WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
I’m sure it’s pretty obvious that Ouija: Origin of Evil is the prequel to the 2014 film Ouija just from its title but are these films connected in any other way? Let’s see…
Just a Silly Game
I guess this is where all these kinds of stories start, thinking something that turns out to be serious was just a silly game in the beginning. More so when you have grown up believing that séances and Ouija boards are fake and a scam. When the scam becomes real in Los Angeles 1967, things begin to take a turn for the worst when the youngest daughter Doris becomes possessed by a spirit conjured from the Ouija board – the game stops being so much fun. It seems however, people don’t learn from history and we all know when that happens we are doomed to repeat it.
Something funny I learnt while writing this review however, is that Ouija is actually a brand name given to these boards by Hasbro – you know the board game company. I just want to say that if it actually is possible, contacting the other side is not a game, I repeat IT IS NOT A GAME!
The House
Maybe it’s the way round I watched the films but I really didn’t need it explained to me that the house in Ouija, that Debbie lives and dies in is the same house as that of Doris and Lina who we meet in the prequel. I think if you look at the obvious, like the layout of the house and when we see the basement. Obviously, Ouija was made before the prequel so that’s possibly why it needs to be explained – so it makes me wonder if the prequel was part of the original plan?
The Making of the Film
I just want to take an aside for a minute, to say how much I love the way Ouija: Origin of Evil is filmed. It actually feels like a film from the 1960s even though it was made in the 2010s. Even down to the little film flicker in the top corner which I think was caused by a change in film reels back in the day, but don’t hold me to that.
The Board
This is something that actually isn’t explained clearly in Ouija other than by Laine and Sarah’s Nona (that’s Italian for Grandmother) when she tells them that the spirits would be strong enough to bring the board back after being destroyed. This makes complete sense as at the beginning of the film we see Debbie throw the board into the fire. Now, keeping this in mind – does this mean that the original board that we see in Ouija: Origin of Evil is the same board that Debbie burns? Because it must be possible that if it comes back in Ouija it could easily have come back before this for Debbie to find it in the first place.
Changes to the Story
This seems to be a symptom of prequels that are made after the first film of a franchise. The history told in Ouija is actually slightly different to that in Ouija: Origin of Evil and I have to admit that I prefer the tale told in the prequel.
It is explained to us that it is Lina who stitches Doris’ mouth shut not their mother, and that she does this in order to save her sister from the demons that are trying to take over but it doesn’t exactly have a happy outcome. The one thing that does stay the same however is that she also kills their mother but they talk about it in Ouija like it was not an accident.
Also, and I’m sure this is going to sound really obscure and be something others may not have noticed but I want to talk about the doll. In Ouija: Origin of Evil, Lina has a go at her sister for stitching the mouth closed on a doll their father had given her before he died (foreshadowing much?) however, Doris claims it wasn’t her. Now, we see the same doll in Debbie’s attic in Ouija, if you look at the hair you can tell, but her mouth is no longer stitched closed.
In Conclusion
When you really get down to the nitty gritty of these films, it’s basically Jumanji meets The Exorcist. I like the concept, don’t get me wrong but it is just a possession film and doesn’t match up to some of the others around. I will admit however, that I do prefer Ouija: Origin of Evil to the 2014 film, probably because with a smaller cast it is a much simpler film and I just enjoy the way it is filmed.
