Plot: Laine (Olivia Cooke) and her friends are devastated by the loss of Debbie (Shelley Henning), a close friend who took her own life. Laine is desperate to understand why her friend is dead, searching for answers anywhere she can. This leads her to pore over her memories, pictures, and old videos, and even beyond those avenues. She knows that Debbie had used a Ouija board before, as they had played with one years before, so she hopes for some answers from the other side. She rallies a small group to give the Ouija a chance, though no one else seems confident it will lead to anything. At it turns out, there is more to the supernatural investigation than expected, as Debbie seems to reach out to them through the board. “Hi friend” is the message that comes across and soon, Lanie feels like she has gotten the goodbye she wanted so badly. Of course, not all is as it seems and when the friends begin to experience eerie things, they start to panic. Was it Debbie that reached out through the board, or something far more sinister?
Entertainment Value: I love movies about spirit boards and despite the PG-13 rating, I went into Ouija with an open mind. The story is basic, but serviceable, as some friends try to contact their dead bestie through the board. Things don’t go as planned and they’re chased down by an evil spirit, the kind of stuff you’d expect. But the emphasis here is on what happens when the board isn’t around, which leads to a lot of filler, loud noises, and teen drama. The scenes with the Ouija are the best in the movie, but they’re not the focus and the experience suffers as a result. The horror resides solely in sharp music cues and sudden loud noises, which is a shame. I don’t mind a well timed jump scare to break up tension, but that’s all Ouija even tries to offer. The cast is bland, but not terrible, though Daren Kagasoff looks about twenty years older than his fellow teens here. The movie is technically sound, looks good and has a visual polish, but there’s just no soul under that sheen, nor any kind of effective horror elements. Unless you’re a die hard spirit board cinema devotee like me, Ouija is safe to skip.
No nakedness. A number of hot girls on the docket, but Ouija is aimed at the teen audience, so no breasts to soak in. By the same token, there’s very little bloodshed, just jump scares and some spooky CGI images. The scares are supposed to come from the music cues, sudden loud noises, and quick bursts of action, like a character being yanked off screen. I don’t need gore to appreciate a horror movie, but if you don’t build tension and have no real scares, a little red stuff couldn’t hurt. The dialogue is bland and mostly forgettable. I was hoping for some spirit world mumbo jumbo at the least, but there’s little of even that. Even the teen drama comes off as restrained, so you can’t even bask in the melodrama. On the crazy side, aside from how Kagasoff looks decades older than the rest of the cast, this is one tame thrill ride.
Nudity: 0/10
Blood: 1/10
Dialogue: 0/10
Overall Insanity: 0/10
Marc Fusion 