7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their seance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by a merciless spirit, the family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.
Starring: Annalise Basso, Elizabeth Reaser, Lulu Wilson, Henry Thomas, Parker MackHorror | 100% |
Supernatural | 33% |
Thriller | 11% |
Period | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: DTS 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
How many Horror movies have released in the past few years with poster art featuring someone in a night gown floating and contorted in some nearly impossible Yoga position? It seems to be modern Horror's crutch, and an easy one at that given the obsession with possession, exorcism, dark secrets, and demons. Ouija: Origin of Evil, the follow-up prequel to 2014's Ouija, doesn't seem to promise much creativity by making the "floating contortionist" a centerpiece of its advertising campaign, doubly problematic given the original film's decidedly negative reviews. It has "bad sequel" written all over it, another Horror-factory movie preying on base human emotions while audiences pray for a better movie to come out of the shadows. Well, surprisingly, prayers answered, sort of. Ouija: Origin of Evil hardly rewrites formula or even proves to be any kind of memorable motion picture experience, but it's a capable origins story with a few good ideas, several quality performances, and a nice balance between atmosphere, story-driven terror, and jump scares. There are a few crutches and several groan-inducing moments, but the film stands a bit apart from the crowd if only for its insistence on doing things right, a combination of by-the-book and off-the-beaten-path formulations that make for a serviceably entertaining little movie that offers a glimmer of hope for the franchise and the modern Horror genre-at-large.
B-E-S-U-R-E-T-O-D-R-I-N-K-Y-O-U-R-O-V-A-L-T-I-N-E
Ouija: Origin of Evil makes a few attempts to mimic the look of film, but it was nevertheless digitally photographed. Source noise is fairly constant, spiking significantly in some lower light segments, the seance at the beginning a great example. The image is otherwise fairly good-looking, nothing at all spectacular but handling its duties with all of the efficiency of a positive new release Blu-ray. Detailing is pleasing, adequately complex and capturing all of the film's somewhat heavier and more unique period textures nicely enough. Clothing fabrics and ridges, upholstery, and various little bits of accents around the house come to life with as much definition as the source material can muster and the 1080p encode allows. Facial details are never ridiculously complex in that tactile, count-every-pore way, but basics are fine and various enhancements are easy to see. The color palette favors a slight warmth and mild bronze-ish push. It's fairly neutral within its parameters, with each shade, both aggressive and reserved, presenting with a commendable balance and accuracy across the board. Black levels are attractively deep and flesh tones raise no alarms. Compression artifacts are non-factors and only the source noise really makes an interfering push. This is a good all-around presentation from Universal.
Ouija: Origin of Evil's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is fairly typical of a modern Horror genre track, favoring accurate reproductions of slight but key sound elements, dotted by bursts of much more aggressive happenings that push the sound system to its limits. The aforementioned ticking clock is a staple in the track, a tick-tock consistency that's often heard in the background but distinctly off to one side or another. Various other atmospherics are nicely integrated, often going largely unnoticed by filling in some background blanks to create a more richly versed general atmosphere. A rush of schoolyard excitement fills the stage around the 45-minute mark when a school bully gets his comeuppance. The jump scares -- sharp cues and whatnot -- are handled professionally and cleanly, delivered forcefully but never lacking precision or perfect placement to correspond to the on-screen action and yank the listener into their paths. The movie's big finale, no surprise, offers the most prodigious mixture of precision yet chaotic activity alongside a wallop of low end excitement. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized, and the movie does some interesting, but not all that unusual, things with the pitch of the possessed. Music is well spaced and notes are delivered fluidly and seamlessly. All-around this is a very enjoyable and well-engineered presentation from Universal.
Ouija: Origin of Evil contains a basic allotment of extra content. A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy are
included
with purchase.
Ouija: Origin of Evil is hardly a work of art, but it's a decent little Horror film, better by some measure than its predecessor and even better than many like-minded films turned out from the contemporary genre factory. It still adheres to many of the basic permutations, but it's done a bit better than most in terms of style, structure, characterization, and attention to narrative detail. It won't rewrite the book, but it's a nice little chapter in it. Universal's Blu-ray release of Ouija: Origin of Evil features quality video and high end audio. An average allotment of extra content is included. Worth a look.
2014
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