Director: Stiles White
Writer: Juliet Snowden, Stiles White (Screenplay)
Starring: Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, Daren Kagasoff, Bianca A Santos, Douglas Smith, Shelley Hennig, Sierra Heuermann, Lin Shaye, Sunny May Allison
Plot: A group of friends must confront their most terrifying fears when they awaken the dark powers of an ancient spirit board.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Are people this stupid?
Story: Ouija starts with two young girls playing with an Ouija board and explaining the rules. Now they are teenager Debbie (Hennig) is burning the board but the same friend from the start Laine (Cooke) her best friend wants to take her out. It turns out the older version of Debbie breaks the rules and becomes frightened with what the results have said (though she won’t say what it was). Debbie alone in her house after sending Laine away starts getting spooky goings on including the Ouija board we saw her burn sat in her room, she then seems to get possessed and kills herself. Cue the opening title to show the friend of the lead being killed off to motive our lead.
Laine finds out about Debbie just as she was planning a weekend away with her boyfriend Trevor (Kagasoff). Laine reliving old memories through the videos they shot together. Laine being left with her rebellious sister Sarah (Coto) by her father starts to look into what could have sparked Debbie’s apparent suicide. Now inside the house Laine is getting spooky goings on haunting her with the flickering lights and noises until she comes across the Ouija board.
Laine does what every good friend does after their friend dies and grabs her friends Trevor, Isabella (Santos) Sarah and Debbie’s boyfriend Pete (Smith) together in the house where Debbie died and gets the Ouija board out to say good bye. After actually making contact with something they get to say their final goodbyes but little did they know that they have bought something back that starts haunting them with the message ‘Hi Friend.’
After being told not to use the board again, you guessed it they use it again to find out what is wanted by the messages. The friends find out they were never talking to Debbie and that they were talking to a much more sinister presence that starts picking them off one by one.
Ouija does enter into my favorite type of horror, the problem is that is doesn’t enter it very well at all. It tries to do the whole ghost investigation horror which isn’t really the scary type but enjoyable. This also tries to mix teen almost slasher and is filled with the characters making stupid decisions like NOT FOLLOWING THE RULES THEY RAM DOWN OUR THROATS, it also leaves me wondering how a teenage girl can just wonder into a mental home claim to be a relation to a patient without doing any research. Yet another negative would be the kills are all very bland and after making all the almost they just feel flat and forgettable. I feel this could have been dramatically better than what we got. (4/10)
Actor Review
Olivia Cooke: Laine Morris best friend to Debbie who tries to figure out what happened to her, she gets all her friends involved with the Ouija board and has to solve the haunting before it is too late. Olivia does a solid job in the lead role looking the part but its not her fault the character makes stupid decisions. (6/10)
Ana Coto: Sarah Morris rebellious sister to Laine who gets pulled into the situation because Laine doesn’t trust her home alone. Ana does a solid job but doesn’t really get any real screen time to build the character. (5/10)
Daren Kagasoff: Trevor who is Laine’s boyfriend who joins in the session only to not want to investigate any further. Daren struggles to make an impact with a forgettable character. (4/10)
Douglas Smith: Pete Debbie’s boyfriend who ends up teaming up with Laine trying to uncover what really happened to her. Douglas does offer something more than the rest of the supporting cast but still isn’t the most memorable. (5/10)
Support Cast: Ouija supporting cast is mainly victims and ghosts offer very little to the main story.
Director Review: Stiles White – Stiles struggles to make the horror film we should have had, the film gets stuck in the middle of too many different sub-genres to make its mark. (4/10)
Horror: Ouija offers the most obvious scares in horror history which ruins any suspense being built up in the film. (2/10)
Settings: Ouija uses the house as the most focal point for the horror which works enough but when things happen outside the house it doesn’t really make sense. (4/10)
Special Effects: Ouija uses little special effects but the ones that do get used come off well enough especially with the stitching up of the mouths. (7/10)
Suggestion: Ouija it would be hard to recommend this to anyone including the horror fans out there, the best I would say is late night TV watch. (Late Night TV)
Best Part: Good to see Olivia Cooke leading a film.
Worst Part: The film itself.
Improve Ideas: I think this could be better if it had picked a sub-genre instead of trying to mix 2-3 together, if it was just a plain investigation film it could have had potential to be similar to the Grudge. If it wants to be more slasher start picking people off early. It was one of the other.
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: There is a plan for one.
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Box Office: $95.5 Million
Budget: $5 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes
Tagline: Some call it a spirit board. It has existed for centuries. It is used to communicate with the other side.
Trivia: Hasbro Studios first horror film.
Overall: Uninspiring horror film with little to no scares, little to no story and little to no tension
Rating 
