My Review of Ouija: Origin Of Evil (2016)

 

Written by Mike Flanagan And Jeff Howard

Directed by Mike Flanagan

Alice: "Where is she?"

Father Tom: "She's part of the walls now. And she told me the most wonderful, awful things."

Yesterday I wrote a review for the fairly mediocre Ouija movie, so it was time to give the better received sequel/prequel movie another go. Low and behold, here we are.

The antagonists in the first movie were the ghosts of Alice and Doris Zander with Paulina being confined to an institution. This movie explored that family's origin with the Ouija board in great detail.

Starting the movie off, it seemed like matriarch Alice (Elizabeth Reaser) was just coasting along with her customers, posing as a medium. She had her daughters Paulina (Annalise Basso) and Doris (Lulu Wilson) somewhat aiding her grift. Then the arrival of a certain board made Alice's job a bit too real for everyone's liking.

Notably with Doris being used as a vessel to communicate with the spirits, including the Zander patriarch, Roger (Michael Weaver). Doris's attachment to the spirits was definitely enabled by Alice getting in over her head but it was Paulina who was more freaked out by the whole thing.

Throw in a concerned priest named Thomas Hogan (Henry Thomas) and you've got something that slightly veered into The Exorcist territory with various possessions, dead boyfriends (poor Paulina) and a family that ultimately had the majority of its members killed, courtesy of Lina.

Yup, Lina's more or less the sole survivor in this movie, but considered that I've already seen the first movie, I already knew this. I do think this one did it's best to try and humanise both Lina and Alice a bit more while playing up the sheer creepiness of Doris being possessed by the spirits in the movie.

- Kate Siegel popped up briefly at the start as Jenny Browning, the daughter of Mr Browning (Sam Anderson). She's a gold digger.

- Post credit scene showed the older Lina (Lin Shaye) getting a visit from a woman claiming to be her niece.

- Standout music: Mike Lacey's You Gotta Move Me.

- Chronology: 1967 Los Angeles for the majority of the movie and 2014 for that post credit scene.

Ouija: Origin Of Evil certainly delivered a better movie than it's predecessor. It's sharper, better focused, more effective with it's scares and it nicely fleshed out the tragedy of the Zander family.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Ouija (2014)

 

Written by Juliet Snowden And Stiles White

Directed by Stiles White

Laine: "I just want to stop whatever is happening. My friends are dying."

Keeping with horror this weekend, I went and caught this divisive one from over a decade ago. To be fair, I'd previously watched it's sequel/prequel years ago but here goes.

Anyways, you've got friends, Debbie Galardi (Shelley Hennig/Claire Beale) and Laine Morris (Olivia Cooke/Afra Sophia Tully) play with an Ouija board as kids, when they weren't being interrupted by the latter's sister, Sarah (Ana Coto/Izzie Galanti). Of course they were using it for trivial questions.

Then the girls became teenagers and a spooked out Debbie tried to burn the Ouija board, only for the board to remain perfectly intact. As for Debbie, she ended up getting possessed and killed herself. Debbie's death of course would drive the main plot for this movie.

Mostly because Laine knew there was something off with her best friend's demise and along with Sarah, Isabelle (Bianca Santos), her boyfriend Trevor (Daren Kagasoff) and Debbie's boyfriend, Pete (Douglas Smith), she was determined to get to the bottom of it. What better than to use the Ouija board in order to get some answers.

At first it seemed like the group was communicating with Debbie but it was quickly revealed to be another spirit named Doris Zander (Sierra Heuermann) who was a victim of her mother (Claudia Katz Minnick). Then there was the older version of Doris's sister, Paulina (Lin Shaye), who ended up being more foe than friend.

The rest of the movie spent time with Isabelle, Pete and Trevor all getting killed with Laine in protective sister mode to save Sarah. It's something that she just about managed to do along with freeing the right spirits from their supernatural burden. 

- The movie underwent massive reshoots, including Erin Moriarty's character removed and suggestions from Mike Flanagan. 

- The tagline "Keep telling yourself it's just a game" was used to promote the Ouija game.

- The first Ouija board came out in 1890 but this movie seemed to imply it was before then.

- Chronology: Present day in an unknown American town.

Ouija was an okay look at the infamous board and the horrors that surrounded it. It's not a great horror by any stretch but it's not quite a disaster area either. Mostly mediocre though.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of The Monkey (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Osgood Perkins

Lois: "Everybody dies. Some of us peacefully and in our sleep, and some of us... horribly. And that's life."

I was meaning to catch up with this one. After Longlegs, which I found a bit hit and miss, I was curious to see how Osgood Perkins would adapt this short story from Stephen King. It turned out, pretty well.

Now, what's this movie? Well, you've got Petey Shelburn (Adam Scott) trying to return a drum playing toy monkey to an antique shop. As a result, the shop owner's gutted with a harpoon and Petey abandoned his family. 

The family being his wife, Lois (Tatiana Maslany) and twin sons, Bill and Hal (Theo James/Christian Convery) and it's a decision that had monumental damage on the family. The toy monkey loomed like a bad omen, both twins hatred for one another boiled over and a careless wish resulted in the death of their mother.

Cut to twenty five years later and you had the twins largely estranged from each other. On top of that, Hal also had an ex-wife (Laura Mennell), her annoying new boyfriend (Elijah Wood) and of course, Hal's son, Petey Jr (Colin O'Brien). Hal's lack of relationship with Petey Jr drove the second half of the movie.

It's a good shift too as Hal and Petey Jr found themselves drawn to the monkey thanks to Bill trying to trick Petey Jr into taking on the curse. Then there was Ricky (Rohan Campbell), who wanted the monkey for himself but came afoul of it's curse. Considering how annoying that character was, I found his comeuppance fitting.

The last showdown between Hal and Bill was the best bit of the movie. Two feuding brothers who finally hashed out their issues. Throughout the movie, Bill was largely a bully towards Hal but I did feel a bit bad for him. As for the ending, it just proved that you can't escape fate.

- Osgood Perkins has an acting role as Chip Zimmerman with Sarah Levy playing his wife, Ida. The latter being the twins aunt.

- The original version had the monkey playing the cymbals but here, it's replaced with a drum.

- Osgood Perkins changed a lot of the script to make the film funnier. 

- Chronology: 1999 for the first half of the movie and 2024 for the second half. Bill and Hal are moved to Maine after their mother's death.

The Monkey was an enjoyable take on the short story in question with a great lead performance from Theo James, brilliant supporting roles for Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery and Colin O'Brien. Add some genuinely funny scenes, gory stuff and nice character moments and you've got a great movie.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Odyssey: "Spring Break"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Liz Friedman

Directed by Steven Canals

Tristan: "Hi, I'm Tristan and I've recently realised I may have a drinking problem."

On paper, the idea of Tristan having a drinking problem would be a perfectly sound storyline but for a show that does like to zip through stories, would it have killed then to have had some build up here?

Not only in the previous twelve episodes did this show indicate that Tristan had any issues with alcohol consumption but now, he has a drinking problem. I'm sorry but it's poorly handled, despite Sean Teale trying his best to ground the story into reality.

The only point I can give this story was the inclusion of Rosie. With Rosie, I didn't feel her former drinking problem was badly handled. I did like her scenes with Tristan but aside from enjoying some shots with the guest characters of the week, this show isn't doing a great job with this plotline.

Getting to the guests of the week, you've got six characters somewhat broken into groups that converged. There's was the Vixens themselves - Vanessa (Paris Jackson), Veronica (Ava Philippe) and Victoria (Charlotte Lawrence). Those girls liked party favours but getting spiked by Fentanyl ended up putting Max in danger as well.

There was also friendship duo Connor (Anthony Turpel) and Steve (Noah Beck) with the latter having a problem with arriving at the worst time, if you catch my drift. Max was also involved in that story with Avery being involved in the more studious Hannah (Kathryn Newton) who needed her blood drained to solve her medical problem.

The characters were used decently enough with our main trio working well within the younger groups. There was also a nice moment between the trio with Tristan opening up about his own father's drinking but again, I wish there had been better build up for this.

- Steve Canals directed this episode. He's the creator of Pose (2018-2021).

- If you thought the first episode belaboured the point of Max being a DILF, wait until you see how the Vixens treat him.

- Sadly this show's very much on the bubble right about now with it being the only ABC show that hasn't been renewed.

- Chronology: Given the title of the episode, take a wild guess.

Spring Break was mostly entertaining but the lack of build up with a promising story for Tristan did sort of derail it's momentum. With five episodes left, I'm hoping for a reprieve but I fear it might be too late.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Haunting (1999)

 

Written by David Self

Directed by Jan de Bont

Nell: "Purgatory is over, you go to Hell!"

Several months ago, I watched The Haunting Of Hill House and last month, I watched the 1963 movie based on Shirley Jackson's classic book. It was only right that I watched the 1999 movie to complete my viewing.

Essentially this movie's not too dissimilar from the 1963 movie with a rather stellar casting for the main characters. You've got the likes of Liam Neeson, Owen Wilson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lili Taylor and they're cast in the very roles you'd expect them to be for this take.

Neeson took on the role of Dr David Marrow and it's him who assembled the likes of Eleanor Vance (Taylor), Theo (Zeta-Jones) and Luke Sanderson (Wilson) into the infamous house that used to be owned by Hugh Crain (Charles Gunning). Of course it's a decision that would have major consequences for all involved.

In particular with Eleanor aka Nell, who found herself the most affected and in tune with the house. Nell's determination to prove that the house was haunted led to her learning about Crain's mistreatment of children and like every adaptation of their book, Nell found herself permanently attached to the house. 

Then there's Theo, who at this point might be my favourite character in every adaptation. Catherine Zeta-Jones genuinely gave a delightful performance throughout the movie. Often the more sensible and fun member of the group, Theo certainly didn't disappoint here.

As for David Marrow and Luke Sanderson, I think both Liam Neeson and Owen Wilson were on good form but not quite as compelling as the others. Saying that, I did think Luke got a rather gruesome ending in one of the more gory moments in the movie. Crain also made for a decent third act antagonist.

- This movie was more explicit about Theo being bisexual compared to the 1963 version. She's even a bit flirty with Nell.

- Originally both Stephen King and Steven Spielberg has worked on the movie before it was taken over by David Self and Jan de Bont.

- Though there are similarities to the 1963 version, this isn't a remake of that version. They didn't have the remake rights for that.

- Chronology: 1999 in Massachusetts for the infamous house, though Nell had been in Boston beforehand.

Although it's weaker compared to other adaptations and generally disliked among horror fans, I have a soft spot for this version of The Haunting. The performances are good, especially from Lili Taylor and Catherine Zeta-Jones and there's some decent enough scares.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Parenting (2025)

 

Written by Kent Sublette

Directed by Craig Johnson

Josh: "The dick is fine, evil Frank."

Frank: "Well, I'm looking at the dad-dick right now, and if the son-dick is anything like the dad-dick, the dick is small."

Released last month on Max, there's a reason why some movies really should sit out theatres and just go straight to streaming. There's no way in hell anyone would've watched this one in theatres but on streaming, it might be caught out of curiosity or boredom.

Focusing on a middle class gay couple, Rohan (Nick Dodani) and Josh (Brandon Flynn), this horror comedy had the pair staying in a house that was owned by the clearly kooky Brenda (Parker Posey). They have it for a weekend and it's one that they won't be forgetting any time soon.

Mainly because both sets of parents are also staying him with him. There's Rohan's slightly uptight parents, Frank (Brian Cox) and Sharon (Edie Falcon) and Josh's less upright parents, Cliff (Dean Norris) and Liddy (Lisa Kudrow). Needless to say, there's chaos with both sets and Josh making a poor impression on Sharon.

Add into the mix, Rohan and Josh's best friend, Sara (Vivian Bang), a couple of dogs and a wi-fi password if say out loud, causes spooky antics in the old house and you've got the weekend from hell for everyone involved. No, seriously, that wi-fi password was a menace throughout.

As various characters fought with each other, made up with each other and learned more each other, there was possession afoot. Yup, Frank got possessed and spouted a lot of things he wouldn't (sans clothing) before it was revealed that Brenda had made some sort of supernatural deal with a demon to set it free.

I guess the fun part came in the two families (and Sara) banding in order to confuse the demon and save themselves. It's a funny enough scene and there's a rather nice but expected proposal to cap things off for good measure.

- There's a mid credit scene where a certain character's anatomy is mentioned for laughs.

- Josh had quite a good paying job to pursue a music career. Brandon Flynn has a decent singing voice.

- Standout music: Kim Wilde's You Keep Me Hangin' On.

- Chronology: Present day for the majority of the movie though some flashbacks for Brenda's backstory with the demon.

The Parenting was a fun but not a wholly original horror film,not did it try to do anything too subversive with the genre and setting. I did like it for it was but I don't see it being something I'd revisit in a hurry.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

CinenaCon Reveal: Sam Mendes Beatles Quadrilogy Cast Revealed

In the world's worst kept casting secret, CinemaCon kicked off in Las Vegas on Monday with a casting reveal that's been stroking fires all day today online.

Yes, it was revealed that Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn and Harris Dickinson have been cast as the iconic group, The Beatles. I mean, we've known this for months but it's finally confirmed. A reminder of who's playing who.

Paul Mescal - Paul McCartney 

Harris Dickinson - John Lennon 

Joseph Quinn - George Harrison 

Barry Keoghan - Ringo Starr

I got to say, I love this casting and paired together on stage, I can see it as well. Now just wait until we get them in their first look as The Beatles.

Now my only trepidation is the format. Four movies, with each one focusing on a different member and all four movies being released the same month in theatres. I'll admit, that feels a bit too overambitious and it's really asking a lot for general audiences to commit to. I think it would be wiser to space these movies out over the course of the year and let them breathe. I also wouldn't be too shocked if that's something that's eventually considered as well.

Sam Mendes will direct all four of these movies but each one will have a different writer. Filming will commence soon, so expect a lot more casting news and first looks to trickle out over the next few months. 

Casting News: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8eplyxp3wjo

All four movies will release in proximity of each other from April 2028. Are you pleased with the casting choices?