2014's OUIJA was not received with a lot of positivity (for example, The Arrow gave it a 2/10 review), but it was a worldwide box office success, earning nearly $100 million more than its $5 million budget. So it's no surprise that it's becoming a franchise, whether we want it or not. But there is hope – the prequel OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL is coming to us from HUSH director Mike Flanagan, who has admitted that he wasn't too fond of the first OUIJA himself.
The script Flanagan wrote with his OCULUS collaborator Jeff Howard has the following synopsis:
In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their séance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by the merciless spirit, this small family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.
As promised when the poster was unveiled yesterday, a trailer for OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL has arrived online today, and the film does look like a step up from its predecessor. It's definitely shrouded in the dark atmosphere that Flanagan captures so well with his films.
With a cast including Parker Mack, Kate Siegel, Sam Anderson, Henry Thomas, Lulu Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, Annalise Basso, and Doug Jones, OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL will start haunting theatres on October 21, 2016.