Ouija – Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Chris Eberle

Synopsis

Laine and Debbie are best friends when they sit down to play an innocent game of Ouija. They unwittingly establish a connection to the other side that goes beyond the board. Soon their friends start hearing from the spirits too while the connection grows even stronger. Laine visits the former resident of Debbie’s house (now in a mental institution) and discovers a dark plot to communicate with the dead. It will take more than just her will to save everyone from certain death. The group returns to the house where it all began in hopes of breaking the connection and finally putting an angry spirit to rest.

Commentary

While horror movie aficionados won’t really find anything new here, Ouija is a lot of fun if you’re looking for a bit of light entertainment. Most of the classic horror elements like creepy basements, ancient rituals, doors that open by themselves and the like are there but some clever misdirection is used to keep things from being predictable. Just when you think you know what’s going to happen to a character, the action moves in another direction. There are plenty of boo moments so if you watch in the dark, you might want to put your hot beverage down before pressing play. The feel of the film is like watching a show on The CW but the characters seem a little more intelligent. The young cast does a good job at drawing the viewer into their fear. I also appreciated the lack of gore. This is a scary movie but it achieves that without any hack or slash. Overall I found it entertaining and definitely worth a rental.

Technical

There is plenty of dark material here but it never looked murky or lacking in detail. Color was natural throughout with no obvious alterations made in post-production. Detail and contrast is excellent and consistent in this transfer. The only flaw I observed were a few jerky camera pans that were probably more a product of the filming process than the transfer to Blu-ray.

Audio was super-detailed with lots of ambient sound effects occurring in the surround speakers. Along with a wide front soundstage and an appropriate amount of deep bass, the mix creates an ideal environment for a horror film. Panning effects are also used well making the presentation even more immersive.

Extras

Bonus features total just 12 minutes and include a short history of the Ouija board game, an interview with cast members and a featurette on the game’s adaptation to the screen.