Ouija: Origin of Evil

Ouija: Origin of Evil might have the biggest positive disparity between first and second films of a franchise in movie - or at least horror movie - history. Turning something as egregiously terrible as Ouija into a solid, suspenseful, and spooky movie? Mike Flanagan, you deserve a gold star. It's not very original, but pretty much everything about Ouija: Origin of Evil works. It's compelling, immersive, and makes the time fly. Who could have seen this coming?

It's like Paper Moon and Poltergeist had a dumb lil' baby. This is like when a board game comes out with a SUPER COOL Happy Days edition.

I have never touched a Ouija board in my life but that is exactly how I open my mouth when eating popcorn.

Remarkable improvement upon the first. The first one was generic, boring, slow, and terrible in every sense of the word, but the sequel carved out an identity for itself. It's got some actually scary scenes to it, and a relatively interesting plot. I'm not sure, but I don't think that I have ever seen a horror sequel that's better than the original, if so, there's no way it was this much better. This one is downright decent.

Oculus: Ouija of Evil is essentially a public-service announcement in which inebriated director Mike Flanagan enlists the aid of myriad redheads to show us the horrors of the 1960s--daemons, Catholic school, knit skirts, knit sweaters, and finally knit socks.

that awesome feeling when you see the old universal logo and are fooled into thinking there's a decent movie coming up...mmmmh, so warm and fuzzy. thanks for that, shitty generic horror movie #3287.

A promising and subtle period piece horror film turns into generic jump-scare shlock within about 15 minutes. Hats off to the parents that brought their toddlers to the showing I attended; they jumped a lot less than I did.

Flanagan finds a rusty and vibrant way to make his Conjuring -- or his retro horror film -- through a good cast (Lulu Wilson is aces) and a fun sense of homage. Nothing original comes out of it, but this at least redeems the atrocious first entry in the franchise.

Ouija: Origin of Evil is a fascinating movie because I was able to pinpoint the exact second it went from being a Flanagan film to a Blumhouse one. The first third is a solid moody character piece that almost instantly devolves into forgettable horror schlock. Spirits, will Blumhouse ever not be garbage?

normally hate stuff that is so in your face retro but this was creepy as fuck. Even the shit that is usually goofy (FX having to do with mouths etc) had me reeling. Was just as good the second time around. It even connects better than I remembered. Most flicks try and fail. WE WERE PLAYING IN A GRAVEYARD

Yes, the plot has been done a million times, but Mike Flanagan does a respectable job of making is less generic than it should’ve been. It’s not all that scary or unique, but considering the fact that there is nothing that can really be done with this plot it’s as good as we’re going to get. And because of this, I don’t think we need another demon possessing a family film for at least 10 more years.

Wtf is that 82% on Rotten Tomatoes about?? I mean, yes, it is DEFINITELY better-acted, lit and shot than the original film. Hands down. But it's still a PG-13 horror flick laden with generic creepy children, jump scares and CGI, so let's not go overboard here critics.

Surprisingly good. Reminds me of The Conjuring.

I'm almost sorry that I ever said anything good about Flanagan. This is hackneyed and hateful, like every other freak show that stands for modern horror. Fuckin' evil kids crawling over walls, killing their kin. A race to the bottom.

Enjoyable, but pretty silly. It's "clever," but in a manner which belies its ability to be even remotely frightening. I will give props to both the production design, for nailing a period aesthetic without feeling austere and overly precious about it, and Lulu Wilson, who convincingly manages both "innocent waif" and "demon child."

As friends we've gathered, hearts are true. This movie lacked original ideas and was derailed by exposition 2/3 of the way through.

Nothing particularly original, but effective with its suspense and possession plot. A creepy little girl gets increasingly creepy as things proceed, many Flanagan regulars, wall crawling, body contorting, and a hanging turns into a bungie jumping cadaver.

Need to re watch

Not bad, not good, kind of just there.

Don't go to psychics. Even when they do communicate with the dead, the GHOSTS try to scam you.

Freaky and well done horror movie with some great creepy moments. My only issue is the boyfriend character is dumb as hell. Other than that, definitely worth a watch.

Ouija: Origin of Evil's biggest flaw is the need to connect to the truly awful original. That being said, Flanagan creates a horror prequel that stands entirly on its own. Great performing and even greater cinematography make for a wildly entertaining ride. And certainly the best movie ever made based on a board game.

Rather than falling to a simple things-go-bump-in-the-night-flick, Flanagan makes things quite a bit more disturbing by showing the horror on screen. With mouths agape, there is some pretty effective images. As others have said, this is better than it looks on paper.

61.5.

I cant believe people were crazy enough to release a sequel. And it was good. Like who does that? Ouija, who can be watched stand alone but is incredibly faithful to its awful original, is an incredibly fun horror movie. It embraces it's 60's/70s horror movie vibe and craft a by the books story that is elevated by solid directing and acting. The child actors are good and Doug Jones is a spooky ghost. What more can you ask from horror?

While it's certainly better than the orginial, I was surprised that so many people actually liked this one. Don't get me wrong, it's an improvement and Mike Flanagan is currently doing great, great things, however, this one's not doing it for me. Some good scares, but it's still trite and uninteresting. Let's get over this ouija board obsession.

While it's a vast improvement over the original & manages to do a lot more with its concept, it's still far from perfect & is plagued by some tropes of modern horror that bring it down a notch. Still, though, it features great performances by a very talented cast, with Lulu Wilson in particular shining in her role as a quintessential creepy kid, & is probably one of the better horror prequels out there. Overall, it's worth a watch, which is better than can be said about the original.

Yes its generic and basic but its also pretty damn entertaining. This just goes to show that if something is well done it doesn't have to be new or different just well made.

I'll grant you that nobody expected anything but sheer garbage from this film, and it is not sheer garbage. Kudos to Flanagan for trying to create real characters and an interesting period setting. Now all he needed was a plot and less shitty effects.

ok.

Starts off really strong and then devolves into nonsensical chaos by the end of its running time. Definitely worth a watch because it is far better than it had to be.

Creepy atmosphere and a couple of genuinely good scares. Boring during a few stretches and the plot is nothing outstanding.

Ouija: Origin of Evil features enough frightening moments to outweigh its notably disjointed narrative.

worth a watch

Loved the period setting and the softness given the picture. Plenty of "oh that's cool" moments but never anything scary, kind of like evil dead in a way but that's too generous a comparison. The characters were above and beyond what you'd expect in a horror film, let Alone a horror film prequel. It does suffer from not a terrible lot happening for most of its runtime.

Not the scariest of horrors, but it's a well polished one. Not too reliant on jump scares and tries at least to tell a coherent fable.

The first hour was pretty good and I was hoping for a great ending wich would have made this a horror classic. But in the last 30 minutes it all turned pretty much to shit to be honest. No originality at all and some of the reactions from the mother was just awful.

One of the least original horror movies I've come across recently. From about halfway through get ready to witness some of the silliest special effects from the past decade. There is this demon girl who refuses to use the stairs and instead chases people by clumsily walking on the wall. Hilarious in its execution, if only it was a comedy.

Shockingly good (although not quite great). Especially shocking because the original was a steaming pile of turds. The period elements are well done and Mike Flanagan might be one of the best horror genre newcomers: he certainly has a knack for creepy ghouls haunting just out of your line of vision.

As with many horror movies anymore, Ouija: Origin of Evil felt familiar; like a combination of 2 or 3 other horror movies. In the end, it was made well enough and had enough creepy moments to deserve a recommendation to watch it, but I wouldn't go in expecting to see something fresh and original.

Makes Hitler look like hero?

It's a pity that Flanagan didn't push the retro-aesthetics of 60's to its formal limits but instead copied it shallowly. Despite its slow and atmospheric style (which make this watch-worthy), the jump-scares and gory scenes towards the end spoiled both the rythm and plot. The issue of concentration-camp survivors could be elaborated more within a political subtext. Well-intended but not consistent in its aesthetics and not soild in its story-telling.

It was kind of saddening to see this happen to a lovely family. I mean, I know they were scams, but I believe they did not mean any harm!

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