Ouija

**
UK Release Date: 31st October 2014

A group of friends must confront their most terrifying fears when they awaken the dark powers of an ancient spirit board.

Director: Stiles White

Starring: Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, Daren Kagasoff, Bianca A. Santos, Douglas Smith

Many horror films these days reuse and recycle material. Some break familiarity, others play it safe. Ouija falls into the latter group. Unless this is the first horror film you've ever seen, which is highly unlikely, expect an abundance of clichés befall the characters we're introduced to. 

Spirit boards are a mysterious force not to be messed with. Circumstances lead a group of friends into playing with the unknown. Most of them are oblivious or stubborn about what they're doing before it's too late. 

The problem to begin with is we're placed in front of a bunch of people we have little connection to. The only character who's ballsy and has reason to use the board is Olivia Cooke's Laine. The others are one dimensional characters who'll follow Laine even though they know it's the wrong thing to do. It's almost worth joking about. Scooby-Doo's classic 'splitting-up' tactic springs to mind.

Frights are few and far between, and a twist that should come as a surprise is seen from afar. It's so blatantly obvious because we're led to believe everything is back to normal, when we know that's never the case in a horror film. Sorry to ruin it, but you're better off sticking a classic on repeat.