Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Ouija: Origin of Evil Blu-ray Movie Review

Evil apparently got its start in 1967.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 9, 2017

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

Los Angeles, 1967. Alice (Elizabeth Reaser) has recently lost her husband. She's behind on her bills, and her at-home seance business just isn't allowing her to make ends meet, even as her daughters Lina (Annalise Basso) and Doris (Lulu Wilson) help her work her magic and manipulate the clients, and the real world, behind-the-scenes. One evening, when Lina sneaks out of her bedroom to visit a friend's house after-hours, she finds herself enjoying a round with a ouija board. She convinces her mother to pick one up for the business, but it's Doris who finds herself drawn towards it. Through it, Doris believes she's in communication with her late father. She's told to search the basement for the financial answers to the family's prayers. But the spirit begins to consumer her, control her, manipulate her, using her as a vessel to perform other tasks, even pen documents in a foreign language. Doris' strange behavior catches Lina's eye, who brings it to the attention of a priest who works at her school, Father Hogan (Henry Thomas). He helps guide the family towards the truth of what's happening with the ouija board, throughout the house, and inside Doris.

Ouija: Origin of Evil begins promisingly simply by throwing an older Universal logo up in front of the movie, battered and deteriorated and beautiful with age, hearkening back to the era around which this movie takes place. A few "cigarette burn" effects are thrown in, too. The movie proper was shot on video, however, which doesn't exactly jive with the few bones that the movie throws to film fans, but whatever. What matters is that the movie holds its own, crafting a positive atmosphere, often accentuated by the simple sound of a ticking clock, a rhythmic heartbeat that brings the house to life in a way that scripted words or exposition could not achieve. A few jump scares and some "frightening" images -- the usual stuff, like distorted figures, glossed-over eyes, and mouths in some way sealed shut, sometimes with floss and sometimes with a smeary digital effect -- dot the movie, too, but credit Writer/Director Mike Flanagan (Oculus) with refusing to limp through the movie on genre crutches and instead taking the time to tell and explore a story that's not just a delivery vehicle for sudden jolts of manufactured terror.

Indeed, scares evolve from the narrative, even if they're largely indistinguishable from similar scares in other similar modern Horror pictures. They all evolve from the narrative, a narrative that begins with the classic slow-drip reveals to a full-blown ending of mayhem and terror and several unexpected twists and turns as they pertain to both story exposition and character fates. It does well to tie together the usual spirt world mumbo-jumbo with some tangible elements that give the story a meaty backbone rather than build it on a flimsy jello mold of consumable materials. Even as the story isn't necessarily a revelation for the genre, the filmmakers have paid careful mind to make sure it's at least believable in context, though certainly implausible (if not impossible) by any exterior standards. The bottom line is that it works well for what it is, a movie that has nothing to offer other than an honest go at bringing some kind of much-needed life into a failing genre. It's just good enough to keep the viewer interested, even if it's merely along for the ride in the backseat behind better like films like Insidious and nowhere near as good as the finer throwback-style Horror flicks of recent vintage, like It Follows.

Ouija: Origin of Evil Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

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.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 16:58 total runtime): Contacting Edward, Worried About Moving, The Real Thing, Doris Tells a Secret, Never Too Late, The Doctor Is In, and Good Sister.
• The Making of Ouija: Origin of Evil (1080p, 9:13): A discussion of what Horror movies do for audiences, the movie's concepts and what attracted the cast to it, Mike Flanagan's work as director, the qualities the cast brought to the film and the set, stunt work, creepy makeup, and crafting a period piece.
• Home Is Where the Horror Is (1080p, 4:45): A closer look at the movie's primary shooting location and the role it plays in the story.
• The Girl Behind Doris (1080p, 4:01): A more detailed look at Lulu Wilson's character and performance.
• Audio Commentary: Director/Co-Writer/Editor Mike Flanagan delivers a well-versed track and discusses his personal history with the Horror genre, the movie's tone and texture, shooting locations, filmmaking techniques, post-production work, cast and performances, and plenty more. The track is very agreeable, well spoken, and plays like a discussion with a knowledgeable friend. A highly recommended listen.

Ouija: Origin of Evil Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.