Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Halloween is close so "Ouija" tops box-office
by sam
No big surprise that a so-so film like "Ouija" was the big box-office hit last weekend, despite some fierce competition from such as "John Wick" and, hanging in for the fourth week, "Gone Girl."
Writers Stile White and Juliet Snowden tell tell of of  murdered little girls, sewn-together mouths, an excuse not to to floss, crazy mediums, mystery opening doors, the usual whited-out eyes, stoves lighting themselves. Nothing very new  in the scary-scene medium in the horror film "Ouija."
Starts off with blond Shelly Hennig burning her ouija board and paying for it with her  life. Her besstie friend Olivia Cooke not accepting the coroner's verdict of suicide decides to investigate. She gathers four friends and plays the  ouija board, digs up old pictures and gets lectured by a know-it-all old lady who tells Debbie how to solve all the mysteries.
Nothing very complex here and little in the way of new scare gimmicks. Lots of stupidity displayed by the largely unknown cast and the direction by Stile White is as sloppy as the film editing.
The earlier "Annabella" which featured a malicious doll kicked off the horror session with a similar excellent box office makes it two  in a row for the horror genre, films always cheap to produce and almost alway a hit overseas. But no Oscars for them.
But despite all the weaknesses and illogical action, "Ouija" took in $38 million opening weekend. 
A fair date-movie, aimed squarely at the teen and young adult audience. Seniors may find it dull compared to such as "Rosemary's Baby."

Cast
Olivia Cooke as Laine Morris[6]
Daren Kagasoff as Trevor[7]
Douglas Smith as Pete[6]
Bianca A. Santos as Isabelle[8]
Ana Coto as Sarah Morris[8]
Shelley Hennig as Debbie Galardi[8]
Matthew Settle as Anthony Morris[9]
Vivis Colombetti as Nona[8]
Robyn Lively as Mrs. Galardi
Bill Watterson as Diner Manager
Sierra Heuermann as Doris Zander
Directed by
Stiles White
Produced by
Andrew Form
Bennett Schneir
Written by
Juliet Snowden
Stiles White
Anton Sanko
Cinematography
David Emmerichs
Edited by
Ken Blackwell
Production
October 24, 2014
Running time

89 minutes

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