553: Ouija: Origin of Evil

[00:00:01] Let's get to the second bonus review, which is Ouija, Origin of Evil. It came out in 2016. It is directed by Mike Flanagan. It stars Elizabeth Reeser, Lulu Wilson, Annalise Basso, Henry Thomas, Parker Mack.

[00:00:23] And the synopsis is, In 1967 Los Angeles, a widowed mother's daughter tries to communicate with her late father through a Ouija board, but unleashes a demon instead.

[00:00:38] As I talked about with the first Ouija film, really knew nothing about these at all. Either one. I don't even remember this one coming out.

[00:00:48] I knew that it got fairly decent reviews, better than what a lot of people thought. Say what you will about prequels, but I think that this story of how this curse, this spirit originated, is way more interesting than what the first film presents.

[00:01:09] As a whole, I thought it was solid. It's definitely lesser Mike Flanagan in his filmography. I know that he did a few other films in this nature when he first got started like Oculus, Hush.

[00:01:26] Mike Flanagan, who's the first filmography.

[00:01:30] Mike Flanagan usually deals with characters who are dealing with some kind of personal loss or pain, as in this with the father who died in this family.

[00:01:41] And the three women, the mother and the two girls, are not really the same, and they're all disconnected in some ways.

[00:01:49] The pacing is very thoughtful and deliberate. The writing of how these characters feel and also the performances are much more dynamic.

[00:02:03] It looks great. The 60s retro vibe is well done in production and costume design, but not overdone to have it feel goofy.

[00:02:16] The soundtrack is good with bits and pieces that are there. In terms of what makes the story a lot stronger, or stronger than, let's say, if another director took this same script or story,

[00:02:31] is that the main drive of the narrative is to try and debunk the Ouija board.

[00:02:40] It's not a bunch of characters saying, oh, here, let's use the Ouija board. Everybody acts stupidly, and it just becomes more and more silly.

[00:02:51] While the mother at first wants to believe this because she wants to speak to the spirit of her husband again,

[00:02:59] the father, the priest, the sister, they're all very skeptical.

[00:03:04] They're trying to trick the spirit within the Ouija board saying, hey, if you're this spirit, if you're this person, what's your middle name?

[00:03:13] Or how did you get here? Or where did we first meet?

[00:03:18] Even though the world around them is dealing with supernatural things, they themselves, with what they believe and how they act,

[00:03:28] feels completely normal if you were to encounter something like this, as crazy as it is.

[00:03:36] It does take a while to get going.

[00:03:40] Really, the first 30 to 45 minutes, not much happens.

[00:03:45] And then when things do pick up, it gets creepy really quick.

[00:03:51] And also, I like how in all of Flanagan's works, for the most part, not every moment in this feels like a horror movie.

[00:04:01] There are plenty of stretches that it just feels like a drama, almost.

[00:04:06] And that's because the other storytelling elements are so strong.

[00:04:13] It's not just relying on gore, which there's not really any gore, or flat-out jump scares to keep you engaged.

[00:04:22] The look of the camera when characters are looking through the Ouija board, and it has that fisheye lens and keeps the focus very claustrophobic.

[00:04:37] Plus, the look of the spirit when you first see them.

[00:04:40] It's mainly just a dark silhouette in the background with glowing eyes, or you see it through that Ouija board lens.

[00:04:49] When the young daughter first gets possessed and she curls over like she is in the posters.

[00:04:57] Overall, the special effects are good.

[00:04:59] When you see her jaw or mouth extend so the demon can get in.

[00:05:04] Whenever a character is possessed and they have the blank, white, veiny eyes.

[00:05:14] Similar to what I was talking about with the Grudge remake, the ending of this movie is great.

[00:05:20] When you see the older daughter after everything has happened and she's in the asylum, the doctor walks by her room and he sees the younger daughter in there as well.

[00:05:32] Comes back and the older daughter is standing right at the doorway.

[00:05:36] Then it cuts away and we see the other daughter walking on the ceiling upside down with her glowing eyes walking right towards the doctor and it just cuts to black.

[00:05:49] Really a very chilling end that doesn't necessarily make the movie a masterpiece or anything like that, but it's always nice when you have a great final moment in a movie.

[00:06:03] Some issues, there's not really anything glaringly bad.

[00:06:08] There are points that maybe drag a little bit.

[00:06:12] The third act becomes mainly just a possessed girl attacking the people around her.

[00:06:18] There's not a lot of real creativity there.

[00:06:21] It's the kind of classic possession exorcism kind of stuff.

[00:06:27] Honestly, of all the horror films around this time that are in this same vein, this is easily one of the better ones.

[00:06:37] So that one is a heavy three and a half out of five.

[00:06:41] So that's the reason why I'm so proud of you.

[00:06:41] Thank you.