9/22/2023 0 Comments Ouija seanceWith that as a lead-in, you’d expect some sort of familiarity with the concepts. The words are right there in the title of the movie “ouija” and “séance”. And don’t even get me started on the “séance”. Our four main characters, though? They all come off as mercurial ass-hats whose reactions to things are either blown way out of proportion or just plain bizarre. Sure, he creeps around a bit in the beginning, but deep down he’s good people. First of all, the only character even remotely likable is the axe-wielding caretaker. The writing is at the core of most of the horribleness. As is pretty common with these films, Ouija Seance fails spectacularly on nearly every front. Notice I said “attempts” to follow the formula. It also did well with moviegoers and that’s exactly the kind of pattern a mockbuster studio looks for.Įnter Ouija Seance: The Final Game (2018).įilmed in Italy (an homage to the glory days of the spaghetti western?) using an English-speaking cast, Ouija Seance attempts to follow the tried-and-true ouija board movie formula: get a group of young adults, put them in a room with a ouija board, unleash something evil, and watch the ensuing mayhem. It managed to pull in a respectable sum at the box office and earned itself a follow-up, Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016). For example, back in 2014, Blumhouse helped produce Ouija. What you often see are copies of legitimate movies that have done well enough to spawn a sequel or two. The horror genre is no stranger to this treatment it just doesn’t have nearly as many blockbusters to play with. Their Independents’ Day (2016) hit the market on June 7th so it would be all set up to ride the swell from Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) which came out June 24th. ![]() Their Atlantic Rim: Resurrection (2018) was put out on February 15th, just a few weeks before the March 23rd release of Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018). One of the masters of this practice is The Asylum studio. Its sole purpose being to ride the wave created by whatever giant Hollywood epic it copies. Traditionally, the mockbuster title is rushed to market a few weeks before the real movie’s release date. Also known as knockbusters or “drafting opportunities” (in the racing sense, not architecturally speaking - sorry, Eric), these movies tend to be micro-budget projects thrown together in record time and then given titles that sound similar to legitimately huge movies. Welcome to the wonderful world of mockbusters. I doubt they were talking about these movies, though. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” or so the saying goes. I do think it deserves to be seen, and diehard paranormal activity fans is the crowd I would recommend this to the most.1/2 out of ★★★★★ Beware the “mockbuster”: landmine of the cinematic landscape. Although it’s produced great, filmed great and features capable performances, I do have to grade it as a horror film…and it was slightly under the mark. ![]() ” …I have to admit that it was underwhelming in some areas, especially the horror aspects. Despite Ouija Seance’s title, I can only think of two or three scenes in which something vaguely paranormal happens To call this movie a cookie-cutter film would do a disservice to cookie-cutter films.” Flickering Myth “ Ouija Seance attempts to scare the audience in one of two ways: by playing loud noises, and by showing shadows moving across the backdrop of scenes, accompanied by loud noises. I can’t picture anyone having any sort of investment in the scare-free movie’s undercooked plot developments or uninteresting personalities.” Culture Crypt The Ouija board carved from a tree stump looks unusually cool, but it only peripherally factors into the film, never mind the title. ![]() “Bland dialogue dares not be more creative than “I’ll kill you, you bitch!” or someone shouting “I can’t see!” after something blinds his eyes. Some of the acting is dodgy, and the resolution is far from dazzling and can be seen coming from a million miles away. Ultimately, the plot is a hodgepodge of disparate elements tossed into the mix with none of it sticking together, being clarified or making much sense.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |