After the back-to-back success of Oculus and Hush, writer-director Mike Flanagan will release his third feature of the year (after September’s Before I Wake) with Ouija: Origin of Evil. The first trailer introduces the family the film centers around, as their Ouija board scam becomes an all-too-chilling reality when the youngest member of the family gets in touch with an evil spirit.
The first film did well at the box-office (though much less so with critics, holding a 7% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it remains to be seen if Flanagan can balance studio needs with a more critically-minded eye. Other than a creepy use of a split-focus diopter, the trailer features traditional PG-13 horror conceits such as harsh lighting, a gliding camera, and a creepy child to try and deliver its scares.
See the trailer below, along with a poster, for the film starring Henry Thomas, Elizabeth Reaser, Doug Jones, Parker Mack, Sam Anderson, Kate Siegel, Annalise Basso, and Lulu Wilson.
It was never just a game. Inviting audiences again into the lore of the spirit board, Ouija: Origin of Evil tells a terrifying new tale as the follow-up to 2014’s sleeper hit that opened at number one. In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their séance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by the merciless spirit, this small family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.
Ouija: Origin of Evil hits theaters October 21st, just in time for Halloween.