That one time I was walking along the road outside an asylum, I met this guy. You know what he said? He asked me to never watch Ouija. I should have listened to him (That didn’t happen). Let’s discuss this movie produced by Michael Bay.

Horror is genre that is depleting. As of late it’s more in your face horror that offers cheap thrills and makes you leave the theatre to go get an Ice Cream cone, because the horror will obviously never follow and you’ve already forgotten about the movie, does Ouija offer anything new to the genre?

Ouija begins with a cast mostly known for the TV shows they were in. Shelley Hennig (Secret Circle, Teen Wolf), Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel) and Daren Kagasoff (Red Band Society) lead the charge. They were okay actors on the shows they were on (still not great). But can they handle a feature movie? That is a disappointing no. Ana Coto was the only one from the cast who seemed to hold her own weight.

The writing too is nothing short of bad. It’s full of silly dialogue and cliché moments that are beyond even making fun of it for how silly it is. Certain elements don’t make sense and are utterly predictable. The movie isn’t sure of what it wants to be and isn’t even trying. The design, location and props were passable but it didn’t add to the movie, it felt out of place and completely added in the last moment or adjusted.
The only salvageable aspect was the score. It was okay and that’s the best I can say.

It makes me wonder what happened to the good horror movies like “The House of the Devil” (2009) which were made just a few years ago. Or this year’s “The Babadook” which is an incredible psychological horror movie. Ultimately Ouija was extremely disappointing movie that for all its worth should have never been made. One could argue about the fact that the movie only had a budget of $5 Million compared to most other movies. But there are countless Indie Horror movies out there that have offered way more. Either way nothing excuses a script as terrible as Ouija has. The saddest part of all? The movie gathered over $60 million at the box office and is thus a success.
For those willing to give it a shot or even try to mock it, it’s currently airing at the Empire Gold Cinema. I’m glad to see an English horror movie being shown in Sri Lanka but I just hope they don’t give up after this one.

I give this movie 2 out of 10 on the AasifOmeter for participating.

Reviewed by Aasif Faiz