Movies & Blu-Ray

WHICH BOARD? WITCHBOARD!

February 1, 2015 by Editor

Witchboard 1986

WITCHBOARD-19861
Witchboard 1986..is a movie about the Ouija Board..this is by far the BEST movie pertaining to this subject and puts to shame the very boring and disappointing new release of this past Octobers movie Ouija.

Plot Summary:
The movie begins with a gathering of friends at a party and one of the guests Brandon has also brought with him a very decorative spirit board referred to as Ouija aka “Witchboard“.
Brandon is an expert in the field of talking boards and begins to explain to everyone at the party just how Ouija works. Most of the guests are unconvinced by Brandon’s descriptions about how the board works and are skeptical. Some are even laughing and making fun of the whole concept. Brandon explains that in order to get the best results from a Ouija it is important that you have two players preferably a man and a woman and that both participants be free from drugs and alcohol. Everyone at the party is under the influence except one person, Linda, who seems to have a keen interest in the subject. Brandon specifically requests Linda’s participation and she reluctantly volunteers after being pressured by all the other guests. One guest in particular, Jim, begins heckling Brandon as well as the spirit David; a ten year old boy who died by drowning.
As Jim continues harassing Brandon and insulting the spirit contact. David grows very upset and the planchette (indicator/pointer) flies violently off the board. To the shock of the room Brandon’s tires to his new sports car has also been flattened by an unknown source. Brandon explains that David is angry and has decided to take it out on him. instead of Jim because he was in control of the board at the time of Jim’s insults. Brandon inadvertently leaves his Ouija Board at Linda’s house during this commotion. where Linda, now having had a supernatural experience with the Witchboard..decides that she would like to try using the board alone to re-connect with the spirit David. David begins to entice Linda’s continued use by revealing that her lost wedding ring is stuck in the drain of her bathroom sink. Surprised to find her ring exactly where David tells her it is she slowly begins to become obsessed with using the board.

Knowingly ignoring Brandon’s advice of “:never using the board alone” she attempts to put the board away which causes David to get very upset. David begins terrorizing Linda and this causes Brandon to embark on a one man mission to stop David in his tracks and save Linda from becoming completely possessed by the growing wrath of David. Unbeknownst to all, David turns out to be much more malicious than even Brandon suspects and the people that Linda love the most start having “accidental” deaths. Linda starts exhibiting signs of demonic possession i.e. excessive cursing, fits of rage and unusual behavior. this sends Brandon and Jim on a quest to communicate with David at the place of his drowning. Little do they know evoking the spirit of David sends them on a one way ticket to meet one of the most ferocious and malignant demons of all in hell.
My personal experience and opinion:
As you can see by my plot explanation there is quite a bit of depth for a horror movie from the late 80’s Since I own a very large talking board collection and have a rather extensive history with the Ouija product I can attest to much of the information provided as being very accurate to a large degree even if much of it is based on hysteria. Since I was extremely disappointed in how the new “Ouija” movie was handled and represented..I feel it is important for me to describe exactly the highlights from the movie I greatly approve of.
1) The original lore of the mysterious Ouija remains intact and is cleverly described and depicted.
2) Magnificent board design with decorative artwork including angels from heaven, this really gives the board a very supernatural look and personality of its own. This is important since the bulk of the movie is centered around this.

3) Cool camera tricks that show what it looks like from the spirits perspective.. Nice twists throughout the movie that aren’t anticipated or expected. Some interesting death sequences that is presented as coincidental accidents and is reminiscent of the deaths in the movie Final Destination. More than one board design is shown with the second having a much more demonic appearance.
4) Genuinely spooky and actually informative. Here is an exert of dialogue from the movie as an example:
Party guest: How can you believe in spirits if you don’t believe in God or Satan?
Brandon: There’s been evidence of their existence. Eye witness accounts, photographs, recordings…you name it and I have contacted some of them.
Party guest: What with a wee-gee board?
Brandon: Ouija. It’s pronounced Wee-ja not wee-gee. It comes from the French and German words for yes. Oui and Ja. Ouija. And this is a planchette (shows the boards pointer)
Lloyd: I don’t care what you call it dude. It’s just a game like Checkers or Chess.
Brandon: For your information..”dude” the Ouija board has been around since recorded history. It was in wide use as far back as 540 BC. Now for the best results, the Ouija should be used by two people. Preferably a man and a woman and it shouldn’t be sitting on a table, it should sit on our knees so there is as much body contact as possible. Also the two people should have clean, pure systems. So that the energy flowing thru us to the planchette is as strong as it can be.
Linda: Are you saying that the spirits actually come through our bodies?
Brandon: Oh don’t worry it’s perfectly safe.
Linda: I don’t think I understand what you mean by “clean systems” though.
Brandon: Someone who doesn’t smoke or drink..like you Linda. Care to give it a try? Good, I don’t smoke either and I haven’t been drinking tonight. So together we should be able to make a clear strong contact. Alright one more thing before we begin, The spirits are lousy spellers and a lot of them like to lie. So just to play it safe, I’m going to try and contact David; the spirit of a little boy who died about 30 years ago. I have contacted him several times. For some reason he is connected to this particular board. I don’t now why really it’s just that every Ouija board seems to have its own dominant spirit. Maybe it’s because this board was made the day David died.

Review conclusion and final thoughts:
I have to point out some flaws…well there is a few complaints…since it was made in the late 80’s the hairstyles and clothing are very dated. the set locations are pretty good though. Trying to rate this movie is a bit tough..can’t give it 5 stars because there is some complaints but because this is the only movie about the Ouija that is dead on (no pun intended) I will give it 4 stars .
Here is a video short of me and my Witchboard:

This movie will either scare you away from using the Ouija or it’s going to entice you to get out the old Ouija Board and give it a go. The movie makes the whole concept of what the Ouija game is..exciting and fun the way it’s intended to be. The whole scene where David tells Linda where to find her lost wedding ring is a prime example of this. Who doesn’t want to learn information that should be lost or hidden from us or having the future predicted ahead of time? This is what makes the Ouija Board fascinating and this is the general motivation for someone to use it. The idea that you might get in contact with a long lost relative or a family member who has passed away is also alluring
Some very good dialogue and hilarious put-downs. The music is very good..quite a few jump scares..some of these are timed so perfect that no matter how many times I see it and know ahead of time its going to happen..still scares the shit outa me. .plenty of one-liner sarcasm that will make you chuckle every time as well.