"Witchboard: The Possession" is the third installment in the "Witchboard" series. This film focuses on a stockbroker who is in dire financial straits. Introduced to an ancient Ouija board by his landlord, he consults the board to help him gain wealth. Of course, bad things happen, like him unwittingly trading his soul and attempting to murder his girlfriend and the like.
The "Witchboard" series isn't exactly known for being highbrow horror—the original film, after all, did star Tawny Kitaen—but the first two films were at least halfway decent late-eighties supernatural horror schlock. This installment is probably the most "nineties" thing you will ever see, from the sets to the hairstyles and even the special effects and corny music. It literally looks like a 1993 episode of "Beverly Hills 90210" that was taken over by a horror production. In the middle of the film, there is a ridiculous sex scene that was either attempting to crib "Don't Look Now" or a Cinemax softcore porno—I'm not sure which.
So, yes, this film is one-hundred percent cheese. The real question: Is it fun, though? Well, sort of. The narrative is as predictable as you'd expect it to be, except this one has a weird bent with the landlord and the ancient board; the motivations for the protagonist's use of the board is also different from the previous films, where it happened to be women innocently playing around with a board they came across. In this film, its use is deliberate and calculated. The film has some elaborate death scenes and corny special effects, and has a dramatic conclusion that is anemic but still amusing. The two leads give sometimes-good, sometimes-hammy performances; their main function seems to be to look attractive, and they do achieve that (Locky Lambert is beautiful, and David Nerman is hunky as all get-out).
Overall, "Witchboard: The Possession" is a relatively unremarkable film; it looks and feels like a bad nineties made-for-television movie, and is bankrupt of surprises. As a piece of nineties trash celluloid though, it's a fun movie to kick back with and leave your inhibitions at the door. 5/10.
