‘Ouija: Origin of Evil’ Takes Us Back to the Beginning

Patrick Regan

The tradition of the horror movie franchise spans back to Hollywood;s Golden Age. With “Bride of Frankenstein,” “Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman,” and “Son of Dracula,” the Universal Movie Monsters all grew together in a complex web which predated the Marvel Universe by decades.  We all remember the 90’s and the 00’s, where slasher sequels rained from the heavens and Freddie and Jason reigned supreme.

These days, it’s become vogue to go back in time and explain the origins of a haunting or curse. 2014’s “Annabelle” examined what happened to the doll that made it so evil the Warrens had to lock it up in their most secure vault. “Ouija: Origin of Evil” takes us back to the moment when the Ouija Board in 2014’s “Ouija” went from being a simple party game into a cursed object.

The year is 1967, and the place is Los Angeles, California. A young family, reeling from their father’s sudden death, began to fake séances to scrape up enough money to get by. Daughter Doris in a moment of faith and grief, chooses to believe that there might be something on the other side and peeks through the window of the Ouija’s planchette, hoping to find her father.

There’s something there alright, but it’s not her father.  And now her family, having tempted fate  for so long, have to embrace the reality of the game board if they want to save Doris from the other side.

Prequels usually shy away from storytelling, if only because there’s generally a sense that we know how it’s all going to end. We know Anakin Skywalker will become Darth Vader, that Obi-Wan Kenobi won’t die.  Horror prequels generally don’t grant you this luxury. In a horror prequel, everyone’s life is still on the line.

“Ouija: Origin of Evil” is in theaters Oct. 21.