Ouija: Origin Of Evil
Directed by Mike Flanagan
Starring Elizabeth Reaser, Lulu Wilson, Annalise Basso, Parker Mack, and Henry Thomas.
[rating: 4/5]
You know things have gone awry when, at the height of what should be Oscar-baiting season, you have to choose between a Jack Reacher sequel no one was waiting for, a tasteless comedy starring the accidental star Zach Galifanakis (I won’t reveal the title for fear you’ll find it), andOuija: Origin Of Evil, another horror prequel whose predecessor few people seemed aware of. Considering the tension resistant, scare-lessness of the first instalment, Ouija, it was a noodle scratcher how Origin of Evil even made it to a sound stage. Thankfully, what we have here is a well-proportioned prequel by a director who knows how to get you right where it hurts, and then tickle you seconds later. Who would have guessed?
Released in 2014, part one was a badly cast, careless piece of goods. It of course concerned a Ouija board that, once used, unleashed a troubled little girl, a ghoul, and for those who even dared to glance at it, horrific death followed; it was such an obvious attempt at remixing the Final Destination franchise it was near unwatchable. The horror sprang from the history of the house where the board was used. Now in Origin Of Evil, that history is explored and for lovers of old-fashioned chills and thrills, a visit is advised. Set in an unnamed American town in fashionable 1967, a period piece yet, it begins with a séance conducted by phony medium Madam Zander (the beautiful Elizabeth Reaser), a widow, with a little help from her two daughters, teenager Paulina (Annalise Basso) and 9 year-old Doris (Lulu Wilson). She contacts the other side for the grief-stricken (with plenty of smoke and mirrors) but when the bank threatens to foreclose on her home she decides to add a Ouija board to spice up her act. Soon after, the house goes bump, their hearts go thump, and little Doris’s eyeballs roll back with ghouls waiting to catch her fall.
Refreshingly lively, director Mike Flanagan throws a lot into the mix. With necks snapping, unearthly voices, and monsters lurking in the walls, the movie’s built out of jump scares (and more refreshing still, no blood in sight). It’s usually a cheap shot relying on such tricks but Flanagan toys with us, priming us for the shock of a figure hiding in the corner of the screen or little Doris suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Wilson is clearly having the time of her life playing this possessed child and you half expect her to point and say “Gotcha!!” In one memorable scene, she explains in great detail to Paulina’s boyfriend Mikey (Parker Mack) how it feels to be strangled to death. It’s deliciously nasty, a knife-edged scene that had the audience holding its collective breath.
The haunted house genre, on the comeback trail, seems to be hitting the right notes again. In both Insidious and The Conjuring, the tension and horror were constructed with care and affection and fine performers like Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Vera Farmiga, and Lili Taylor (horror belongs to the ladies after all) bought their personal best to the ghostly happenings. Reaser, Basso, and Wilson do the same here. They have the right faces for this trip, they belong, and they give the prickly terror just the right texture. Its a good looking film too. With an autumnal setting, the cinematography by Michael Fimognari is marvelous and Patricio M. Farrell’s set design is beautiful.
