Movie Spotlight: Ouija: Origin of Evil

Ouija: Origin of Evil is a 2016 movie starring Elizabeth Reaser, Annalise Basso, Lulu Wilson, Parker Mack, and Henry Thomas. It's a prequel to 2014's Ouija (my review: http://paranormalcrystal.blogspot.com/2015/03/movie-spotlight-ouija.html). In Los Angeles in the late 1960s, widow/pretend medium Alice (Elizabeth Reaser) stages seances with the help of  her two daughters (Annalise Basso and Lulu Wilson), and when she decides to incorporate a Ouija board, of course things go horribly wrong. Using a Ouija board is never a good idea, which Alice finds out when her youngest daughter ends up getting possessed.

Ouija: Origin of Evil is creepy, full of great performances, and better than its predecessor. Lulu Wilson is the standout as possessed daughter Doris; I was already a fan from her days on The Millers (where she proved to be a great comedic actress), and in this movie, she shows that she can master the horror genre as well. If you're in the mood for an entertaining, well-made horror movie, check out Ouija: Origin of Evil (even if you didn't like the first one). : )

My rating: 8/10

Movie Spotlight: Oculus

Oculus is a 2013 movie starring Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaite, Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane, Annalise Basso, and Garrett Ryan.  Kaylie Russell (Karen Gillan) suspects that an antique mirror her father (Rory Cochrane) bought in 2002 has caused terrible things to happen to her family.  Tim (Brenton Thwaite), Kaylie’s brother, is being released from a psychiatric hospital, and Kaylie enlists his help in proving that the mirror has supernatural powers.  Tim is skeptical, but Kaylie is sure that the mirror has killed forty-five people (maybe the movie should’ve been called Murder Mirror since no one knows what an oculus is…is that even a real word?).  Kaylie has a dog that she never bothered to name since she plans to use him as bait, and at one point she puts the dog in a crate next to the mirror in hopes that the mirror will make the dog sick or kill it, which would prove that she’s right about the mirror.  Of course this made me think that Kaylie is a terrible person who needs to die by the end of the movie. ; )

Oculus was better than many of the paranormal movies I’ve watched, and all of the actors were great.  I liked that the movie went back and forth between present day and 2002, so the audience could experience the initial events that Kaylie thought were caused by the mirror.

My rating: 8/10