Ouija: Origin of Evil

In the underbelly of the Summer Of Love, Los Angeles 1967, a widowed mom earns money with a séance scam using her two daughters to provide the smoke & mirrors to bilk grieving people who hope to reconnect with the deceased. All goes well before they add an Ouija board to the act which takes hold of Doris, the youngest girl desperate to reach her father on the other side but is instead possessed by a malevolent spirit. OK, you’ve heard this premise used countless times but never quite so effective as in this prequel to a trite 2014 film, as things happen that cannot be anticipated when a young girl rolls her eyes backward in her head and climbs the walls. Recalls The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, as well as many of those post-Exorcist Euro-trash ’70s spew-foam forays into the occult world of ghosts and demons. What begins with the hazy old Universal logo ends with a post-credit scene that is essential to fully appreciate what’s transpired. Henry Thomas as the beleaguered Catholic school principal is remarkably convincing.

[PG-13]