Theatrical Review: Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

"This is how you make a theatrical Horror movie in 2016."

Back in 2014, Blumhouse Productions gave us Ouija (review HERE); a decent supernatural yarn that most people shit on, but that we didn't hate. As bland and formulaic as it was, it got enough things right to keep us entertained.

Two years later, they've given us Ouija: Origin of Evil; a sequel that no one in their right mind wanted. Given the fact that the first movie wasn't stellar, and that the trailer for this prequel made us cringe a little bit, we figured that this new Ouija movie was destined to make our Worst of 2016 list...

But holy shit, it was actually a pretty damned good movie.

Alice Zander is a widowed mother trying to support her two young daughters in 1967, and she does so as a medium who contacts the spirits of the dead to bring their loved ones a sense of closure. Of course it's all a scam (because it ALWAYS is), but it's not like Alice is doing it to bilk people out of money. No, she actually likes giving people the closure they need. So, she's shady, but for a really good reason.

OH, PEOPLE, WHEN WILL YOU EVER LEARN...

Grieving the loss of their father, daughters Lina and Doris help their mom with her business, but wish there was a way to contact his spirit, because they need closure too. When Lina comes across a Ouija board at a party, she convinces mom to start using one in her readings, which she does, but while testing it out, she contacts some creepy spirit that latches onto youngest daughter Doris.

REMEMBER THE RULES FROM THE FIRST MOVIE? WELL, MOM BREAKS #3.

As Alice and Lina begin to realize that Doris is getting creepier and creepier because she's possessed by an evil spirit, they turn to a priest at the girls' school. What he's supposed to do, I don't know, but I can tell you that they all end up in the basement where terrible secrets are uncovered, and where they'll most likely meet their maker.

It's a prequel, you know it doesn't end well.

NOPE, NOT WELL AT ALL.

I personally like the first Ouija movie for what it was, but if I'm being honest, it was a generic flick that wasn't all that great.

Somehow though, the guy who gave us two other movies we really liked -Oculus (review HERE), and Hush (review HERE)- has managed to make craft a solid sequel (prequel, really) to a movie that should have never been given a sequel to begin with. His name is Mike Flanagan, and let me tell you that as much as we've dug his work up until this point, the fact that he could turn a disposable series like Ouija around like this and make it respectable makes us believe that he's the real deal.

The story here is compelling; it's got some genuine emotional beats; its characters are likable and relatable; its scary in the right ways; and even though it falls back on a few typical gags (like that damn stretching mouth thing that has been in 496 Horror movies since 2010), it felt fresh and original. Or at the very least, i wasn't business as usual for a PG-13 Horror flick of this type.

The cast was solid as hell here too. Elizabeth Reaser was great as the mom not only trying to raise her kids all by her lonesome in 1967, but to save them from evil spirits to boot. Annalise Basso (who also starred in Flanagan's Oculus) is a name to watch too, as she played the typical "teen daughter" role in a completely un-annoying way, which is saying something. The real standout here though was young Lulu Wilson, who played the role of the possessed Doris with skill well beyond her years. Honestly, the kid was so good and creepy in this one that we actually want to see Annabelle 2 now, just because she's going to be in it.

YEAH, HOW MANY TIMES DO MOVIES REALLY NEED TO USE THIS SAME GAG?

Why would you ever give a kid a Ouija board?

NOPE. NOT HAPPENING.

Sure. Let's go in the basement of the creepy house to find your missing daughter who is possessed by the ghost of some evil, murderous bastard. That'll end well.

OH, THERE SHE IS.

It's PG-13, so there's barely any blood or gore, but there are some pretty creepy visuals to be had throughout.

THAT LOOKS PAINFUL.

Nope. Not that kind of flick.

MOM WAS A QT THOUGH.

We really liked the opening scene, which established the characters really well, but then there was that scene with the shadow man...

DUDE, SHE'S JUST A KID!

Ouija: Origin of Evil surprised the hell out of us by being a smart, well-made, and actually scary movie. It's better than the first movie, and if they can keep on making them like this, we'd be happy to see this series become a franchise.

This is theatrical, PG-13 Horror done right.

B+

Ouija: Origin of Evil is in theaters now.

I'm pretty sure that none of these ladies will ever use a Ouija board again. Can't blame 'em.

Theatrical Review: The Wailing (2016)

"Comedy, Horror, Police Procedural... we won't soon forget this one."

And here we go again with South Korea dropping another top-notch Crime Thriller on us, only this time, it's got a Supernatural bent to it. We're all about watching Korean Gangsters war amongst themselves, or seeing a Seoul Cop or two trying to track down a Serial Killer, but throw in a Demon, a Shaman, and some good old fashioned possession, and that just takes it to the next level for us.

Director Hong-Jin Na is no stranger to us, as his excellent films The Chaser and The Yellow Sea have long since been a part of our Foreign Film lexicon. When we heard that his newest movie dipped its toe into the Supernatural pool, we knew we were in for something special. Or at the very least, different. Maybe even odd.

The Wailing is definitely all of those things.

Jong-Goo is a bumbling Police Sergeant in a small South Korean village who seems ill-equipped for his job: he shows up late; appears to be afraid of confrontation; and overall, he doesn't seem to have a clue about much at all. After being called to a grisly murder scene, it's obvious that neither he, nor any of his fellow officers are prepared to deal with what they find. Then again, they probably don't see many zombie-like killers with irritated, boil-covered skin, so it's understandable.

YEAH, YOU DON'T SEE THAT EVERYDAY.

Soon enough, more murders occur, each of them involving some sort of sickness that leaves its victims covered in angry, weeping boils. At one point, the Police decide that wild mushrooms are to blame (?!?), but after hearing rumors of an old Japanese stranger who lives in the forest, Jong-Goo begins to wonder; everything was fine before the stranger arrived, and he's shown up at every murder scene to watch the Police work, so there has to be something sinister about him. After a local man swears that he saw the stranger feeding on wild animals, with red, Demonic eyes, that stared into his soul, Jong-Goo is convinced of it.

HE IS KINDA CREEPY...

When Jong-Goo's daughter falls ill to the plague that's been sweeping through the village, he sets out to confront the stranger with the help of his partner and a local Deacon. It doesn't go well. Desperate for help, a suave Shaman is called in to put a Death Hex on the Japanese stranger, as that will no doubt cleanse the village of his evil presence. Add to that a mysterious woman in white, and things go from bad to worse pretty quick.

WHAT IS SHE ON ABOUT?

The Wailing is a long movie. clocking in at 2 hours and 35 minutes. It's a tough watch in that respect, and it could have benefited from a bit of a trim here or there, but even in its over-long state, it's one of the most engaging Thrillers that we've seen this year.

I'm still trying to grasp what the movie was truly about, as some of it makes very little sense. There's definitely an evil presence in the small village which is making people sick and causing them to commit some heinous murders, but then again, there could be more to it than that. I view it as a straight-forward Supernatural tale, but that doesn't mean that it is.

That very mystery had us going the whole time, wondering just who was causing the sickness, possessions, and re-animation of corpses, or if it was anyone at all. The Japanese guy is obviously an evil Demon, but then again he could be a innocent man who is swept up in some good old fashioned xenophobia once things start to go wrong in his new S.Korean hometown; then there's the mysterious woman in white, who seems to delight in tormenting Jong-Goo, and is also sufficiently creepy, so what if she's somehow behind the occurrences; and of course there's something not completely right about the flashy Shaman who shows up and makes a big production out of cleansing the village of its evil...

***BEWARE SPOILERS*** This movie had us guessing as to what in the hell was really going on up until the end, and in the end, we were satisfied. Without giving too much away, there's a biblical element to the movie that involves spirits using human beings for their own ends. It kind of felt like a chess game between good and evil, with Jong-Goo being the main pawn. It was clear to us that the Japanese stranger was a in fact a Demon, and that the Shaman was also one, perhaps even the strangers apprentice. As for the woman in white, we're pretty sure that she was a good entity who was trying to help Jong-Goo. I'm not sure why he was punished (the woman in white's explanation that he had "sinned' made no sense, because that "sin" didn't happen until well into the movie, and by then he had already been plagued with terrible things), but in the end, it was all about his journey.
***END SPOILERS***

Then comes the ending, which wraps everything up in horrific, heartbreaking fashion.

DUDE, SHE'S CONTAGIOUS. BACK OFF.

There's some nasty bits throughout the movie, including animal sacrifices, some grisly murder scenes, and a disturbing, blood-soaked finale.

WELL, HELL....

A sex scene, but nothing gratuitous at all.

THIS MOVIE WAS TOO CREEPY TO BE SEXY.

S. Korea is rife with Supernatural activity. And Serial Killers. And inept Cops.

THE KOREAN TONY ROBBINS.

We really liked The Wailing, and it was a fantastic movie, but it left us with an odd taste in our mouth. I think that its over-abundance of humor towards the beginning caught us off guard, as we were expecting a scary and more serious movie from the get. I think we'd have to watch it again to see how we truly feel about it. It may even go up a half grade or so, who knows.

As it stands though, The Wailing is an excellent Supernatural Thriller, and one that you should seek out and experience when you get the chance.

B+

The Wailing is in theaters (Limited) right now.

Woo-hee Chun is in this.

TV Review: Stranger Things (Season 1)

"The worst thing about this show is that it was over way too quick."

(aka John Carpenter's E.T.)
Release Date: July 15th.
Country: USA.
Rating: NR.
Written by: Matt and Ross Duffer.
Directed by: Matt and Ross Duffer.
Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Matthew Modine, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, and Charlie Heaton.

Stranger Things is a love letter to the 80's. We grew up in the 80's, so the Dungeons & Dragons gaming sessions, the infectious pop music, the rotary phones, and TV antennas felt like a snapshot of our past to us.

In a way, we were the kids in this show. We were way cooler (obviously), but we played D&D, rode our bikes all over the place, and were totally afraid to talk to girls. Alright, fine. Maybe we were awkward too, but we're cool now. We think.

Even though we're going to keep things as vague as possible, mild spoilers do follow.

Hawkins, Indiana, 1983: After a particularly harrowing all-day session of Dungeons & Dragons in which Demogorgon lays waste to the entire party when one of the players rolls a shitty 7 (all you needed was a 13!), four middle school friends call it a night and part ways. One of them, Will, never makes it home.

"HAVE FUN NOT MAKING IT HOME."

Will's mother, Joyce, is frantic the next morning when she realizes her kid never made it home, and heads off to report him missing to the local Chief of Police, Hopper. He, along with everyone else, thinks that Joyce is crazy, because she kind of is, and so they aren't sure whether to believe her or not.

I WONDER IF SHE HAS CALL-WAITING?

Will's friends are worried, and since no one else is making any progress finding him, they decide to take matters into their own hands, and search the woods for him. What they find instead is a little girl in a hospital gown with a shaved head, and a penchant for remaining silent, named Eleven.

And that's all we're saying.

YEAH, THINGS GET STRANGE.

From the get-go, Stranger Things did not feel perfect to us. The story felt all too safe and familiar; the acting was cheesy at times (calm down, Winona!); and even the cast felt odd at first, as most of the kids weren't your cookie-cutter, good-looking Disney types (which was a really good thing, btw); but man did it ever pull us into its world and keep us engaged through its entire 8 Episode run.

Stranger Things is a show that is deeply rooted in the 80's, and not just because it takes place then; it feels like E.T. and The Goonies meets The Monster Squad, with a bit of old-school John Carpenter flair thrown in to make it darker. It also had obvious nods to Alien, and it reminded us of Silent Hill more than once, so really, it's a bunch of things thrown into one big, 80's-centric pot that made us nostalgia in a big way.

Had "Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter Presents" popped up during the opening credits, it wouldn't have shocked us at all.

US, CIRCA 1983.

As nostalgic and comfy as the word of Stranger Things feels, there's a steady stream of darkness and danger that runs through it, which makes it much more than some kid-friendly throwback. The monster is real (and creepy as hell); Eleven is dangerous, and we're never sure just who she's going to take her anger out on; and the proverbial "men in black" are a real threat who kill indiscriminately to cover their tracks and get back what is theirs.

It's all very dire, and as sweet as it can be, it's all very serious.

It was also over far too quick, and it left us hanging on a few plot points that have us really hoping that Netflix gives it a Season 2. Seriously, the waffles!

IS THAT A OUIJA BOARD PAINTED ON THE WALL?

Violence aplenty in this one, but the gore factor is low.

WINONA WENT DARK IN THIS ONE...

There's a bit of sex, but nothing gratuitous at all.

THE PANGS OF FIRST LOVE ARE APLENTY THOUGH.

One of the coolest things about Stranger Things is how it uses 80's music to accent its story. It's like an awesome mix-tape. Our faves were:

Should I Stay or Should I Go (The Clash)
Africa (TOTO)
I Melt With You (Modern English)
Waiting For a Girl Like You (Foreigner)
Sunglasses at Night (Corey Hart)

*GOONIES THEME SONG INTENSIFIES*

Sentimental, intense, nostalgic and creepy, Stranger Things took us by total surprise. It's one of the best things that we've seen all Summer, and we can't wait to see the story continue in Season 2. There's going to be a Season 2, right?

If you have Netflix, stream this bad boy asap.

A

Stranger Things is streaming on Netflix now.

From the I we saw her in Lucas, Winona Ryder was one of my biggest crushes as a kid. She's still beautiful today.