Prequel possesses more frights, feels
A general rule of thumb about horror- movie sequels: They rarely improve on the original. That’s what makes “Ouija: Origin of Evil” such a surprise. It’s better in every department than 2014’ s “Ouija.”
Technically, the new film is actually a prequel, set in 1967. That’s the first thing director and co- writer Mike Flanagan (“Oculus”) gets right. The atmospheric movie carefully reconstructs the period, down to vintage board- game boxes and the smoke that wafts through the air at an intimate restaurant.
Speaking of the ’ 60s, Elizabeth Reaser, so good as one of Don Draper’s obsessions on “Mad Men,” injects a wistful soulfulness into her role as Alice, a widowed mom with two daughters. Lina ( Annalise Basso) is going through some mild teenage rebellion while Doris ( Lulu Wilson) is a typical 9- year- old, though her father’s death has left her raw and vulnerable.
Alice makes her living as a medium, conducting seances to help survivors communicate with their relatives. It’s all a scam, but Alice believes she’s doing a service by giving hope to those who are grieving. She also longs for some of that hope — a layered touch that gives the character more depth than you’d expect.
She decides to add a Ouija board to the routine, and even figures out a way to move the planchette with hidden magnets. Doris wants to use the board to communicate with her father, and at first she appears to succeed. It seems innocent enough, with the girl delivering pleasant messages from the beyond. But how do you explain the fact that she can suddenly write using cursive letters, or the numerous pages she’s written in Polish?
That, of course, leads to a priest in the form of Father Tom ( Henry Thomas). A widower who turned to the church after his wife died, he and Alice form an emotional connection over their loneliness; again, adding unexpected poignancy to the characters.
Still, by the time the priest arrives, things are already reaching Linda Blair territory.
It’s such a terrific buildup that by the time we get an explanation for what’s going on and full- blown possession sequences, a certain familiarity creeps in. It’s not entirely the filmmaker’s fault; after all, how many times can you see a demon- possessed child do a spider walk and still be creeped out? OK, that’s still creepy. Plus, the final scene is the stuff from which nightmares are made.