• Home
  • Meetings
  • Events
  • Blog
  • E-Board
  • Around Boston
NUFEC
.

Meghan Murphy on Ouija

10/24/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
It’s rarely a good thing when movie scenes that are meant to be dead serious elicit nothing but hysterical laughter from the audience--but that’s what happened over and over again during Ouija, a horror movie directed by Stiles White that hits theaters just in time for Halloween.

After her best friend Debbie (Shelley Henning) dies in a tragic accident, Laine Morris (Olivia Cooke) convinces her friends to help her use Debbie’s old Ouija board to try to contact her and find out what really happened. Of course, things quickly go awry, as the group ends up accidentally awakening some angry spirits and now must figure out how to put them to rest, or face dire consequences.

There really isn’t much about this movie that hasn’t been done before, nor does it do any of these things particularly well. The cast is bland, the writing is lame, the plot is murky, and the scares aren’t even that scary. The director can only employ the same jump-scare tactic so many times before you can start to predict exactly when it’s going to happen (and this is coming from somebody who usually scares pretty easily). Somehow, the story felt both random and illogical yet totally predictable at the same time. I know movies like this aren’t exactly supposed to reek of intelligence, but when there are scenes that literally do not make any sense at all, it seems like the filmmakers weren’t even trying. But what I think hurt the movie most of all, though, is its lack of self-awareness. It takes itself so seriously that even I found myself having a hard time holding back laughter when the stakes were supposed to be at their highest.

I wouldn’t call the film a complete waste of time--it was pretty amusing, even if it was for all the wrong reasons. If you’re on the lookout for a campy horror flick to watch with your friends this Halloween, I guess this fits the bill. But if you want something funny (in a clever, self-aware sort of way) with an actual plot, I’d recommend that you check out Scream on Netflix instead.

Grade: C -
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    AJ Martin
    Andy Robinson
    Anime
    Anthony Formicola
    Anu Gulati
    Arjun Agarwal
    Arzu Martinez
    Ben Garbow
    Brandon Isaacson
    Brian Hamilton
    Carter Sigl
    Dan Simeone
    Discussion
    Elizabeth Johnson Wilson
    Eliza Rosenberry
    Emily Fisler
    Erick Sanchez
    Eric Tatar
    Essays
    Festivals
    Gabrielle Ulubay
    Grace Phalon
    Haley Emerson
    Here's Some Movies
    Ian Wolff
    IFF Boston
    IFFBoston 2015
    Interviews
    Isaac Feldberg
    Kunal Asarsa
    Library
    Lists
    Marguerite Darcy
    Marissa Marchese
    Marli Dorn
    Mary Tobin
    Meghan Murphy
    Mike Muse
    Mitch Macro
    Neel Shah
    Netflix Instant Watch
    Parth Parekh
    Patrick Roos
    Profiles
    Reviews
    Short Films
    Television
    This Week In Movies
    Tyler Rosini

    Want to Write for Us?

    Contact NUFEC at [email protected] if you're interested in writing for this blog!

    Archives

    October 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    April 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.