Ouija: Origin of Evil

Plot

Set in 1967 Los Angeles, a widow named Alice Zander works out of her suburban home as a spiritual medium, accompanied by her daughters, 15-year-old Paulina "Lina" and 9-year old Doris; although they stage their seances, Alice's real intent is to help people move on. The family is still reeling over the recent death of Roger, Alice's husband and the kids' father. After Lina suggests that Alice incorporate a Ouija board into her readings, Alice does so, and unknowingly contacts a spirit named Marcus that begins to possess Doris. This is breaking one of the three rules: never play alone, never play in a graveyard, and always say goodbye.

Alice receives a foreclosure note, meaning they may lose their house. Doris contacts the board for help, believing she is communicating with her dead father, and the spirit leads her to a secret compartment behind the basement wall containing a pouch of cash. Doris, breaking another of the three rules, forgets to say goodbye to the spirits. When she gives the money to her mother, the family has a Ouija session, believing they can contact Roger. When the board answers a question only Roger would know the answer to, a thrilled Alice begins believing that they are in contact with her dead husband.

Soon, Doris becomes possessed by a shadowy spirit. Lina, who is becoming disturbed by the changes in her sister, finds papers written by Doris in fluent Polish, a language she does not know, and brings them to Father Tom to translate. Troubled, Father Tom visits them for a Ouija session under the pretense of contacting his dead wife Gloria. Although the session appears to be successful, Father Tom later explains to Alice and Lina that Doris did not contact Gloria. Instead, for every question he asked, she read his thoughts and repeated the answers he was thinking in his mind. He reveals that the pages are entries written by a Polish immigrant named Marcus, who was taken captive during World War II by a sadistic doctor who conducted experiments on him and other captives inside the house's basement. These spirits knew answers that only Roger would know because they have been watching the family since the day they moved in.

Meanwhile, Doris kills Lina's boyfriend Mikey and she hangs his body. Upon seeing this, Father Tom, Alice, and Lina burn the Ouija board downstairs. When Father Tom discovers skeletal remains in the basement wall, they realize that they have been using the Ouija board in a graveyard all this time. Father Tom finds the secret room where the experiments were conducted, and is possessed by the spirits. He attacks Alice and Lina, but momentarily seizes clarity, only to be killed by Doris. Alice is captured, while Roger's spirit carries an unconscious Lina to her bed. Lina wakes up and recalls an earlier moment where her doll's mouth was stitched by her father's spirit "to shut out the voices", realizing that she must sew Doris' mouth shut to quiet the spirits' voices and stop the evil. During the struggle, she successfully sews Doris' mouth shut and Doris dies, reuniting with her father. After this, Lina is temporarily possessed and stabs Alice. While dying, Alice sees Roger and Doris together, and happily joins them, leaving behind a sobbing Lina.

Two months later, Lina remains committed in a mental hospital for the suspected murder of her mother. She is interviewed by a doctor and is unable to say what happened to Doris' body, but states that she, Lina, will never be alone again. She tries summoning her sister inside her cell and the doctor watches, unbeknownst that the possessed Doris skitters across the ceiling towards him. In a post-credits scene set in the present, a now elderly Lina remains in the asylum and receives a visit from someone claiming to be her niece.

Production

Although the first film in the Ouija series was a success commercially the critical reception was less than stellar. As a result Jason Blum wanted to make a film that was significantly different than the original. This appealed to director Mike Flanagan who stated in an interview that he has "allergy to sequels" Blum let Flanagan work on the type of horror film he wanted which was a period piece that dealt with a family dynamic. There was some talk from the beginning about whether or not the film should have any connections at all to the original, but Flanagan himself was opposed to this, and instead opted to make references to the original subtle to welcome new viewers while also entertaining fans of the original.

The 1980 movie The Changeling was a major influence on the film, with Flanagan screening the film with his director of Photogophy "like ten times" while also watching other classics such as The Exorcist and The Watcher in the Woods. It was then that the pair hit off the idea to film the movie as if it was the 1970s, using only technology that would only have been available in that era.

The main cast was announced in September 2015 with principal photography beginning that same month, which ran to October 21, 2015. Post-production on the film began on October 31, 2015.

Universal Pictures used its 1963–90 title, designed by Universal Title and Optical for MCA Inc., to open and promote the film.

Soundtrack

The Newton Brothers composed the movie, replacing Anton Sanko, who composed the first film. The soundtrack was released by Back Lot Music on October 21, 2016.

Release

In April 2015, it was announced that the prequel would be released on October 21, 2016.

Box office

As of November 20, 2016, Ouija: Origin of Evil has grossed $35.1 million in North America and $46.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $81.7 million, against a budget of $9 million.

Critical response

Ouija: Origin of Evil received positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 83%, based on 103 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10, making it the highest-rated film to date produced by Hasbro Studios, and the highest rated film to date produced by Platinum Dunes. The site's critical consensus reads, "Ouija: Origin of Evil swerves its franchise's planchette unexpectedly to YES with a surprisingly scary and dramatically satisfying follow-up to its lackluster predecessor." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 65 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". However, the audiences were more critical, with a poll by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, just like its predecessor.