It’s Pronounced Wee-Jaa

Witchboard Review

What I expected to be an exciting ‘vengeful ghost’ film really just ended up being a rather bland one. That isn’t to say that Kevin Tenney’s Witchboard didn’t have its strong points.

Witchboard was released in 1986, which was around the time that many great slasher films were coming out. It is those small slasher elements that I noticed that make this ghost story a little more enjoyable. As writer and director, Tenney was able to sprinkle some slasher-esque kills into his possession story, making for a rather interesting combination. The Ouija board was the means of transport for our not-so-friendly spirit, but its weapon of choice was a hatchet and some pretty cruel ways to use it.

The acting in this film seemed all over the place; I enjoyed Tawny Kitaen’s performance as Linda Brewster, but Todd Allen could have played Linda’s boyfriend, Jim, a little more enthusiastically (for lack of a better word). My favorite performance, however, was delivered by Kathleen Wilhoite as the quirky medium who is called upon to help rid our characters of this nasty little ghost. With some pretty goofy dialog and an outrageous look, the character of Zarabeth brought some fun to this rather slow moving flick.

If you’re on the market for an 80’s ghost story with some pretty neat slasher elements, look no further than Witchboard. For the best version being distributed today, be sure to pick up Shout! Factory’s release, loaded with some cool bonus features.

I give this film 2 planchettes out of 5.

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