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| A dark and anticipation-building poster for Stiles White's Ouija |
A young woman, who has recently played with a Ouija board, hangs herself. But her friends are not 'finished' with her and contact her in the beyond, - with the Ouija board. That was a bad idea!
Ouija is written by Juliet Snowden (Knowing (2009)) and debuting co-writer/director Stiles White (Boogeyman (2005, writer)).
With uninteresting characters - and actors - and a deeply yawn-worthy plot, where dialog and action reeks of Movie as opposed to reality, - Ouija turns out a vapid and exceedingly dull time. It is strictly for the youngest and newest arrivals to the exciting world of horror.
Related post:
Stiles White: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
The Possession (2012) - Bornedal's possession horror struggles with the demon of mediocrity (screenplay, also co-written with Snowden)
Watch a behind the scenes feature here
Cost: 7.9 mil. $
Box office: 103.6 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 13.11 times its cost)
[Ouija was released 23 October (Malaysia, Singapore, Slovenia) and runs 89 minutes. Development began in 2008, and scores of talent were involved over the years, with the film envisioned as a big-budget (up to 125 mil. $) tentpole picture for the first several years of development, before the scope and project changed to a 5 mil. $ film. Shooting took place from December 2013 - January 2014 in California, including Los Angeles, with extensive re-shoots in May-June 2014 after poor test screenings. Reportedly half the film was re-shot; Lin Shaye was also cast in a new character to bolster the film at this point, and the extensive re-shoots are likely what caused the budget to balloon 58 % over-budget to 7.9 mil. $. The film opened #1 to a 19.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and then one more in the top 5 (#4), grossing 50.8 mil. $ (49 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Mexico with 6.6 mil. $ (6.4 %) and the UK with 5 mil. $ (4.8 %). The success prompted a sequel (without the involvement of White and Snowden or any of the film's cast), Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016). White has not returned to directing but is announced to be writing an untitled Bermuda Triangle movie. Olivia Cooke (The Signal (2014)) returned in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015). Ouija is rotten at 6 % with a 3.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Ouija?
