Ouija

People have been pretty hard on this film, and I have to admit my expectations going into it were rather low. Especially when you consider it was written/directed by somebody I had never heard of with a nearly anonymous cast including a leading lady named Tawny Kitaen (Tawny Kitten???). But overall I was impressed. With a modest budget of two million dollars this independent film managed to produce a small profit back in 1986.

Rather than being a boring gore fest with wooden acting, as were so many of the 80s horror films, this one keeps you engaged with suspense, camera technique, and an interesting score written by a relative of the obscure writer/director. In fact you might classify this film as horror/mystery, as it is not at all clear exactly what is going on until the end.

The film opens on a party with Brandon, who seems to be an intellectual snob, talking about the spirit world. He brings out his ouija board and gets his ex-girlfriend, Linda, interested in contacting the spirit of a ten year old boy, David, that he has contacted frequently. A rather jealous Jim - Linda's current boyfriend - makes snide remarks during the session, apparently angering the spirit and causing it to slash Brandon's tires.

Linda asks to borrow the ouija board for a few days. She soon becomes obsessed with it and her behavior becomes erratic. Also, there is a sudden rash of what could be accidental deaths, maybe murders of people close to Jim. And by close to him I mean he is nearby when they happen to the point where he could have been killed too. In each case the cause of the accident/death involves an axe, and Jim's hammer/axe combo that he uses at his job on the construction site has gone missing. This causes Jim to be dogged by the most annoying homicide detective in the history of the world. What goes on here? Has David become a malevolent spirit? And if so what does he want? Watch and find out.

This one has pretty good acting including some good scenes between Jim and Brandon as the source of the tension between them is explored, as well as the history of their friendship. I'd recommend it.

Look out for Rose Marie of the Dick Van Dyke show in a small role as Jim and Linda's landlady.

80s horror films are remembered fondly for being fun and over-the-top, but most were fairly unoriginal, gratuitous and campy. Witchboard is special because its not a sequel or a ripoff of anything, isn't made for horny teens or punk rock sadists and it has a genuine interest in the scary subject matter - the occult. Director/writer Kevin S. Tenney would explore demonic possession with more fun and splatter with "Night of the Demons" years later on a bigger budget, but Witchboard is a good preface as its more believable, emotional and mature. I wish it was more exciting at parts but this is an independent horror film with limited means. Anyway its a good contribution to the horror genre for its time and it holds up better than many others.

Linda Brewster (Tawny Kitaen) makes two mistakes when she throws her big party. MISTAKE #1- she invites her morose, ex-boyfriend, Brandon (Stephen "Patch" Nichols) to the bash. MISTAKE #2- When someone breaks out the novelty device of the title, Linda allows it, rather than tossing it in the fireplace and praying for forgiveness. Worse yet, she delves deeper into deviltry, consulting the WITCHBOARD for advice.

Soon, Linda is plagued by nightmares, and begins yelling obscenities like nobody's business! Supernatural shenanigans quickly unfold, resulting in grisly, "accidental" deaths. Not surprisingly, Linda's current boyfriend, Jim (Todd Allen) thinks she's losing her mind. When the world's goofiest medium (Kathleen Wilhoite) is called in, all bets are off!

One of the more memorable mid-to-late 1980's horror films, it was Ms. Kitaen's big star vehicle. Fairly good at being overwrought, she screams and panics her way through most of her scenes, while her boyfriends worry about her. Their ensuing bromance will be tested to its core.

Almost a character in itself, Linda's pile of red hair soars whenever she's tossed around by the peevish ghost! No, this movie isn't overly frightening, but it is still enjoyable after all these years. Especially, the hair-flailing finale!

P.S.- Indeed, there is a shower scene, and yes, Ms. Kitaen does don her birthday suit... while screaming a lot!...

This is one of those movies that proves that you don't need a huge budget to make a quality horror film, or any film for that matter, but we are talking horror here. I had read many years ago that this film was made for less than a million dollars and even in 1985 that is chump change. But this film is so pure with it's suspence that you would think it was done by a major Hollywood studio with a ten million dollar budget.

When a witchboard is discovered it is at first played for fun. But then it becomes an obsession and it takes over the life of the woman that talks to it. A spirit named David is a little boy that may or may not be the spirit that is possessing the Witchboard and sometimes he is nice and other times he is down right nasty. There is also a great horror villains name in this film, Mal Veder, almost sounds like Darth Vader's distant cousin doesn't it?

What Witchboard does so well is it pays attention to detail and it pays attention to what made some of the great horror movies did. And what this manages to do is treat the camera like it is his best friend. The camera lurks mysteriously behind it's actors and beside them and above them and everywhere else. And what this does is it gives you the illusion that there is someone or something there, and that is the beauty of this film, you don't know if it really is someone or something there. This is great homage to some of the greats like Carpenter and Hitchcock.

Witchboard is a great 80's horror film and I like it for the fact that it is much more concerned with atmosphere than stupid blood and guts and unneccesary gore. 90's horror should watch films like this and use the same techniques to scare us. Blair Witch may have watched this but films like the Haunting and I Know.... and Idle Hands sure didn't.

This is a surprisingly competent horror movie, and it is certainly better than most other films of the same genre. That having been said, since very few horror films work for me, it should come as no shock that I found this one to be nothing more than an average movie. It did generally keep me entertained, and there were some clever moments in this film, but the momentum did not last all the way until the end, and so I'd say that it falls a little short of being "good".