Nerds That Geek Movie Review – ‘Ouija: Origin of Evil’

Written by Scott Edwards

While nobody really knows what happens after you pass on, we all have our ideas and there is nothing wrong with any of them. While it can be frightening to think of leaving the mortal world, it should not keep you from living your life to the fullest. Fear can drive you insane and while some people choose to live this way, it can keep you from enjoying a better life. It is important to listen to what you believe and follow those rules, since you might find out that they were given to you to prepare you for the great beyond.
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Needing money to keep her daughters from living on the streets, Alice Zander has cooked up a little séance business that is helping to keep the family afloat. After the passing of her husband, money has been very tight and putting on a good show is something that she is good at. With help from her girls, Lina and Doris, she is able to put grieving families at ease that their loved ones are in a better place. But there is something missing from her act and little does she know that there is actually a way for her to talk to those whom have crossed over, but she will give anything a try.

Picking up Lina from a friend’s house after playing with a Ouija board, Alice decides that this will be the nail in the coffin for her performance. Rigging the board along with all of the other tricks she has attached to the table, she decides to give it a shot. Asking questions, she does not know that the answers are coming from her daughter Doris who seems to be possessed by someone not of this realm.  Not getting the real ghostly response that she expected, Alice goes to bed, but Doris is ready to play with her spirit friends who are more than willing to talk to her.

Showing her mother and sister that spirits really do exist, Doris sits down at the Ouija board and allows all questions to be asked. With an answer to every one, it is obvious to Alice that her daughter does have the gift to contact those on the other side, but little does she know what is really happening. Becoming obsessed with talking to her deceased husband, Alice keeps Doris out of school to find out more things, along with how to save the house. But Lina is detecting a problem when it comes to talking to the dead, as she was told it was fake and knows her sister is able to do so. Asking her teacher Father Tom what can be done about her sister seeming to be possessed, the good father is able to sit down and be read by the little girl and quickly finds out that there is something more sinister at play. With information of his own about who could be in the house with them, the father is too late to help the ailing family when true evil is strong enough to show itself.

If you know anything about movies that I like and movies that I don’t like, you know that I hate when a prequel comes out after the first movie. With this not being a direct prequel to Ouija, it is meant to give you a little more of a taste of how dangerous the board can be. With that being the case, I am all right with it, since very little tied together the two stories. I like how the out-of-control daughter Lina is the most down to earth person in the house, while her mother becomes obsessed with the board and her daughter who is obviously not herself. The being blinded by the spirits aspect really played out well in this film and when they are ready to come out and play, well, you just have to watch the ending to see what happens. With creepy shadow people, a Ouija board, chatty spirits, a great backstory, a possessed little girl and an overprotective sister, it is an overall good time for a PG-13 horror movie. I do guarantee that you will never find me playing with one of those boards, mainly because I don’t want to know if anyone has all the answers and I suck at saying goodbye. Stay Scared.

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