Witchboard

WITCHBOARD is a fun film that is scary depending on when you watch it. If you watch it at around ten or eleven o'clock at night, you will feel the full scary effects that Kevin S. Tenney wants you to feel. I own a ouiji board and after seeing this film, I don't think I'll ever touch it again. Some users say what this COULD'VE BEEN and all that crap. Truthfully, this film is as good as it could've been and deserves to be re-released so that a new generation of horror fans can appreciate this film for what it's worth and not for what it could've been. **1/2out of****For an enjoyable late-night horror fare.

Linda Brewster (Tawny Kitaen) makes two mistakes when she throws her big party. MISTAKE #1- she invites her morose, ex-boyfriend, Brandon (Stephen "Patch" Nichols) to the bash. MISTAKE #2- When someone breaks out the novelty device of the title, Linda allows it, rather than tossing it in the fireplace and praying for forgiveness. Worse yet, she delves deeper into deviltry, consulting the WITCHBOARD for advice.

Soon, Linda is plagued by nightmares, and begins yelling obscenities like nobody's business! Supernatural shenanigans quickly unfold, resulting in grisly, "accidental" deaths. Not surprisingly, Linda's current boyfriend, Jim (Todd Allen) thinks she's losing her mind. When the world's goofiest medium (Kathleen Wilhoite) is called in, all bets are off!

One of the more memorable mid-to-late 1980's horror films, it was Ms. Kitaen's big star vehicle. Fairly good at being overwrought, she screams and panics her way through most of her scenes, while her boyfriends worry about her. Their ensuing bromance will be tested to its core.

Almost a character in itself, Linda's pile of red hair soars whenever she's tossed around by the peevish ghost! No, this movie isn't overly frightening, but it is still enjoyable after all these years. Especially, the hair-flailing finale!

P.S.- Indeed, there is a shower scene, and yes, Ms. Kitaen does don her birthday suit... while screaming a lot!...

80s horror films are remembered fondly for being fun and over-the-top, but most were fairly unoriginal, gratuitous and campy. Witchboard is special because its not a sequel or a ripoff of anything, isn't made for horny teens or punk rock sadists and it has a genuine interest in the scary subject matter - the occult. Director/writer Kevin S. Tenney would explore demonic possession with more fun and splatter with "Night of the Demons" years later on a bigger budget, but Witchboard is a good preface as its more believable, emotional and mature. I wish it was more exciting at parts but this is an independent horror film with limited means. Anyway its a good contribution to the horror genre for its time and it holds up better than many others.

People have been pretty hard on this film, and I have to admit my expectations going into it were rather low. Especially when you consider it was written/directed by somebody I had never heard of with a nearly anonymous cast including a leading lady named Tawny Kitaen (Tawny Kitten???). But overall I was impressed. With a modest budget of two million dollars this independent film managed to produce a small profit back in 1986.

Rather than being a boring gore fest with wooden acting, as were so many of the 80s horror films, this one keeps you engaged with suspense, camera technique, and an interesting score written by a relative of the obscure writer/director. In fact you might classify this film as horror/mystery, as it is not at all clear exactly what is going on until the end.

The film opens on a party with Brandon, who seems to be an intellectual snob, talking about the spirit world. He brings out his ouija board and gets his ex-girlfriend, Linda, interested in contacting the spirit of a ten year old boy, David, that he has contacted frequently. A rather jealous Jim - Linda's current boyfriend - makes snide remarks during the session, apparently angering the spirit and causing it to slash Brandon's tires.

Linda asks to borrow the ouija board for a few days. She soon becomes obsessed with it and her behavior becomes erratic. Also, there is a sudden rash of what could be accidental deaths, maybe murders of people close to Jim. And by close to him I mean he is nearby when they happen to the point where he could have been killed too. In each case the cause of the accident/death involves an axe, and Jim's hammer/axe combo that he uses at his job on the construction site has gone missing. This causes Jim to be dogged by the most annoying homicide detective in the history of the world. What goes on here? Has David become a malevolent spirit? And if so what does he want? Watch and find out.

This one has pretty good acting including some good scenes between Jim and Brandon as the source of the tension between them is explored, as well as the history of their friendship. I'd recommend it.

Look out for Rose Marie of the Dick Van Dyke show in a small role as Jim and Linda's landlady.

After her ex-lover shows off a ouija board at a party, Tawny Kitaen finds it at the apartment and tries it out herself. She thinks she is contacting the same shy spirit, but it soon becomes obvious to the audience that some other, malevolent spirit is speaking with her.

I freely admit I am not fond of straight-up horror movies, with their jump-scares and characters who can't see the obvious dangers that beset them. This one, however, has a good story arc, decent actors (Kathleen Wilhoite as a funky spiritualist is very amusing, until she gets killed by the evil spirit). I suppose I could have done without the moving shots that show clearly there's a mild fish-eyed lens in operation, but it's a pretty good genre piece.