Welcome to The Attic, what is your name?

I was recently scanning through new additions to the Hulu Plus movie section, and stumbled across The Ouija Experiment. I rolled my eyes, but being the desperate horror fan I am for anything new, I checked out the description anyway. “OK,” I thought, “a poor man’s Ouija for anyone that hasn’t gotten a chance to see it in theaters yet.” This one is also one of the seemingly hundreds of straight-to-video found footage movies. Needless to say, my expectations weren’t high. But it was a cold, cloudy, Saturday morning and we were expecting snow, so while millions across the midwest here were gearing up to watch Christmas movies, I was looking for something to scare the pants off myself. I first watched the trailer to get an idea if it was worth a shot or not, and it was surprisingly… scary. So I made a cup of coffee, stayed in my jammies (including my Duck Commander hoodie, thank you very much) and snuggled up with a blankie.

The story centers around five friends who decide to get together and “play” with a Ouija board for one of the friends’ YouTube channels. Two people in the group are a new couple, Calvin and Shay, and later some indiscretions on the boyfriend’s part come out, causing some awkwardly cheesy fights in the middle of a game where a ghost is communicating with them. Lynette, the bad boyfriend’s sister, has a crush on Michael, who is Calvin’s best friend. Those two are by far my favorite characters here. He is the most level-headed, and she is the comic relief. The last is Brandon, who is the tech geek, and the YouTuber. Before they get started, Michael, who is the host of this get together, lays out the three big rules for using a Ouija board. They are as follows:

1. NEVER ask a spirit how it died
2. NEVER ask how you are going to die
3. NEVER EVER leave the board without saying goodbye

Now, I am honestly not sure if those are all actual rules of the board, as I’m not idiotic enough to play with one. We’ve all seen the Exorcist, right? Captain Howdy? From a Ouija board… Yeah.

Anyway, those are the rules in this movie, and they sound legit, so we’ll take it. They begin to ask the typical questions, such as “is anyone there? What’s your name? How old are you?” etc. As one might expect, it doesn’t take long for them to get some answers. The main spirit they communicate with is Gracie. She is a young girl, only 5 years-old when she passed. There are two other names we hear pretty quickly, but it’s unclear at first how they are all related, or why they want to communicate.

As the night goes on, they need to end the game and make a deal with Gracie. If she agrees to say goodbye for the night, they will have another session with her the next night. She agrees and they are in the clear to step away without being in danger. Ahh, ghosts are so agreeable.

The next night ends a lot rockier, and a fight that breaks out between Shay and Calvin causes the game to be abandoned.. without them saying goodbye. Later, an even more heated confrontation between Calvin and best-friend Michael, has them all leaving the game yet again without saying goodbye. Big mistake. Each of them begin to start filming their times alone at night in their respective homes, thinking that they are safer, as ghosts never show themselves on film. They are dead wrong (no pun intended), as all three spirits begin to materialize to each of the friends. These spirits are no joke, and their appearances are actually really scary. Unfortunately, none of the footage captured by the group individually shows on their film later on, so each is left to learn how terrifying these experiences are on their own, one-by-one. The group of friends decide to research who these people were, and the story behind the deaths is actually interesting enough. One thing I really like is that you get to learn the tragic events that led to these spirits demise, but the most saddening is how the little girl died.

Things get worse and worse until the end, when unfortunately they break the biggest rule of a Ouija board. The way they choose to “end” things is something you should never, ever, do in real life. That for me was the biggest let-down. A movie set around a board that lets you communicate with the dead, focusing heavily on major rules, breaks the biggest rule of all. But if you can get past that, and a little bit of cheese, it is actually a very fun movie to watch. It is scary, disturbing, and intense at many points.

If you have Hulu Plus, I highly recommend streaming this ASAP. Also, it is good to note that writer/director Israel Luna was inspired to become a filmmaker ever since he saw The Exorcist as a young boy. The fact that he loved a classic horror film at such a young age really makes me think that this is why it stands out among the mass of recent movies. He clearly has a respect for the genre and wants to scare, not just cash in on recent trends. I’ll be honest, this movie has terrible reviews everywhere, so call me crazy, but I loved it. Don’t go in with super high expectations. Go in to watch a creepy movie, and you’ll have fun doing so.

Stay scared,
Dark Princess