Movie Review: Ouija (2014)

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Synopsis: Laine Morris doesn't believe her best friend, Debbie, killed herself and convinces both her sister and a group of friends to use Debbie's Ouija board to contact her from beyond the grave. However, instead of contacting Debbie, they inadvertently awaken the evil presence that killed her.

Who's in it? The movie stars Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, Darren Kagasoff, Bianca Santos and Shelley Hennig.


Review: I've seen Ouija before, but I couldn't remember a whole lot about the movie, other than I didn't like it all that much. When I came across it again, I decided (as I sometimes do) to give it a second chance. My opinion of it was the same as I remembered.

I think the main problem with this film is it tends to drag things out a little bit too much. Other than a couple jump scares, the movie just lacked any real action or urgency with much more buildup than was necessary to justify the very little that happened.  As a result of that, this film was just dull.

Let me add a bit more detail - The friends make contact with a spirit they believe is Debbie (Hennig) then go home/to school/to work as though contacting someone who is dead is just a normal thing. They then make contact again and realize it is an evil spirit before they once again go back to work and school. 

Look, I can respect that sense of responsibility to an extent. However, at some point, such as when one of their group dies, it did become a bit ridiculous.

I also could describe the movie as being predictable. As I mentioned, I remembered absolutely nothing about the movie from the first time we saw it but was able to predict various deaths based on obvious foreshadowing, especially when the movie showed the pool near the beginning. It can't be said enough, predictability and horror films don't mix.

Final Opinion: This was a movie that had some potential but fails to reach it because of poor execution. To paraphrase a popular Toby Keith song, the movie needed a little less talk and a lot more action.

My Grade: D

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Here are some reviews of other movies from 2014:

Movie Review: The Bunnyman Massacre (2014)

Movie Review: Lap Dance (2014)

Movie Review: Moms' Night Out (2014)

Movie Review: Reaper (2014)

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