I have no
problem with bloodless horror movies if they are done right. I think The Conjuring is among the best horror
films in the last ten years, blood or not. The problem is that Ouija is not done well, and the
bloodlessness enhances the boredom. Suddenly amidst this boredom in viewing Ouija I had a revelation about horror
films, understanding that mediocre acting and poorly written dialogue is far
more easily accepted amidst the spectacle of gore. Even though much of the
acting is above par in Ouija, I found
myself irritated by the horrendous screenplay and each of its contrivances; far
more than I would have within the typical distractions of this genre.
Although based
on the board game, thankfully there are only a few scenes where we are actually
forced to watch the characters sit and play. Instead the narrative quickly
turns into a typical hostile ghost haunting narrative, with the spirit hunting
those who played the game, not unlike a much softer version of the Final Destination set-up. It is a
slasher film without the gore and with a ghost as the killer.
The cast of
characters are comprised of a group of teens gathered together to mourn the
mysterious death of their friend, Debbie (Shelley Hennig). Regardless of the
fact that she mentioned the Ouija board the same night of her disturbing death,
Debbie’s best friend, Laine (Olivia Cooke), gathers all of her friends together
to try and summon her with the board. This leads to an inevitable connection
with a spirit, though it isn’t the one they were trying to contact. The angry
ghost begins hunting them down until they are able to burn the…yada, yada,
yada. You’ve heard (and seen) it all before.
While not
altogether terrible, Ouija is far
from memorable. What little spectacle the film contains is hardly enough to
warrant needing a high definition presentation provided by the Blu-ray. The
package also comes with a DVD and Digital HD copy of the film. The DVD extras
only include a single featurette about the adaptation from game to film, while
the Blu-ray has two additional special features. Ironically, both still seem
focused on the game board that inspired the film.
Entertainment Value:
4.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Special Features: 4.5/10
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