Reviews: Witchboard (1986) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Subgenres: Possession, Supernatural, Twisted Mystery, Police, Psychic, Supernatural, Serial killer, Teens, Witchcraft
Horror fans will enjoy our review of Witchboard (1986), where we cover its story, scares, and how it ranks among modern horror classics.
Witchboard (1986) is an American supernatural thriller-horror film that was shot in 637 S Lucerne Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA; Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA and San Francisco, California, USA. Director and writer Kevin Tenney (Pinocchio’s Revenge (1996), Night of the Demons (1988), Witchboard 2 (1993)) did not execute this movie to the potential it had. This film contains little to no blood, s**ual language, nudity and not many thrills.
Witchboard revolves around a female college student who communicated with an evil spirit with her friend’s Ouija board resulting in her being harassed and possessed by the evil spirit. Linda (Tawny Kitaen - Bachelor Party (1984), Santa Barbara (1989), The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak (1984)) had a party where her friend brought over the Ouija board. Linda’s friend Brandon (Stephen Nichols - Days of Our Lives (1985-2016), The Young and the Restless (2010-2013), House (1986)) knows a lot about the Ouija board. Brandon claims that he has made contact with the spirit of a ten-year-old boy named David who he has developed a relationship with. Brandon tried to contact David during the party, but Linda’s boyfriend Jim (Todd Allen - The Apostle (1997), Django Unchained (2012), Silverado (1985), The Postman (1997)), and his friend ridiculed/heckled throughout. Their heckling caused the Ouija board to levitate into the air for about a second or so, and there was a loud noise outside the window. Needless to say, the party ended, and Brandon found his tires flat making himself question if they made David angry.
Linda decides to use the Ouija board the next time by herself to contact David after Brandon. She made contact with a spirit who says he is David and proves that he is good by telling Linda where to find a diamond ring that she had lost. Her demeanor changes where she becomes surly and emotional almost immediately after contacting the spirit. We found out that the spirit is Carlos Malfeitor, who killed about nine people in the 1930s and now wanted to possess Linda so he can wreak havoc on unsuspecting victims again. Brandon is a quick thinker and figures out what is going on. He convinces Jim about what is happening, and they both joined to try to stop the evil spirit of Carlos. They discovered that Carlos had once lived in the same home that Linda now lives in, and he is very close to possessing her body entirely. Who will win this battle?
Witchboard looks cheap, and the actors did not help the film look any different since a few of them appears as though they were reading their lines as the movie was filming. Witchboard was a film that I did not fancy because it was a little too boring and had the craziest boring ending that was not the right fit. The overused jump scares were effective the first time but quickly became stale.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Witchboard Rating Scores
- Our Score: 4/10
- Overall Score: 4.69/10
- IMDB: 5.7/10
- MetaCritic: 4.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 5.0/10
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