Spiritika 2 - Il gioco del Diavolo

The un-needed sequel to the 1986 horror film, "Witchboard", is about Paige (Ami Dolenz), a young woman who has just recently broken up with her boyfriend and moves into an artist loft apartment to try and take a break from things. While moving in, she discovers a Ouija board in the closet and for fun begins to play with it, and she ends up contacting the spirit of a former tennant who was murdered there. Then people within the apartment complex begin to die in strange ways while Paige tries to uncover the spirit's real identity.

"Witchboard 2" pretty much models the original, but with a few more scares here and there. A sequel really wasn't needed, it's basically a rehash of the original film. Although, I found the hippie landlord (played by Laraine Newman) hilarious. It was pretty mediocre. I'll give it half and half. 5/10.

After an argument with her boyfriend "Mitch" (Timothy Gibbs) concerning his controlling behavior, a young woman by the name of "Paige" (Amy Dolenz) breaks up with him and rents an apartment where she hopes to be able to pursue an art career in her spare time. It's during this time that she discovers a Ouija board which had been left behind by the previous tenant and, being somewhat curious, decides to give it a try. To her surprise, she actually summons a spirit by the name of "Susan" (Julie Michaels) who may--or may not--have her best interests at heart. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay 90's horror film which pretty much followed the same overall plot as its 1986 predecessor. And much like its predecessor, it could have used a bit more intensity or suspense as well. That being said, while I certainly don't consider this to be a great example of the horror genre, I suppose it passed the time well enough, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Much like the original, this is a reasonably entertaining film, but still nothing to brag about. I'd say that this was a little silly, even by horror film standards, but unlike most horror movies, I wasn't ever bored while watching this. However, like all other horror films that I have seen, this movie isn't scary, and the story isn't nearly interesting enough or funny enough to overlook this problem. This film was a decent time killer, but if you're looking for a good movie, try something else.

I didn't care much for Kevin S. Tenney's Witchboard: the script was weak, the acting was lousy (Tawny Kitaen, who played the central character, was more wooden than the Ouija board itself!), and the effects were cheap. However, this sequel, also by Tenney, is thankfully a lot better.

Sure, the plot isn't that original (essentially being little more than a retread of the first film), but Tenney seems to have polished his skills as a director a little, and has been wise enough to get himself a cast who can actually act.

This time around, it's a pretty young artist named Paige (Ami Dolenz) who discovers that meddling with the occult is not a good idea; she finds a Ouija board in the new loft apartment that she is renting, and, pretty soon, people are dying in mysterious circumstances, and she's becoming a foul mouthed sex-bomb (well, maybe not all the effects of a Ouija board are bad). Is the spirit she has been contacting attempting to possess her body, or just trying to bring to justice those responsible for her death?

Occasionally events get a little too silly (the scene where a man is pursued by a whirling saw blade is awful), but, on the whole, this is a step in the right direction for the series. Dolenz is easy on the eye (and her hair isn't quite as 'big' as Kitaen's), there are some reasonable jump scares, and Tenney throws in some quite impressive camera-work (a couple of moments might even give Dario Argento a run for his money, with the camera swooping down through a building window into the loft apartment, and, even better, passing through a moving car).

This is one of those movies that you must see. Ok, it's not as good as the first one but it is still worth renting. In this movie Kevin S. Tenney shows us everything that happened in the first, but this time with some better acting and better death scenes. For actors you have Ami Dolenz (Ticks), and Timothy Gibbs (Leprechaun 3). I didn't care for anyone else, except for Laraine Newman who played the "I'm still stuck in 1969 lady". She's a good actor, and plays the role of a hippie pretty well. (To be honest a little to well). If you liked "Witchboard" then you will probably like this one. Stay away from the third one. Kevin S. Tenney didn't even write that one. For Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway ~ 7/10 stars.