Directed by Stiles White. Written by White and his wife, Juliet Snowden. Starring Olivia Cooke, Daren Kagasoff, Douglas Smith, Robyn Lively, Bianca Santos, Ana Coto and Lin Shaye.
Plot: a group of friends have to confront their fears after releasing dark powers while playing with a Ouija board.
Debbie throws her Ouija board in the fire, burning it, but then it reappears in her room. She ends up hanging herself and somehow, later, her BFF Laine, thinks it’s a good idea to use the board to contact her dead friend. Like, that’s the worst idea ever. And yet, she even gets four of her friends to go along with it.
I’ll leave the plot there because that’s actually not what’s wrong with this movie. The Ouija plot is a classic one. We were just upset because they could’ve done so much more with this and they failed. Also, the writing wasn’t very consistent which I believed made it hard for the actors to do their jobs well. For instance, one minute Isabelle (Santos) is like, “I don’t believe this” and then three seconds later she’s freaking out like she believes in everything ever. And Sarah (Coto) doesn’t want to Ouija at all – if I can use that as a verb for a second – but then starts to cry and tells “Debbie” she misses her, then later says that it was all stupid and none of it was real. And Laine (Cooke) is all about the board, but then shit gets scary and she’s all, “We’ll just put that away and never do it again and it will solve everything.”
There’s also all sorts of other problems. The fact that their friend just died and no one seems to care much. The big emotional scene at the end that’s supposed to be a big deal isn’t even mentioned by Laine after it happens. And when the ghost finally shows up, she looks absolutely awful and all we get as a reaction is an “Oh!”. I would’ve been shitting bricks and screaming my ass off.
The movie was scary. I’ll give it that. We both will. But everything else suffered. We don’t recommend.
I suppose I could list my favorite movies here, but instead I'll give you a strange glimpse into what makes me TaraRomero.
1. I met George Romero. He was the kindest and sweetest man. He talked to me for longer than he should have with the line getting longer. He also held my hand. And when he noticed the ladybug I have tattooed on my wrist, he said he liked it and asked me it's name. Till then, it had not had a name. Now, I call him George.
2. I love stickers. All stickers. I just adore them. I even ask for stickers for Christmas! As a matter of fact, the birthday that just past, every member of my immediate family gave me sticker packs as gifts. Affordable and extremely appreciated.
3. I have never put much stock in astrology or horoscopes, but I LOVE the magic of the MBTI. Omg. I am an INFP and it actually sounds just like me. Introverted mostly. Creative always. Heart before head and not the most logical. Totally me! For better or worse.
4. It's no surprise I count horror so high up on the list of things that make me, me. However, it's so within my soul that I was part of the Horror Club in college. Interesting bunch. And even took a Horror Lit class as an elective. I got an A.
5. Coffee always makes me happy. Always. I'm particularly fond of caramel macchiatos. But I'll drink black coffee if it's the only thing available.
6. I hate shock for the sake of shock and endings that depress me. I always mention the movies Within (2016) and the Eli Roth produced, written and starred in, Aftershock (2012), as proof of this distate I have. I abhor the idea that just because I like horror, some people think I'd actually praise a movie that lets you think the "Final Girl" just made it through the night, only to slap her in the face with a tsunami.
7. We are big time animal people. I mean, if I could, I'd have an elephant, a bear, a zebra, a penguin, an otter and a meerkat, living with me. Seriously though. We have 2 dogs right now and 2 cats. Both cats we picked up when they each came to our front door hungry. And both dogs we got from 2 different sets of neighbors. Both who, unfortunately, don't know how to care for pets long-term. But they're happy and healthy now!!
8. Revisiting my love of horror, one of the above cats, my cat, is a little black guy named Church. Because Pet Sematary. His middle name is even Pascow. To give credit where credit's due, the name was DJ's idea. But he loves horror too!
9. I'm big into art. Along with movie posters and an Anne Frank quote, I have some actual paintings on my wall. I really think Dali paints beautifully when he wants to. And if I don't get to see Michaelangelo's Pieta in person some day, I will be very disappointed.
10. Lastly, I find Emily Dickinson's poetry intriguing. I took an elective course about her as well. But do you know I injected horror even there? I was given a poem to dissect and I picked one on death, of course. Then, I researched old "Death Photos" and even printed out copies for everyone in the class. They were so interested in looking at them that it stopped them from all looking at me, and I was able to deal quite well with my stage fright. Haha
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