Never play it alone
Directed by Kevin Tenney
Reviewed by Deep Red
I’ve read in a few places that there’s going to be a remake of Witchboard at some point. There are two sequels, Witchboard 2: The Devil’s Doorway (1993) aka Witchboard: The Return directed by Kevin Tenney and Witchboard III: The Possession (1995) aka Witchboard: Gate to Hell directed by Peter Svatek. There’s also a spin-off, Witchtrap (1989) aka The Presence, directed by Kevin Tenney.
Kevin Tenney also directed Night of the Demons (1988). Bloody classic!
So, what’s Witchboard about?
Well, this guy called Brandon Sinclair (Stephen Nichols), bit of a ponce, brings his Ouija board to a party, as you do, and tries to contact this little boy called David who he’s contacted before. This other guy called Jim Morar (Todd Allen), regular Joe, doesn’t get on with Brandon, Jim’s girlfriend, Linda Brewster (Tawny Kitaen), used to date him. Linda has a go on the board with Brandon but Jim, who’s watching, upsets David and David flattens Brandon’s car tyre.
The next day when Jim is at work, Linda has a go on the Ouija board alone, Brandon left it behind, and starts communicating with David who tells her he doesn’t like Jim. At work, Jim is sat talking to his friend, Lloyd, when tragedy strikes….
I’ll leave the story there, hopefully I’ve whetted your appetite for this 80s classic. It really is up there with the best of ’em and I don’t say things like that lightly. Great 80s cast, great story. As much as I love the more famous 80s horrors like The Evil Dead (1981), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and so on, Witchboard and indeed Night of the Demons are not lesser films in my opinion, just less renowned. Horror fans will know what I’m talking about, a great film is a great film. We all have our favourites, one man’s meat is another man’s poison as they say.
Witchboard has an interesting idea from the off, Ouija boards are interesting, even in these ‘enlightened’ times, so to me what really matters is if the film holds my interest throughout. A poorly executed idea will soon turn into sheer boredom. Well, thankfully Witchboard doesn’t end up being a disappointment, or didn’t for me. It’s dialogue-driven, yes, and the pace is quite relaxed, relaxed not slow, to me slow means tedious or dull. It isn’t gory particularly and it’s a film that demands you get into it, enjoy the characters and the situation they find themselves in. What’s wrong with that? I found it easy to get into and I thought the characters were great. I also thought the conclusion was great, if a tad loopy, but loopy I like.
I first saw Witchboard years and years ago on video and loved it, I remember, and rewatching it was a lot of fun. A part of me is dreading the sequels, which I’ve never seen, although they may well be good films; I hope! I’d also like to check out Witchtrap. I guess I’ll let you know in due course what I think, I enjoy writing reviews so much it’ll be a pleasure.
Also stars James W. Quinn as Lloyd, Kenny Rhodes as Mike, Ryan Carroll as Roger, Burke Byrnes as Lieutenant Dewhurst, Kathleen Wilhoite as Zarabeth and J.P. Luebsen as Malfeitor.
