Ouija: “Keep telling yourself it’s just a game”

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With Halloween fast approaching, horror-movie fans everywhere are taking in Hollywood’s most recent addition to the genre—Ouija.

Directed by Stiles White, Ouija is a must see film for horror buffs and would make for a fantastic date on Halloween night.

Starring Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, Daren Kagasoff (best known for his role as ‘Ricky’ in The Secret Life of an American Teenager), Bianca Santos, Douglas Smith and Shelley Hennig, the cast may be made up of actors who are not overly famous, but who have done a great job fulfilling their roles regardless.

Ouija is based on a very old product, the Ouija board, a game dating back to the 1800’s. People used to pretend to contact spirit worlds by asking the board questions and subconsciously moving the planchette, and the Ouija board remains a taboo item to this date.

The movie encompasses the struggles of five friends who try to contact the spirit world using a Ouija board after their friend mysteriously commits suicide. Following a set of four important rules—don’t play alone, don’t play in a graveyard, don’t feed it after midnight, and always say goodbye— the teenagers play the Ouija board only to realize that they’ve broken one of the most important rules and must now pay the consequences of their actions. They learn quickly that “the other side” is not one they should play with.

Ouija cost a mere $5m to make, and brought in over $20m in the first week of its release. Surprisingly, the film made a larger profit than some of the other new releases like St. Vincent, starring Bill Murray, and John Wick, the new Keanu Reeves film.

Rated PG-13 for disturbing and violent content, frightening scenes, and thematic material, Ouija is very much an action/thriller. Featuring unexpected twists and turns, the film had audiences on the edge of their seats, or in my case, with a scarf over my eyes.

For Halloween, I would highly suggest you see this movie with a date, you’ll definitely be grabbing on to each other the whole night.

If Ouija isn’t the Halloween horror film for you, check out Nightcrawler, featuring Jake Gyllenhaal. The film premieres Friday, just in time for All Hallows’ Eve, and has the potential to unseat Ouija as this year’s big Halloween blockbuster.

Emily is in her fourth year of Political Science. She loves studying and academics which follows into her research work. She's a stern black coffee drinker and is a proud Acadienne. When she's not working or doing school work, you can find Emily listening to 70s music on vinyl and watching Parks and Recreation. If you ask her about parliamentary institutions, she won't stop talking.