Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), PG-13, ★★★

Oh. I remember Ouija, that awful movie. I was cringing while I was hearing the news or watching the trailer to this latest sequel. Actually, because this was a banner year for horror films on a bad year of movies in general, I was giving this movie a little bit of a benefit of the doubt. So, what happened was I got in, purchased a ticket, strolled into the assigned theater, sat down, watched some previews and opened my mind hoping that this movie has at least a shred of good scenes. I will say this: the movie is a bit surprisingly scary with a memorable performance from a child. So, I can say that I liked it enough with reservations.

Alice Zeander (Elizabeth Reader) is a fortune teller working from her house hosting séances, however, the customers do not know about them. Her teenage daughter, Lina (Annalisse Basso) and nine-year old daughter, Doris (Lulu Wilson) helps her out. Alice explains that she does not mean to scare her customers, instead, she tries to help them. Lina suggests, to amp the horror level, she can incorporate the Ouija board in her readings. While testing, Alice unknowingly communicates with a spirit named Marcus which possesses Doris. That night, Doris tests the board to contact her spirit despite not following the rule of not playing alone. She thinks she is contacting her deceased father, Roger (Michael Weaver).

Alice starts to keep Doris home from school to work with her. They have generated more business since the Ouija board and customers believe that Doris is speaking in voices from the deceased. However, Doris has a pain in the back of her neck. Doris looks through the planchette and sees a tall, black spirit with its mouth shut and the spirit sticks its arm down her mouth, causing her to get possessed.

This is a tough movie to review because I enjoy about half of it and I disliked about the other half because the movie starts off promisingly as we see a fortune teller struggling to generate some income. However, the turn of the tide begins when the daughter gets a Ouija tool to get more money because they are facing foreclosure on their house. Even though we know that the scares are coming with its plot, there is enough scares to get you excited surrounding the characters. Its horror elements do no elevate the movie into one of the better horror movies of the year but its performances deserve a recognition as they are all good especially Henry Thomas as a priest and a great performance as Lulu Wilson.

The filmmaking is solid as director Mike Flanagan gets you more invested in the characters because we can feel their pain and we have grown to sympathize with them as they are in peril for about half of the movie. The climax was sort of half-baked as we figure out why the Ouija board is so important in the movie and even though it works on a more scary level, I was not particularly engaged in what was revealed more than the characters' fates. So, even though it delivers enough scares and solid performances, I am giving it a pass. There are better horror movies out there but this movie sort of worked.

***