chris’s review published on Letterboxd:
What an improvement over the first film. I never saw the original, but just based on the reviews, I can just tell the first one is horrible.
Ouija: Origin of Evil is written and directed by Mike Flanagan, who also wrote and directed both Hush and the 2013 critically-acclaimed film Oculus, which is based on the short film of the same name.
Lulu Wilson stars as Doris Zander, the little girl who ends up being possessed. I thought Lulu gave a terrific performance. With her role, you really need a kid who can send chills down your spine just by looking at you, and she does that incredibly well.
Annalise Basso co-stars as Paulina "Lina" Zander, Doris's older sister. Annalise has worked with Flanagan once before on the film Oculus. I thought Annalise was pretty good, but I thought Lulu overshadowed her performance just a bit.
Finally, Elizabeth Reaser co-stars as Alice Zander, the mother of Doris and Paulina. I thought she also did a great job. Her character is perhaps the most deceiving in the entire film, because, as we find out, the business she has by doing seances, is just a scam to get money to support her kids. I need to commend her for that. She's willing to do anything just to get money for her kids. If she really wanted to, she could have killed people and stolen their money to support the kids, but she didn't.
The film is a bit of a slow burn, but it works. It takes about forty-five minutes before anything really happens, but the content before it isn't boring. In fact, none of the film is boring, except for a few scenes that I felt could have been taken out.
The way the film looks feels like a 60s film. Right from the opening Universal logo to the hairstyles, this just feels like a movie from the sixties. It's incredible, and I have to applaud the filmmakers for that.
I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys possession movies. It's nothing like the first one, development wise. It's basically the plot of the first film, only done twenty times better.
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_c9acff10-26b8-4608-bc7b-d3640d655236" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-c9acff10-26b8-4608-bc7b-d3640d655236'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-c9acff10-26b8-4608-bc7b-d3640d655236'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-c9acff10-26b8-4608-bc7b-d3640d655236'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_5dc29c5a-2ce6-46f4-9f5a-01cc5018341e" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-5dc29c5a-2ce6-46f4-9f5a-01cc5018341e'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-5dc29c5a-2ce6-46f4-9f5a-01cc5018341e'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-5dc29c5a-2ce6-46f4-9f5a-01cc5018341e'));
