Let me just start by saying I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. There was a lot of hype around it, but being an avid horror fan I had doubts they could make a quality haunting movie. Mostly due to my opinion on the quality of a certain haunting movie franchise that I think is overrated. I can't say this movie brought anything new to horror and I don't think it surpasses much more than being "Good", but I can say that it does have a refreshing take on the genre.
The story was decent and I'm surprised how well they pay respects to actual medium practices. It's impressive to see spiritual contact be given proper representation unlike some other movies (*coughconjuringcough*). The only reason I knew there would be a twist in the story was that I saw there was still plenty of time left in the movie for a twist to appear. If they had drawn out the scenes of being done, it would have been a legitimate surprise.
There are seven characters involved and while none of them are oscar worthy performances, it's passable. The characters themselves aren't horribly bland, but they don't have a lot of personality either. Personality in your main protagonists isn't exactly a strong suit in horror movies, though, so the effort they manage to put in is appreciated.
I'll give the movie some credit: The characters are smart. I think Ouija may be the horror movie that has the least number of times I called the protagonists "Dumbass." They turn on lights, they make a point to never do something alone, they actually think about what they're doing before they do it, they know to f**king run whenever bad s**t happens, and they constantly jump to the simple solution of fixing their problems. Now there are times in the film where I shook my head and told the characters they're idiots, but it was far less than in other horror films.
Final Verdict
Ouija is far from a masterpiece and I don't expect it to get a cult following, but it's one of the better horror movies I've seen come out since Saw and Paranormal Activity finally stopped cluttering up the horror movie genre. It's good, but not great. I'm glad I didn't see it in theaters because I don't think it's worth the price of a ticket. However, if you're a fan of horror movies like I am, I think it's worthy of being part of the collection.
Film A surprising spirit film
Let me just start by saying I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. There was a lot of hype around it, but being an avid horror fan I had doubts they could make a quality haunting movie. Mostly due to my opinion on the quality of a certain haunting movie franchise that I think is overrated. I can't say this movie brought anything new to horror and I don't think it surpasses much more than being "Good", but I can say that it does have a refreshing take on the genre.
The story was decent and I'm surprised how well they pay respects to actual medium practices. It's impressive to see spiritual contact be given proper representation unlike some other movies (*coughconjuringcough*). The only reason I knew there would be a twist in the story was that I saw there was still plenty of time left in the movie for a twist to appear. If they had drawn out the scenes of being done, it would have been a legitimate surprise.
There are seven characters involved and while none of them are oscar worthy performances, it's passable. The characters themselves aren't horribly bland, but they don't have a lot of personality either. Personality in your main protagonists isn't exactly a strong suit in horror movies, though, so the effort they manage to put in is appreciated.
I'll give the movie some credit: The characters are smart. I think Ouija may be the horror movie that has the least number of times I called the protagonists "Dumbass." They turn on lights, they make a point to never do something alone, they actually think about what they're doing before they do it, they know to f**king run whenever bad s**t happens, and they constantly jump to the simple solution of fixing their problems. Now there are times in the film where I shook my head and told the characters they're idiots, but it was far less than in other horror films.
Final Verdict
Ouija is far from a masterpiece and I don't expect it to get a cult following, but it's one of the better horror movies I've seen come out since Saw and Paranormal Activity finally stopped cluttering up the horror movie genre. It's good, but not great. I'm glad I didn't see it in theaters because I don't think it's worth the price of a ticket. However, if you're a fan of horror movies like I am, I think it's worthy of being part of the collection.