The Ouija Possession (2016)

The Ouija Possession: Directed by Luis Carvalho. With James Barrett, Ryan Boudreau, Nicole Lasala, Jocelyn Padilla. After finding a vintage spirit board in their parent’s basement, a group of teens conjure an undead relative, who stalks them from beyond the grave.

“u0026#39;The Ouija Possessionu0026#39; drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing if not particularly original premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive as well as the low rating and poor reviews. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films have are present here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesnu0026#39;t do anywhere near enough with. u0026#39;The Ouija Possessionu0026#39; is terrible, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesnu0026#39;t do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is really nothing to recommend.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026#39;The Ouija Possessionu0026#39; occasionally has some spooky scenery, though it goes too far on the simplicity. Thatu0026#39;s all there is that is remotely okay about it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUnfortunately, itu0026#39;s shot and edited so poorly, looking like a school project shot on a shaky camera or a phone by an unsteady hand, and the drab colour palette. It was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm. In particular, the camera work was a nauseous assault on the eyes with its excessive amateurish-ness, apparently the budget was less than £150 and that is hardly surprising and comes through loud and clear. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGoing on further to the negatives, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates and are overdone.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMaking the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and peopleu0026#39;s reactions) and itu0026#39;s best not mentioning the uniformly lumbering and histrionic acting that shows a huge indifference to the situation and what is going on and extremely awkward prolonged pauses.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés, lots of unintentional humour that makes some of the film play like a really bad spoof and no depth whatsoever, while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags on forever with very little going on worth caring about and useless padding, never recovering. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Would not have minded the lack of originality (the film is extremely derivative and in a dumbed and watered down way) if the story and atmosphere were at least alright in execution, in reality they were both incredibly poorly done.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA lot of u0026#39;The Ouija Possessionu0026#39; has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending makes the film finish on an incomplete and confused whimper and the film often fails to make sense, at worst itu0026#39;s incomprehensible.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere is not enough threat, and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, it is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, completely failing to show any sense of horror or creativity. Everything here is neither creative, suspenseful or nail-biting. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden and like their heart was not in it or ill at ease, with the chemistry between the characters and actors coming over as constantly random and aggressive with the subtlety of an axe. This is very dreary and amateurish stuff that fails to be scary, interesting or easy to follow.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eConcluding, a complete and utter mess. 1/10 Bethany Cox”