Over a decade ago, Hasbro and Blumhouse teamed up for a movie based on the Ouija board game. It was a pretty profitable hit in 2014, and a prequel, Ouija: Origin of Evil, followed two years later.
Both of those films are currently on Netflix, but Ouija: Origin of Evil is the one you really need to see.
Unlike its predecessor, Origin of Evil is a horror movie that transcends its board game origins, and it deserves to find a larger audience.
That’s why Watch With Us has put together three reasons to watch Ouija: Origin of Evil before it leaves Netflix on August 15.
‘Ouija: Origin of Evil’ Completely Outshines the Original Movie
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Ouija: Origin of Evil is how little it needs the movie that spawned it. The story that unfolds in this film expands upon the events teased by the first Ouija. However, the prequel is a lot more enjoyable if you haven’t seen the original movie at all. If you don’t know the twists, then some of them are actually surprising.
Setting the film in 1967 also gave Origin of Evil an appealing throwback style. Committing to the fashion and design from that era went a long way towards achieving that look. But the real reason people go to horror movies is to experience the scares. Origin of Evil‘s scary moments aren’t as intense as some of the other modern horror flicks, but it works remarkably well as an adaptation of a popular board game.
The Cast and Direction Are Excellent
Mike Flanagan cowrote and directed Ouija: Origin of Evil, and he deserves the majority of the credit for this upgrade over the original. Netflix fans may recall that Flanagan was also the showrunner for Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Hill House and The Fall of the House of Usher. Origin of Evil predates all of those shows, but Flanagan knows the genre well, and his expertise was put to good use.
The primary cast also deserves praise, especially Elizabeth Reaser as a fake medium, Alice Zander, with Annalise Basso and Lulu Wilson as her daughters, Lina and Doris. At the start of the film, Alice and her girls rely on trickery to fool their desperate clients who want to speak to their deceased loved ones. When Doris displays a natural gift for channeling spirits with a Ouija board, Alice treats it like the best thing that has ever happened to the family.
Wilson’s performance is in the tradition of a long line of creepy young girls in horror, including Linda Blair‘s turn in The Exorcist. Wilson goes from adorable to menacing with remarkable speed. Henry Thomas also has a great low-key performance as Father Tom Hogan, the principal of the sisters’ school and a potential love interest for Alice. The dinner scene between Father Tom and Alice is one of the film’s highlights, and it doesn’t need ghosts. Just two veteran performers demonstrating some understated chemistry with each other.
The Film Doesn’t Shy Away From Going Dark
As noted above, Origin of Evil works best when you don’t know how the Zander family factors into the first Ouija movie. Otherwise, the reveals late in this film aren’t really that surprising. Yet as a standalone experience, Origin of Evil bucks the horror tradition of letting its main characters emerge largely unscathed from what they’ve been through.
The Ouija board does come into play at certain parts of the movie, but it’s amusing that the Zander family doesn’t realize they broke all three of the rules for playing the game until it’s far too late. That may not be the best selling point for Hasbro’s board game, but this is likely the best movie that anyone will ever make based on that franchise.
Ouija: Origin of Evil is streaming on Netflix until August 15.
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