Hooboy.
I remember I watched Ouija years ago because of my big love of Olivia Cooke, and how incessantly disappointed I was. While yay, no gore, this movie has few effective jump scares and the acting is abysmal for the most part. Also, it’s intrinsically based in the Christian rooted fear and paranoia that are tied to ouija boards, most of which are pretty unfounded considering this is a Hasbro toy. The movie is about five friends who try to use a Ouija board to communicate with a friend who recently took her own life. Things go awry however as they begin to communicate with a spirit who is definitely not their friend. This devious spirit starts to kill them in ways that make it look like suicide, the friend group is forced to solve the mystery of the killer spirit before it strikes again.
Cut to Tarot, 2024’s newest stinker released almost a decade after Ouija. Tarot is about five friends who try to use a found tarot deck to predict their futures. Things go awry however as the spirit of the deck’s creator unleashes vengeance on them for…using her deck? Okay. This devious spirit starts to kill them in ways that make it look like suicide, the friend group is forced to solve the mystery of the killer spirit before it strikes again– wait.
This is the same fucking movie.
And it’s rooted in the same Christian based fear mongering. Ouija and Tarot basically only exist because they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about when it comes to the sources of these “evils”, instead just forcing the belief that messing with anything in the occult is inherently dangerous. When it’s not — it’s for fun. Granted, tarot is more used for guidance and helping than a ouija board is, but that doesn’t take away from the positive associations both of these things usually have.
Tarot got it’s start around the 1400s. They were usually handpainted and originally used just to play card games. Only in a majority of English speaking countries since the 1790s have tarot cards been used to tell the future or communicate with the dead. Ouija boards, as they are now, came to existence around the 1800s. Charles Kennard and Elijah Bond, business partners, came up with the idea for Kennard Novelty Company. They even let the board pick it’s own name, and according to the board, Ouija means ‘good luck’.
These are toys, and these films are just based on something going wrong with toys because it’s cReEpY. Of course, this is film and there are far better movies that play up ‘loss of innocence’ or ‘child thing is evil’ — look no further than Child’s Play. The problem is here these movies think they are doing something, they are taking themselves seriously for no reason, with Tarot only somewhat understanding the assignment of ‘this is a goofy concept’. I cannot for the life of me understand how movies like this keep getting made.
If I have to watch another group of idiots play with one of these things and have them summon some ancient spirit who wants revenge for no reason I am going to lose my mind because it’s NEVER done well. Ouija is a particularly grievous offender because it takes itself so wildly seriously and plays with every trope in the book– they even got the old lady from Insidious to be a crazy old woman in this. Like, The Ouija Experiment is a better movie because of the level of camp associated with it. Ouija, in contrast, is melodrama over a Hasbro toy played so boring it barely keeps me awake.
And this is not slam on the prequel, Ouija: Origin of Evil, which while not fun is definitely an upgrade because it’s rooted in loss and pain and the acting is sublime. Also Mike Flanagan is behind the camera so he always beautifully marries love and horror for a compelling watch. So I guess you can make a serious horror movie about a toy, you just have to make it well.
On my rewatch of Ouija, I could not believe firstly, how similar it was to Tarot, but secondly, how Tarot was so much better. It’s more tongue in cheek, it throws around horoscope slang as fact but it’s played so goofy you can’t help but to laugh. The acting is also better for the most part, and the deaths are way cooler because they’re loosely based on tarot cards and horoscopes, so you have killers like The Magician or The Fool. The only place it surpasses Ouija’s energy is the ending, where both our final girls have to out-ouija and out-tarot the spirits. Tarot is actually worse than Ouija in this aspect because the main girl tries to bond with the spirit as she is actively being destroyed and it mirrors how both she and the spirit have lost people — it’s a lot. And it’s really heavy handed while thinking it is really standing for something, which is so goofy considering the film’s subject matter. And while I think this movie is better than Ouija, that’s like comparing getting hit by a car to getting hit by a train; it’s not…great. It still drags in parts and while the acting is better, it’s nothing to brag about either.
I just had to draw a comparison here and as these movies become the norm, I have to plea that we do fucking better. You can make a fun toy horror movie — in fact if they are toy based, they can only be fun. Taking yourself seriously and being so bloody boring when you have all the chances in the world to make it camp and cool and memorable.
I was going to make a tarot deck pun but these movies don’t deserve it. Fuck them and go watch Ouija: Origin of Evil.