The Ouija Board is the star of yet another film, this one a successful prequel to an earlier attempt and far more realistic than most of the Ouija-Board-based movies out there. The movie overall is a direct contrast to the predecessor it is a prequel to and is far more successful. Ouija: Origin of Evil is frightening and effective from start to finish. 

It’s the 1960s in Los Angeles, and widowed mother Alice Zander is trying to pay the bills by running a scam seance business. Other than a humorous jump scare in the opening scene, director Mike Flanagan lets the audience become familiar with the day-to-day concerns and relationships of each character. The widowed Alice is worried about keeping the house she and her late husband struggled to buy. Doris is bullied at school because of her mother’s profession. High school sophomore Lina has a crush on Mikey, the cute, lanky senior whose palm Alice pretends to read when he visits the house. 

Alice has a reading and accidentally invites an authentic evil spirit into her home. When the spirit overtakes her youngest daughter, she and the family must confront unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side. There is definitely plenty of suspense to keep the viewer’s heart thumping. This movie is scary enough that I don’t recommend watching it by yourself. The jump-scare level is too high for that.  

One of my favorite parts of this movie is how realistic it is. The characters are well-rounded and relatable and make the film’s action really effective. Their relationships are authentic and make the movie much more powerful.  

The first Ouija movie had horrible reviews and I almost didn’t watch this one, but I am really glad I did. It was the perfect teenage horror movie.