Yes, yes, the Ouija Board is just a made-up thing that Parker Brothers hacked together a few decades ago, and it has about as much authenticity as a haunted version of Hungry Hungry Hippos … but over the years, it has developed a kind of urban-legend power all its own, and Ouija: Origin of Evil plays off all that accumulated weirdness to make a move that seems — at least judging by this trailer — exceedingly creepy. (And yes, we know that “talking boards” and even the “Ouija” name has been around for centuries, but this version, this design, and its popularity as a ‘harmless’ parlor game showed up in the mid-Sixties.)
It’s got a few things going for it. Number one: director/co-writer Mike Flanagan, who’s the guy behind Oculus and Hush. And the cast includes Doug Jones, probably the creepiest physical actor working in film today, Kate Siegel, the beautiful actress who did a hell of job as the lead in Flangan’s Hush (and who also happens, purely by accident, to be married to him), and — get this — Henry Thomas as the male lead. Yeah, that cute little boy from E.T. is all grown up and weeeeird. Talk about your fantasy pedigree.
There’s also something icky and charming about setting it in 1967, when Ouija was still new and nobody knew what it would become. And Flanagan’s done a great job in placing it in the long-ago time (was it really fifty years ago? Damn!), and featuring the (terribly familiar) possession of an innocent young girl, giving the film both an innocence and a weirdness that serves it — and us horror fans — well.
It’s coming October 21. Don’t get it confused with the really awful horror film called Ouija from a couple of years ago. this is all different and, we’re betting, all better. Check out the trailer and circle 10/21 on your calendar:
