Witchboard, Chuck Russell’s Reboot

It used to be a garden variety Ouija board that picked up a bad passenger, but for the reboot, it has been upgraded to a very rare and very evil antique. That will not be a trade-up for those who handle it. At least the food is better this time around, because the setting moved from California to New Orleans. However, a young woman still falls under the sway of a creepy forerunner to the magic 8-ball in Chuck Russell’s Witchboard, which opens today in theaters.

Emily, her fiancé Christian, and their friends were out foraging for mushrooms when she stumbled across the evil board. They weren’t for recreational purposes. They are for the opening of Christian’s hipster restaurant. Apparently, everyone was so busy planning for the premiere, they missed the news of the museum heist that made off with a notorious witchcraft relic.

The board still basically works the same way. It just has more bells and whistles. Ominously, Emily grows increasingly obsessed with the board’s divining powers, after it leads her to her misplaced engagement ring. Indeed, the recovering Emily has an addictive personality that makes her acutely susceptible to the board’s malevolent influence.

Nobody really thinks about why the board was there in the first place. Anne Ricey-looking Alexander Babtiste, a wealthy expert in the dark arts, commissioned the theft, but was double-crossed by the hoodlum now decomposing in the forest. Ill-advisedly, Christian’s torch-carrying but well-meaning ex, Brooke, refers Christian to Babtiste for occult guidance. Clearly, he does not have Emily’s best interests at heart.

Russell and co-screenwriter Greg McKay’s screenplay wildly departs from the 1986 original, but Babtiste’s shadowy conspiracy to resurrect a notorious 17^th Century witch is the best thing going for the film, admittedly in a wacky and outlandish kind of way. There are times when the film ventures quite deeply into the tall weeds of left field (to compound metaphors).

Jaime Campbell Bower is also entertainingly sinister as the flamboyant Babtiste. He chews the scenery like its deep-fried okra, which is exactly what the film demands. Melanie Jarnson also portrays Brooke with mysterious glamor (so to speak) that suits the film. Unfortunately, Aaron Dominguez is drippy and dull as Christian, while Madison Iseman (currently co-starring in The Rainmaker) makes a sad substitute for Tawny Kitaen.

Russell’s biggest hit was probably The Mask, but he is probably best known for a handful of previous horror films, like Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and Bless the Child, which shares some common elements with this film (like cloak-wearing cults pursuing a grand supernatural ahpppening). Arguably, Witchboard is macabrely atmospheric rather than outright scary but it is fun (which is what really matters). Recommended for fans of movies heavy in witchcraft and stake-burnings, Witchboard opens today (8/15) in theaters, including the AMC Empire in New York.