Witchboard Blu-ray Review
Don't ask, don't tell.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, January 30, 2014
Do you believe in evil? Not merely "bad stuff", mind you, but a
real, perhaps even
tangible, force that is
out to wreak havoc on our earthly plane? It's interesting to see this kind of belief manifest itself even in otherwise
scientifically minded folks, the kind who argue against a divine presence and are apt to give longwinded explanations
about "mere" biochemical processes which created life on our planet. This is probably nowhere
more interesting
than in various reactions some have to Ouija Boards. My own grandmother, who wasn't especially alarmist about
matters of spirituality, absolutely refused to let me and my sisters play with our Ouija Board when she would come to
visit us when I was a kid. And as my wife and I watched
Witchboard the other night, she disclosed to me that
her own mother had thrown away the Ouija Board that she and her brothers had played with as kids because my now
mother-in-law had felt some sort of "bad vibes" emanating from it. Kevin Tenney, then just a few months out of the
vaunted University of Southern California Film School, took this kind of almost atavistic fear of an object and elevated it
into one of the better horror debuts in the annals of film, 1986's still fun and creepy
Witchboard. (For you
sticklers, the film received its wide release in 1987, but actually had its premiere on New Year's Eve 1986, as is discussed
in one of the commentaries included on this Blu-ray as a supplement.) Tenney's setup is pretty basic: a gorgeous young
woman named Linda (Tawny Kitaen) starts fooling around with a Ouija Board, thinking she's dealing with a long dead
child named David. The truth turns out to be something decidedly more sinister, and by the time those around Linda
figure out what's going on, there has been a string of fairly gruesome murders as a malevolent spirit does indeed wreak
havoc on our earthly plane.
In his commentary with producers Gerald Geoffray and Walter Josten, writer-director Kevin Tenney talks about how the
film
as originally scripted had a rather longish prologue which detailed the demise of David, but that for both budget and
pacing
reasons, that sequence was eliminated, leaving a rather talky party scene as the film's opening. Even Tenney admits
this
was a risky gamble, one which he felt almost compelled to mention to potential distributors (it's not clear from the
commentary if he actually
did mention it). But it's here that the most frequent complaint lodged against
Witchboard is probably felt most keenly: the film is actually rather languid for a horror thriller, especially one from
the slash-happy eighties. Those who want instant mayhem and loads of blood and guts within the first few moments of
a
film are bound to be disappointed in
Witchboard.
As clearly expository as the opening segment is, it at least gives us relatively concise introductions to the three main
characters. Winery heir Brandon Sinclair (Stephen Nichols) starts talking about repeated contact he's had with the spirit
of a ten year old named David, courtesy of Brandon's Ouija Board. Construction worker Jim Morar (Todd Allen, who
spends the bulk of this film exposing his rather hairy chest) is having none of it, though Jim's gorgeous girlfriend Linda
Brewster (Tawny Kitaen) seems more than a little intrigued by it all. Brandon of course brings out the Ouija Board, and
contact is indeed made with David, though Jim's naysaying leads the spirit to take "disciplinary" action, something that
still leaves Jim relatively nonplussed.
At this point, the film picks up its pace, if only a bit, when Linda finds the Ouija Board the next day and decides to do a
little contacting of her own. She has no problem reaching out and touching David, who confirms his spiritual
bona
fides by revealing where Linda has lost her engagement ring. However, things are not quite as they seem, and the
spirit Linda has contacted has more on his mind than being an ether bound lost and found service. Linda starts to have
scary nightmares, while a string of disturbing murders starts taking place. Jim becomes the focal suspect for these
killings by a kind of flat footed police detective named Dewhurst (Burke Byrnes).
Tenney doles out his scares in a measured way, which again may be too sparse to completely satisfy those who prefer
more in your face horror thrills. There are several kind of cheap scares (an unexpected work whistle, a hatchet flying
through the air and landing precariously close to Jim's face), but there are also more effective, character driven moments,
like the nightmare Linda has where she approaches a casket, in what may or may not be a kind of B-movie rip off of the
iconic opening dream in Ingmar Bergman's
Wild Strawberries.
Is
Witchboard silly? Undeniably. But that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't effective on its own lo-fi terms.
Tenney stages things very well, especially for a first time director (the nice sequence with Brandon and Jim trying to
figure out what's going on toward the end of the film is a perfect case in point). The film has the same inherent
limitations that occasionally hobble its follow-ups (including
Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway), where the plot is driven by people
spelling out words that are being "dictated" from beyond. But given reasonable expectations,
Witchboard
delivers its fair share of chills and features good performances by its lead trio.
Witchboard Blu-ray, Video Quality
Witchboard is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory (an imprint of Shout! Factory) with an AVC encoded
1080p transfer in 1.78:1.
Witchboard was shot on a shoestring budget (or, as I've joked in other reviews, maybe an
aglet budget), and that shows in the sometimes rough looking high definition presentation here. The worst
moments are at the beginning, in an underlit party scene that has minor though noticeable compression artifacts running
through it. The lack of decent lighting also is hampered by less than forceful contrast, leading to a kind of murky look where
faces can't be clearly seen (see screenshot 6). After that sequence, however, things improve markedly. Colors are accurate
looking and densely saturated. The image, while not razor sharp in today's parlance, is certainly natural and organic
looking, with no overt signs of over aggressive denoising or sharpening efforts. There is occasional minor telecine wobble
which some eagle eyed viewers may notice. If I had the ability to, I might downgrade this slightly to a 3.75 to account for
these niggling concerns, but overall this is a solid looking transfer.
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