Los Angeles, 1960s. Recently widowed and with a less-than-flourishing financial situation, Alice Zender makes a living organizing fake séances with the help of her two daughters, Lina and Doris, who participate in the show by staging fake ghostly appearances. After catching her eldest daughter playing with a Ouija board at a friend's house, the woman decides to add this tool to her séances to make everything more realistic. However, the object is as fascinating as it is dangerous, and when Doris starts using it, problems begin. From that moment on, the young girl, initially convinced she was in contact with the spirit of her father, starts behaving strangely and adopting violent attitudes. It's just the beginning of a terrible demonic possession.
Within the vast landscape of commercial horror cinema, whose undisputed kings are undoubtedly Michael Bay and Jason Blum with his ever-present production company BlumHouse, a saga dedicated to the iconic Ouija board was bound to emerge. Patented in 1890, this tool allows communication with the dead and the ability to summon them. After inspiring many films like "Spiritika" and "Long Time Dead," in 2014 this subject returned as a prominent figure in the genre with "Ouija" by Stiles White, a film that achieved enormous public success with high box office earnings. A success, though unwarranted considering the film was of truly poor quality and destined exclusively for a young audience seeking their first thrills, which paved the way for a second chapter entrusted to the prolific Mike Flanagan, whom we have already seen this year in theaters with the decent "The Night Shift" and who in recent times is experiencing an unstoppable rise in acclaim.
The more encouraging the premises, the more they clash with the reality of a film, titled "Ouija: Origin of Evil," that is narratively messy, boring for long stretches, and above all predictable and clichéd for anyone with a minimum of familiarity with the genre.
The story of the Zender family indeed presents all the typical components of horror films about possessions and haunted houses: vengeful spirits from the past, a girl with a disturbing appearance and strange behaviors, the long final part where the most classic of the struggles between good and evil takes place, and the use of the usual tricks to instill fear such as sudden sound shifts and sudden appearances of ghosts and characters with completely white eyes. In all this, there is a complete absence of character development, and even the plot developments appear forced and inconsistent with each other. In short, Flanagan tries to be the "James Wan" of the situation without having the same narrative skills and, above all, the same mastery in creating atmospheres of genuine terror, except for the final twenty minutes where a minimum of tension is assured and a few jumps from the seat are guaranteed. Too little, however, for a film that starts from such promising source material but is now inevitably outdated and incapable of creating new suggestions from those already shown in previous films.
The only element deserving of full marks is the cast, which includes the tiny but brilliant Lulu Wilson, who perfectly embodies the role of the usual possessed child, supported by Annalise Basso, Elizabeth Reaser, and Henry Thomas, all more than dignified in portraying characters that are, in truth, not overly complicated to interpret precisely because of their lack of characterization as mentioned above.
"Ouija: Origin of Evil," in conclusion, is an avoidable prequel that adds little to the saga and, overall, is also unnecessary for explaining the first chapter, the connection of which is revealed in an extra scene after the credits. Failed without appeal.
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