Screenwriter, Stiles White makes his directorial debut with the latest table-game adaption for the silver screen Ouija. Staring Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel, TV) and Douglas Smith (Big Love, TV) and a number of other actors with minor TV credits, Ouija, is this years blockbuster attempt to scare up some Halloween box office.
Essentially, Ouija is the story of 5 archetypes mourning the loss of a sixth as they navigate a series of haunting movie clichés. After the suicide of their disposable blonde, five of her non-blonde friend consult the dead through a Ouija board in hopes of discovering a sinister meaning behind her death.
Ouija’s story works tirelessly to ensure that no trick done before is overlooked. The film is complete with unexplainable photo dating, ominous baths, splitting up in dark rooms, dangerous pool covers, walking through rooms without turning on the lights, trips to the attic and dark tunnels alone, a Latina with expert knowledge of the dead, and a crazy relative in an insane asylum; the film is more a Thanksgiving cornucopia of clichés than a delicious Halloween basket of fighting candies. (SPOILER ALERT) Surprisingly, only the minority and the boyfriend actually die (of course the minority dies first.) END SPOILER.
In Ouija’s defense, the core of the haunting story doesn’t fall apart. Usually, when it comes to haunting movies, they excel at the set up, then disintegrate as they try to resolve themselves. That doesn’t really happen. Ouija has a fantastic foundation – unresolved childhood fear. The fearful use of Ouija boards as kids, – the unknowable truth that your friends might have been messing with you or that you may have actually communed with the dead.
Upon this fear, Stiles White (also the writer) constructs a simple, appropriate, and horrific plot that is actually horrifying. What he doesn’t construct, are relatable characters who you actually care about. But, instead of believing in that horror, he loses confidence as a director and makes terrifying moments “scary.” (SPOILER ALERT) For example, when the non-blond friend crawls into the attic to search for clues and drops her flashlight, the flashlight quickly slides across the floor with a loud noise followed by the shadow of a dead girl jumping into the light with another loud noise. NOW, imagine the same scene filmed with confidence; Close Shot on the dropped flashlight, it slowly rolls across the floor, then slowly, the shadow of a dead girl emerges from behind a beam and – simply – stands – there – for five – long – seconds. THAT is the difference between “scary” and “horror.” END SPOILER.
Rating: “It isn’t the worst movie that could have been made about a Hasbro board game” 6/10
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