Ouija truly displays ‘Origin of Evil’ in new movie

For horror film fanatics and Halloween lovers, Ouija: Origin of Evil is the perfect movie.

The first Ouija movie came out on Oct. 24, 2014 and two years later Ouija: Origin of Evil followed on Oct. 21. The movie portrays a family (a widow and her daughters) who live on their own in Los Angeles in 1967 and perform fake séances for a living in their home.

After using a Ouija board in their act, a horrifying spirit enters their lives. When it possesses the youngest daughter, the other two women, along with the principal priest of the catholic school, must fight to get rid of the evil that invaded their home and family. Although slightly terrifying and immensely dark, this movie is definitely enjoyable for the typical scary movie lover.

Horror movies are usually fairly inauthentic, with a hard-to-follow storyline, or none at all. Origin of Evil stepped past this and gave the audience a family to watch with an actual life and background.

“I liked the fact that it wasn’t very cheesy,” junior Norah Larkins said.

Ouija: Origin of Evil is the prequel to the 2014 Ouija movie, due to the fact that one takes place in present day and the other 50 years prior, and involve a similar character: a young girl. Many online reviews say that the prequel is much improved from the original.

“[Origin of Evil] is better, though, in every conceivable way, from casting to story to atmosphere,” Katie Rife, reporter from the A.V. Club, stated.

As for the horror, the movie was full of many’s worst nightmares. To create an innocent little girl into a sickening demon takes a lot of skill from the writers, directors and producers. Younger audiences can relate in personality to the teenagers portrayed in this movie, yet never imagine themselves in situations like the ones in the Ouija films, or any horror movies. Luckily, they will not have to.

“There were a lot of jump scares, which is basically the only thing that can scare me. I appreciate the aspect of that,” Larkins stated. “The little girl was creepy as heck.”

The cast is comprised of Elizabeth Reaser, Lulu Wilson and Annaliese Basso, along with a few others. They portrayed their characters with as much finesse as one can have in a horror movie.

“Reaser provides unexpected depths to what could have been schematic roles, and the younger performers are even better. Basso vividly conveys her character’s teenage angst, and Wilson is particularly impressive as the possessed little girl who becomes increasingly frightening,” Frank Scheck explained in a review in The Hollywood Reporter.

Even with the small cast, some of the minor characters were not required for the story line. It would have been more interesting the plot dived even deeper into the past of the family and how their husband and father died.

“I didn’t like some of the characters. I didn’t see the necessity to have them. They should have played more into the main characters that they had,” Larkins said.

Ouija was more of a success in the box offices, however, with a whopping $103 million in ticket sales in the eight week period it was in theaters and $37 million in a two week period. Origin of Evil came in with $27 million in a two week period.

Haunting and frightening, Ouija: Origin of Evil is a great movie to see this year for anyone who enjoys being a little  scared.