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Review: Christophe Lenoir’s Ouija – The Insidious Evil

I know, I know. A lot of you are going to comment and say that the title is a rip off of hit Blumhouse movies Ouija and Insidious. It’s a not-so-clever marketing technique, yes, but I assure you that Ouija: The Insidious Evil is its own original content and it doesn’t steal scenes or materials from the before mentioned movies. This feature was filmed in France, India and Ireland and it’s definitely more on the cinematic side than typical horror films involving a piece of wood that allows you to communicate with the dead. If you’re looking for an artistic, dramatic adventure with elements of suspense and terror on the side, then read on for my review of Ouija: The Insidious Evil.

Ouija: The Insidious Evil was directed and edited by Christope Lenoir based on the screenplay by Vikram Gupta and Vivek Singhania. Singhania also produced the movie alongside Kathy Horgan and Manju Gautam with cinematographer Stephen Walsh. Lead and supporting cast members include Dominique Swain, Jan Graveson, Emma Eliza Regan, Ketan Anand,  Camille Solal, Zoe Corraface, Conor Marren, Zeb Moore, Shane Robinson, Alicia Mairead Gerrard, Claire Blennerhassett, Adam Weaver and Nigel Mercier. The movie follows a possessed spirit board that causes its collectors to commit suicide and the lengths a young couple and their families will go to get rid of it.

Ouija: The Insidious Evil adds its own lure to the mystique of ouija boards in that only certain people, potential owners are able to lift it. That little dose of originality peaked my interest enough to keep me watching after the first ten minutes when we are introduced to an ominous shop keeper who tells the tale of the board’s former owner. She certainly makes an entrance and the backstory of a spirit board that makes you kill yourself is an interesting concept, much different than stories of ouija board’s that actually kill you. It’s an old school story that’ll be dwarfed by bigger pictures like Witchboard (1986) and Ouija (2014), but I enjoyed the plot that harked back to a simpler time in cinema.

Another writer at HorrorSociety reviewed this title and he didn’t enjoy it at all, giving it a lot of criticisms and a low score. The cool thing about different perspectives is that they make way for different opinions and I approached my review of this movie in a much different way. Stepping outside of the generally light horror elements, Ouija: The Insidious Evil will have no problem landing a distribution deal do to its amazing cinematography. Should it enter the film festival circuit first, I think it’s going to take home a whole lot of awards in that category. Shots of the girls walking on the beach, a car passing by a cliff, and a storm amassing off the beach stuck out to me as breathtakingly beautiful and probably the film’s most standout quality. It might not be truly horrific, but it was filmed exquisitely.

Sure, it has problems with audio in the beginning, but Ouija: The Insidious Evil is a stand out in terms of production value. Short on scares, decent on gore, but high on Hollywood style quality film-making. Sure, it’s more of a romance drama than anything else, but I’d like to think that it’ll appeal to an audience who like more toned down material when it comes to violence. Ouija: The Insidious Evil is like Creepshow in that it has a host telling a story that’s interwoven with the overall plot and it ends with the same sinister twist. Really, the only thing I can mark it down for is being low on scares… like, real low. Final Score: 7 out of 10.

Michael DeFellipo

(Senior Editor)

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