‘Ouija’ delivers some spooky fun
By Katie Walsh
For a horror sequel built on a foundation of genre pieces, “Ouija: Origin of Evil” contains far more goofy, spooky fun than you might expect. Though not original, it delivers plenty of stylized thrills and chills.
The filmmarks co-writer and director Mike Flanagan’s third horror release of the year, after “Hush” and “Before I Wake.” Any good exorcism movie has a few key elements, and “Ouija: Origin of Evil,” delivers in spades. Start with an adorable moppet, one who’s all the more horrifying when she terrorizes her family, spewing devilish incantations and climbing walls. Lulu Wilson plays young Doris, who soon becomes a bit too close to a ghost named Marcus, thanks to the ouija board.
Her single mom, Alice (Elisabeth Reaser), is simply too overworked and distracted to notice when her child becomes possessed by a demon, even though she’s a widow, a fortune teller and open to the idea of channeling spirits.
The hunky Catholic priest, Father Tom (Henry Thomas), tries his best to identify and thwart the demon. This film’s one additional element is Doris’ older sister, Lina (Annalise Basso), who is skeptical of the supernatural, but the person closest to Doris. When Doris starts describing strangulation deaths, finding old relics and money in the walls and scribbling pages in Polish, Lina realizes it’s time to summon Father Tom to the house.
The film’s design is spot on, from the heavy, dark, ’60s sets to the miniskirts and beehives. The ’60s slang (“Ya dig?”) is almost too much.
“Ouija” is long on atmosphere and myth. Its scares come from Doris and her terrifying behavior more than action or special effects. Wilson’s performance is cutesy-creepy, and she makes us believe it. The film has some unintentionally funny moments, but it mostly straddles the humor/horror boundary deftly.
Internal logic, however, is not to be found in “Ouija: Origin of Evil,” but its creepy ghost story just might scratch this season’s itch for scares.