'The Ouija Experiment' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing if not particularly original premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive as well as the low rating and poor reviews.
It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films have are present here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'The Ouija Experiment' is terrible, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is really nothing to recommend.
'The Ouija Experiment' does have a few nice references that people will have no problem getting. That is the only enjoyment value one gets.
Unfortunately, it's shot and edited so poorly, looking like a school project shot on a shaky camera or a phone by an unsteady hand, and the drab colour palette. It was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm. In particular, the camera work was a nauseous assault on the eyes with its excessive amateurish-ness.
Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates and are overdone.
Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and it's best not mentioning the uniformly lumbering and histrionic acting that shows a huge indifference to the situation and what is going on and extremely awkward prolonged pauses.
Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés, lots of unintentional humour that makes some of the film play like a really bad spoof and no depth whatsoever, while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags on forever with very little going on worth caring about and useless padding, never recovering. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Would not have minded the lack of originality (the film is extremely derivative and in a dumbed and watered down way) if the story and atmosphere were at least alright in execution, in reality they were both incredibly poorly done.
A lot of 'The Ouija Experiment' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending makes the film finish on an incomplete and confused whimper and the film often fails to make sense, at worst it's incomprehensible.
There is not enough threat, and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, it is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, completely failing to show any sense of horror or creativity. Everything here is neither creative, suspenseful or nail-biting. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden and like their heart was not in it or ill at ease, with the chemistry between the characters and actors coming over as constantly random and aggressive with the subtlety of an axe. This is very dreary and amateurish stuff that fails to be scary, interesting or easy to follow.
In conclusion, very poor. 2/10 Bethany Cox
The Ouija Experiment
2011
Action / Horror
The Ouija Experiment
2011
Action / Horror
Keywords: found footageouija board
Plot summary
Five friends decide to videotape their experimental sessions with an Ouija board in an attempt to create a viral video that is sure to make them famous. Personal drama causes members of the group to forget to maintain focus on the game's important rules and soon fall prey to the evil entities that occupy the board.
Uploaded by: OTTO
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Predatory board
NEVER CAN SAY GOOD-BYE
This is a hand held camera film about a group of people filming themselves "playing" with a Ouija board. Michael (Justin Armstrong) owns the board. He is joined by his friend Calvin, a player (Eric Window),Cal's latest girlfriend Shay (Belmarie Huynh) and Calvin's sister L'nette (Swisyzinna Moore). This is all being filmed by Brandon (Carson Underwood) for his web site, although it appears everyone owns a camera.
The board of course contacts spirits. Shay asks the board questions about Calvin and his other girlfriends and gets an answer only Michael, who has his finger on the pointer, would know. Meanwhile Brandon looks up the names of the people mentioned by the board.
The film is based on the idea that the Ouija board can act as a portal between the two worlds if you don't hang up, or in this case say "good-bye." According to my occult knowledge, that is not exactly true. However black mirrors if uncovered are supposed to supply a portal for spirits.
I liked the idea of the film, maybe because it is a common theme done so many times before. In this particular production, it was not done well. The dialouge was fairly bad. There was wasted footage of people playing around. Seeing a Ouija board pointer move is a let down after we have seen a pool crawler get out of the water. Yes, we do see ghosts and there is a flashback to their lives.
I don't recommend this film unless you are really really into the hand held filming.
Parental Guide: No F-bombs that I recall. Some adult talk. Brief male rear nudity (Eric Window). No sex.
I Should Have known Better
It's Friday night and I was up late and just happened to see this was available to watch on Netflix,unlucky me. Another found footage nightmare.I have watched lot of low budget horror but this one takes the cake. This movie has the worst acting I have ever seen,and the story takes forever to get scary. They spent so much time arguing and bickering about one guys cheating that the whole story loses focus . If you are looking for low budget horror fun keep looking this is it not it. I didn't get scared or jump once. You have been warned. Watch if you want to take a nap. You may get a few laughs out of the YouTube references and the character Lynette was the only one who was funny or at all interesting. I don't know what else I can say about this movie,except they made a part two and I won't be watching that. I've had it with found footage.