OUIJA (Stiles White) 90 minutes. Opens Friday October 24. For venues and times, see listing. Rating: N
The best moment in Ouija comes in the closing credits when we learn that Universal made this ghost story in partnership with toy company Hasbro, makers of the Ouija board. That’s a great joke for a movie whose basic message is “Don’t play with Ouija boards,” and whose unrelieved tedium reinforces that message every step of the way.
The premise is as flat as the titular board: five teens try to contact a dead friend, but unleash a murderous spirit instead.
The teens are a bland lot, lives uninflected by anything but a little modest grief over their dead friend. The cast handles this adequately. The spook is just as bad. It isn’t that scary and doesn’t do much. It isn’t visible until after the one-hour mark and doesn’t carry any emotional resonance.
The nastiness is largely kept off-screen and the three or four bits you do see are brief. In between, we’re treated to run-of-the-mill jump scares, overhyped by the expected ominous score. Attempts to create purely visual creepiness are limited to the effective, but overused sinister gliding camera.
There are far better ghost stories out there and better uses for your money. Rent The Woman In Black for some real supernatural chills.
