the scares come. But at least I don't feel like this robbed me of my money (Ouija committed a theft which is a criminal offence so expect to hear from my lawyers).
My Verdict: 6/10
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