Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Witchboard Blu-ray Movie Review

Don't ask, don't tell.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 30, 2014

Do you believe in evil? Not merely “bad stuff”, mind you, but a real, perhaps even tangible, force that is out to wreak havoc on our earthly plane? It’s interesting to see this kind of belief manifest itself even in otherwise scientifically minded folks, the kind who argue against a divine presence and are apt to give longwinded explanations about “mere” biochemical processes which created life on our planet. This is probably nowhere more interesting than in various reactions some have to Ouija Boards. My own grandmother, who wasn’t especially alarmist about matters of spirituality, absolutely refused to let me and my sisters play with our Ouija Board when she would come to visit us when I was a kid. And as my wife and I watched Witchboard the other night, she disclosed to me that her own mother had thrown away the Ouija Board that she and her brothers had played with as kids because my now mother-in-law had felt some sort of “bad vibes” emanating from it. Kevin Tenney, then just a few months out of the vaunted University of Southern California Film School, took this kind of almost atavistic fear of an object and elevated it into one of the better horror debuts in the annals of film, 1986’s still fun and creepy Witchboard. (For you sticklers, the film received its wide release in 1987, but actually had its premiere on New Year’s Eve 1986, as is discussed in one of the commentaries included on this Blu-ray as a supplement.) Tenney’s setup is pretty basic: a gorgeous young woman named Linda (Tawny Kitaen) starts fooling around with a Ouija Board, thinking she’s dealing with a long dead child named David. The truth turns out to be something decidedly more sinister, and by the time those around Linda figure out what’s going on, there has been a string of fairly gruesome murders as a malevolent spirit does indeed wreak havoc on our earthly plane.

In his commentary with producers Gerald Geoffray and Walter Josten, writer-director Kevin Tenney talks about how the film as originally scripted had a rather longish prologue which detailed the demise of David, but that for both budget and pacing reasons, that sequence was eliminated, leaving a rather talky party scene as the film’s opening. Even Tenney admits this was a risky gamble, one which he felt almost compelled to mention to potential distributors (it’s not clear from the commentary if he actually did mention it). But it’s here that the most frequent complaint lodged against Witchboard is probably felt most keenly: the film is actually rather languid for a horror thriller, especially one from the slash-happy eighties. Those who want instant mayhem and loads of blood and guts within the first few moments of a film are bound to be disappointed in Witchboard.

As clearly expository as the opening segment is, it at least gives us relatively concise introductions to the three main characters. Winery heir Brandon Sinclair (Stephen Nichols) starts talking about repeated contact he’s had with the spirit of a ten year old named David, courtesy of Brandon’s Ouija Board. Construction worker Jim Morar (Todd Allen, who spends the bulk of this film exposing his rather hairy chest) is having none of it, though Jim’s gorgeous girlfriend Linda Brewster (Tawny Kitaen) seems more than a little intrigued by it all. Brandon of course brings out the Ouija Board, and contact is indeed made with David, though Jim’s naysaying leads the spirit to take “disciplinary” action, something that still leaves Jim relatively nonplussed.

At this point, the film picks up its pace, if only a bit, when Linda finds the Ouija Board the next day and decides to do a little contacting of her own. She has no problem reaching out and touching David, who confirms his spiritual bona fides by revealing where Linda has lost her engagement ring. However, things are not quite as they seem, and the spirit Linda has contacted has more on his mind than being an ether bound lost and found service. Linda starts to have scary nightmares, while a string of disturbing murders starts taking place. Jim becomes the focal suspect for these killings by a kind of flat footed police detective named Dewhurst (Burke Byrnes).

Tenney doles out his scares in a measured way, which again may be too sparse to completely satisfy those who prefer more in your face horror thrills. There are several kind of cheap scares (an unexpected work whistle, a hatchet flying through the air and landing precariously close to Jim’s face), but there are also more effective, character driven moments, like the nightmare Linda has where she approaches a casket, in what may or may not be a kind of B-movie rip off of the iconic opening dream in Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries.

Is Witchboard silly? Undeniably. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t effective on its own lo-fi terms. Tenney stages things very well, especially for a first time director (the nice sequence with Brandon and Jim trying to figure out what’s going on toward the end of the film is a perfect case in point). The film has the same inherent limitations that occasionally hobble its follow-ups (including Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway), where the plot is driven by people spelling out words that are being “dictated” from beyond. But given reasonable expectations, Witchboard delivers its fair share of chills and features good performances by its lead trio.

Witchboard Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Witchboard is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory (an imprint of Shout! Factory) with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Witchboard was shot on a shoestring budget (or, as I've joked in other reviews, maybe an aglet budget), and that shows in the sometimes rough looking high definition presentation here. The worst moments are at the beginning, in an underlit party scene that has minor though noticeable compression artifacts running through it. The lack of decent lighting also is hampered by less than forceful contrast, leading to a kind of murky look where faces can't be clearly seen (see screenshot 6). After that sequence, however, things improve markedly. Colors are accurate looking and densely saturated. The image, while not razor sharp in today's parlance, is certainly natural and organic looking, with no overt signs of over aggressive denoising or sharpening efforts. There is occasional minor telecine wobble which some eagle eyed viewers may notice. If I had the ability to, I might downgrade this slightly to a 3.75 to account for these niggling concerns, but overall this is a solid looking transfer.

Witchboard Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Witchboard's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix (delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0) is a bit on the shrill side at times, especially with regard to Dennis Tenney's synth-drenched score (all those minor seconds played on pads that tend to wash through high frequencies sound pretty brittle), but is otherwise free of any major problems. The midrange is very full sounding, but some audiophiles may be wishing for more "oomph" in the lower registers. Fidelity is excellent, and dialogue is always well prioritized and easy to hear.

Witchboard Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with Cast and Crew features Kevin Tenney, Kathleen Wilhoite, James W. Quinn, and Stephen Nichols. Tenney takes the lead here and talks about coming out of film school and jumping right into this production. The actors have some great anecdotes about the crew and the shoot.


• Commentary with Writer/Director Kevin Tenney, Producer Gerald Geoffray and Executive Producer Walter Josten. This repeats abit of the information in the first commentary, especially with regard to Tenney's comments, but it's very enjoyable and informative.


• Progressive Entrapment: The Making of Witchboard (1080p; 45:41) is a fun piece featuring interviews with Tenney and various cast and crew (including Kitaen, who appears to have insisted on soft focus). Tenney actually claims some of the film is based on real life experiences. Well, all righty then.


• Vintage Making of Witchboard (1080i; 6:54) has some good behind the scenes footage.


• Cast Interviews (1080i; 20:15) is another vintage piece offering not just interviews but a glimpse at how one special effects sequence was done as well as some behind the scenes footage and snippets from the film.


• On Set With Todd Allen and Stephen Nichols (1080i; 19:56) is more vintage behind the scenes candid footage.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080i; 2:35)


• On Set With the Makers of Witchboard (1080i; 19:59) is even more vintage behind the scenes footage, including scenes of several sequences being filmed.


• Life on the Set (1080i; 20:13) is (yep, you guessed it) still more vintage footage showing what the behind the scenes action was like on the shoot.


• Constructing the World of Witchboard (1080i; 21:14) is more vintage footage of preparations being made for one sequence.


• Outtakes (1080i; 6:18)


• Behind the Scenes Gallery (1080p; 13:52)


• Promo Gallery (1080p; 3:37)

Witchboard Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Witchboard has a coterie of fans who either saw the film when it first came out or who later caught it in the nascent days of premium cable channels. Those folks are probably the prime audience for this film, which may strike those more accustomed to the hyperbolic horror films of the past couple of decades as being too low key and lacking in gore. The technical merits of this Blu-ray are generally solid (with a few minor caveats as noted above), and the supplementary package is outstanding. Recommended.