Ouija: A Fatal Fable of Foolish Friends

As a kid, my parents told me never to play with an Ouija board. You can buy one down at a toy store or on line at Amazon for about $20. Hasbro makes and sells this "game" for ages 8 to adult. Now Michael Bay, Jason Blum and Hasbro have teamed up once again to give audiences a cheap thrill by promoting a favorite child's toy as a film as they did with "Battleship." Olivia Cooke ("The Signal," "The Quiet Ones," "Bates Motel") stars as the best friend of an apparent suicide victim who just can't leave well enough alone. Director and co-writer Stiles White whose horror credits include writing, along with his wife Juliet Snowden, “The Boogie man," "Knowing," and "The Possession," work to tell a PG-13 story that appeal to the teen - aged moviegoer. The film starts out with two young girls of about seven or eight, in their pajamas playing with a cheap Ouija board and a plastic planchette. But first, the young blonde girl (Claire Beale) must tell the brunette girl the "rules" of the game. The first rule is, "never play alone," "never play in a graveyard," and finally, "always say goodbye." 

About ten years later, the two girls are seniors in high - school looking forward to college. Debbie, the blonde, now played by Shelly Henning ("The Secret Circle," "Teen Wolf") is alone in the typical old creepy multi - storied house -- with a past. The now grown brunette, Laine (Cooke), comes by to invite her recently and strangely reclusive best friend to go to a school game with her. The melancholy Debbie says she's not in the mood, but will see Laine tomorrow. After a few jump scares, the familiar low rumble of impending doom, Debbie inexplicably hangs herself off the second story balcony. With a dead friend now as a motivation, Laine gathers her boyfriend, Trevor (Darren Kagasoff), Debbie's boyfriend Pete (Douglas Smith), and Isabel (Blanca A. Santos), to hold a séance in the old house. In the hopes fo finding answers to Debbie's sudden and unforeseen suicide. Conveniently, because of the trauma of their daughter’s death, Debbie’s parents leave town to mourn. Laine's father, coincidentally, also leaves town for business putting Laine in charge of her younger but wild sister Sara (Ana Coto) who she brings along to the séance.

Stiles and Snowden walk the audience through every paranormal horror trope in the book: a house with a past, found footage, jump scares, and stupid kids summoning up the dead to a less than satisfying end. The best part of "Ouija" is Lin Shaye from "Insidious," "Insidious: Chapter 2," and more recently the indie Sci-Fi flick "The Signal" which also starred Olivia Cooke as well, as an insane survivor of a cruel spiritualist. The first problem I have with "Ouija" is the PG-13 rating. I don't think that a decent horror film should ever tone down the blood, gore, or tension, to keep from getting the audience limiting R rating. Secondly, White fails in trying to build character, primal fear, or hair raising tension, that develop a story and reworks the typical and tired horror tropes than just replay them. Finally, I am still having a problem getting used older actors playing much younger roles. Olivia Cooke is 20 years old (which I'm cool with) while the other members of the cast range from 24 (Isabella), to 27 (Trevor) and 29 (Pete). Other than Olivia, I had a hard time buying into these kids are in high - school. 

The idea that the living can contact and speak to the dead has been around since civilization started burying their dead. The emotional toll the loss of a loved one takes on the human psyche is beyond stating. Since ancient China, the use of a planchette as a way divining what the dead have to say. These planchettes were more of a way of holding a writing instrument that would aid the living write out the dead’s words. In the early 19th century, spiritualism was in vogue and séances featuring automatic writing with the use of a planchette. As the 19th century drew to a close, lawyer and inventor Elijah Bond had the idea of selling the planchette with a board that had the words “yes,” “no,” ‘goodbye,” the English alphabet, and the numerals 0 through 9. Some boards are elaborately adorned with mystical symbols to further the mythology of the ritual. Science believes that for the most part that it is just the persons involved subconscious moving the planchette. Either way, Ouija boards figure prominently in paranormal horror films. Perhaps the most famous and cinematically the most important film that features the Ouija board as portal to the dead and demonic is the “The Exorcist.” An unwitting Regan (Linda Blair) opens herself up to possession by the demon “Pazuzu.”

As the story progressed, I was reminded of the many  paranormal horror films that I've seen before, but without that emotional high. As the telltale inscription, "hi friend,” began showing up in the film, I had a bad sense of Deja vu. I was hoping that the filmmakers would do more to unravel the mystery of the mysterious spirit board itself, rather than remake the familiar ghost/slasher film that wallows in mediocrity. Olivia Cooke does a decent job and does her best to hold up a weak script. The special effects seemed rushed or in some cases hokey. A few of the important death scenes are either rushed, or only alluded to. At best, I would classify “Ouija” as slightly entertaining but like eating a salad for dinner, you’re still hungry and unsatisfied. Watch "Ouija" at the theater at your own risk, or you can do one of several things. You could wait until the powers that be release the film on DVD, which is my vote, or you can go out, get your own witch board, and scare up some of your own real frights.

Related

Ouija - Keep Telling Yourself It's Just A Game Trailer

Movie Data

Genre: Horror

Year:  2014

Staring: Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, Daren Kagasoff, Bianca A. Santos, Douglas Smith, Lin Shaye

Director: Stiles White

Producer(s): Michael Bay, Jason Blum, Andrew Form, Bradley Fuller, Brian Goldner, Bennett Schneir

Writer: Stiles White, Juliet Snowden

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 89 minutes

Release Date: 10/24/2014

Ouija - Keep Telling Yourself It's Just A Game Trailer

I  am not absolutely sure that creating a film around a board game is the best idea.  Especially if the game is about the occult.  That is exactly what is going on in this year's film titled "Ouija."  Some of the board game centered films turn out to be benign and fun, while others aren't.

I remember in 1985 Tim Curry along with Eileen Brennan starring as Mrs. Peacock and Madeline Kahn as Mrs. White with Christopher Lloyd playing Professor Plum, Martin Mull as Colonel Mustard and Michael McKean as Mr. Green. Did I forget someone?  Oh yes, there was also Lesley Ann Warren playing Miss Scarlet in Hasbro's "Clue." The gimmick for this film was that the director, Jonathan Lynn, filmed three different endings that would show in different theaters across the country.

One of my favorite films that feature a board game as the center of the plot is the Joe Johnston adaptation of Chris Van .Allsburg's book "Jumanji"  The film starred the wacky Robin Williams, Kristin Dunst, Jonathan Hyde, and Bonnie Hunt. When the film came out in 1995, I saw it as a cute family film that challenged the imagination with some silly fun.

In 2005, Dax Shepard, Josh Hutcherson, and Kristen Stewart starred in another  Van .Allsburg book adaptation, "Zathura: A Space Adventure."  This one was also aimed at kids and was a fun space adventure that also centered around a board game. 

2009 found Eliza Dushku and Mike Vogel starring in the horror-thriller "Open Graves."  The film follows three friends as they visit Spain.  After obtaining a elegantly carved board game they meet another American tourist visiting the Iberian peninsula. They all set about to play the board game only to find that each person who is eliminated from the game start having accidents that lead to their deaths.  

2012 was the year Hasbro and director Peter Berg released their film version of the classic board game, "Battleship."  The big budget Science Fiction, visual effects driven film only made $65,422,625 domestically. The production budget was $209 million.  Worldwide the film made $303 million with $237.6 million coming in from foreign markets. However, it is the domestic ticket sales that the studios depend on to determine if a film is profitable or not.

Does anybody remember Captain Howdy from the "Exorcist?"  He is Regan's imaginary friend  who played Ouija with Regan before she succumbed to full possession. 

"Ouija" stars Olivia Cooke ("The Signal," "The Quiet Ones"), Ana Coto Daren Kagasoff ("The Secret Life of the American Teenager"), Bianca A. Santos, Douglas Smith ("Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters").

This is Stiles White's directorial debut.  However, he has been working with Stan Winston Studio as a special effects production coordinator since 1994 when he worked on the Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt film "Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles." Since then he has worked on a variety of films such as "The Relic," " Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,"  "Lake Placid," "The Sixth Sense," and "Galaxy Quest" to name a few. 

Stiles White and Juliet Snowden wrote the script for "Boogeyman."  In 2005, the pair worked on the Nicolas Cage Sci-Fi film "Knowing."  Then in 2012' they took an article by Leslie Gornstein titled "Jinx In a Box?" and turned it into a major motion horror flick aptly titled, "The Possession." The film starred Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick and the Jewish rapper Matthew Paul Miller better known as Matisyahu.

Here is the synopsis for "Ouija:"

In Ouija, a group of friends must confront their most terrifying fears when they awaken the dark powers of an ancient spirit board. Stiles White directs the supernatural thriller that is produced by Platinum Dunes partners Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller (The Purge, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th) alongside Blumhouse Productions' Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity and Insidious series, The Purge), Bennett Schneir (Battleship) and Hasbro. Juliet Snowden and Stiles White wrote the script for Ouija, and Universal will distribute the film worldwide.

In the trailer above,  Elaine (Cooke) invites her friend Debbie (Shelley Hennig) to go out, but Debbie declines and ends up dying in a freak "Final Destination" type of death.  Elaine recruits her friends to hold a seance in the house that Debbie died in.  She uses a Ouija (aka spirit board) board to call her friend's spirit from beyond the grave, but unleashes something malevolent instead.

Also appearing in "Ouija" is Blumhouse Productions alumni Lin Shaye from the "Insidious" movies.

"As friends we gather, hearts are true, spirits near we call to you."

"Ouija" is due out on October 24, 2014 just in time for Halloween.

Movie Data

Genre: Horror

Year:  2014

Staring: Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, Daren Kagasoff, Bianca A. Santos, Douglas Smith, Lin Shaye

Director: Stiles White

Producer(s): Michael Bay, Jason Blum, Andrew Form, Bradley Fuller, Brian Goldner, Bennett Schneir

Writer: Stiles White, Juliet Snowden

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 89 minutes

Release Date: 10/24/2014

The Fourth Kind

Is there something supernatural going on here, or is it something else?

Starring Milla Jovovich, this 2009 thriller purports to be based on the true story of psychologist, Abigail 'Abbey' Tyler. Nigerian writer and director Olatunde Osunsanmi, films The Fourth Kind in documentary style, that creates the illusion of reality, however, the story depicted is, at best hypothetical. Universal Pictures marketing machine even went to the extent of posting fake obituaries, and news articles on the web as part of their guerilla campaign. As of this writing, The Fourth Kind has only grossed $25,486,040 in domestic sales and only $45,192,880 worldwide. In spite of initial poor reviews by critics, The Fourth Kind is a compelling story that will allow the viewer to speculate along with the film.

The movie starts with Jovovich telling the viewer that she will be playing Dr. Abbey Tyler, and that the events depicted in the movie are real, and corroborated with actual archive footage of the events. With the third wall between the audience and the film, Jovovich goes on to inform us that the events occurred in Nome Alaska between October 1 and October 9, 2000. As I tell my kids, remember, it's just a movie...

The scene switches to an interview room where director Olatunde Osunsanmi, is asking Abbey about the events surrounding the incident that led to her being there. Abbey explains that Will, Abbey's husband, was in the middle of a government study of disappearances in the Nome Alaska area before his death. Abbey too is having issues coping with her husband's death as we witness her therapy session with her psychologist, Abel Campos played by veteran bad-guy actor, Elias Koteas ("The Haunting in Connecticut"). As confessor and confidant, Campos urges Tyler to take some time off, 'to step back and get some clarity,' about her husband's death, her work, and her mental well being. Insistent on continuing her husband's research, Abbey continues to see a montage of patients that seem to have the same issues with insomnia, disturbing dreams, and visions of an owl or a face of an owl hovering over them while in bed. Abbey too has her own problems as well, she was in bed with her husband Will when someone viciously attacks him with a knife, Abbey is screaming in terror as Will is lying in a pool of blood. Abbey's struggle with dealing with her husband's death is that although she was in the room, at the time of the murder, she can't remember the face of the man who killed her husband. Okay, right away the viewer is gonna think that Abbey might be off her rocker a bit, however, her daughter Ashley (Mia McKenna-Bruce), suddenly went blind due to the trauma of losing her father.

One of the many patients that see Tyler for help is with a man named Tommy who wants to get to the bottom these nightly disturbances and Tyler puts him under hypnotherapy. Tommy recounts the vision of the owl, but then he starts freaking out, while director Osunsanmi, cuts to 'actual footage," depicting the 'real event”, we see the patient Tommy, seemingly possessed and writhing about destroying a table lamp in the process. After coming out of hypnosis, agitated and not liking what he remembers, Tommy goes home. Later that night, Abbey receives a call from the sheriff, waking her from sleep, and telling her to get over to Tommy's house as he has a gun to his family and himself barricaded inside. Abbey races to the scene and once again, Osunsanmi uses the split screen to show several 'actual views," from police video, documenting the event. After talking to Abbey for a bit, Tommy screams what does 'Zimabu Eter' mean, and then offs himself and his family; Abbey's career as a hostage negotiator goes down the drain. Back at the sheriff's office, Abbey and the Sheriff go at it, as he asks if Tyler's hypnotherapy was the cause of the man murdering his family and himself. Warned that she should stop her husband's research, the sheriff lets her go. Tyler goes through another patient, but not before Osunsanmi, treats his audience to interviews with the “real” Abbey, played by but not credited, English actress Charlotte Milchard. The key to building credibility to the events that the audience is witnessing is by substantiating the language that Tyler's patients speak while under hypnosis and a tape recording made by Abby after falling asleep while dictating research notes. What Abbey, Campos, and her secretary, hear is something akin to the scene in the Exorcist were Father Damien has a recording of Regan analyzed only to find that she was not speaking a foreign language, but English, played backwards. In The Fourth Kind, we find through the help of Sumerian linguist, Awolowa Odusami (Hakeem Kae-Kazim), that the phrase repeated by Tommy and the words on Abbey's recording is the ancient and quite dead Sumerian language. Odusami, translates Abbey's tape and although doesn't come up with a complete sentence, he does catch the words 'examine," 'our creation," and 'destroy." Creepy, huh?

"The Fourth Kind" is not anywhere as magical as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, nor is it as dramatic as The Abyss; however, there are many things to like about this film. Although, this is Olatunde Osunsanmi's third directorial attempt, and he, like Lovecraft, relies on building suspense, adding detail and imagery to create a viable world, while raising the question in the audience mind, of his hero's sanity. The split screens are occasionally distracting; in a Cloverfield-Blair Witch Project, kind of way, but the plot is interesting and character development compelling. The musical score is tense, and the sound effects are chilling. Jovovich, Patton, and Koteas are all believable in their parts and even the 'actual' footage does inspire credibility. The Forth Kind's pacing although quick starts fast and maintains that speed until the final scenes where Osunsanmi, gives the viewer some time to take in all that has happened and mull over the final revelations. If you are watching a film about alien abduction in the first place, you have no doubt already allowed yourself a suspension of disbelief. There are some Memento (2000) moments throughout the film, where certain ‘facts’ that Tyler presents are disproved by the Sheriff August. If you like suspense, alien abduction flicks, and the supernatural, then The Fourth Kind is a film you will no doubt enjoy.

Movie Data

Genre:  Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Year:  2009
Staring: Milla Jovovich, Will Patton, Elias Koteas
Director:  Olatunde Osunsanmi
Producer(s) Paul Brooks, Joe Carnahan, Terry Robbins
Writer: Olatunde Osunsanmi
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 98 minutes
Release Date: 9/6/2009