Ouija: A New Beginning Movie Review

Trailer here.

Ouija: A New Beginning is a 2025 horror movie directed by Jason Hawkins and starring Elissa Downing.

A woman called Molly Price(Downing) and her two daughters, Avery and Penny are moving to a new house. Molly's step dad is going on holiday for a month and they are going to look after his house while he has gone. They have nowhere else to go. Roger(David Mitchum Brown) is the owner of the house and he lets them in. He's a strange guy and he likes everything just so. Molly's husband died and she is taking care of her two daughters alone.

The two teens have to go to school. Penny meets the school weirdo, Harper. She is a goth and some of the girls tease her. Avery makes friends straight away. Penny is walking home when she sees a garage sale at a house. She talks to the lady who is selling everything and she ends up getting a Ouija board.

There is something weird about the house. A priest is looking around inside. Penny decides to try out the Ouija board. She wants to contact her dad. She asks Harper to join her. A dead body of a girl is found. Someone nails a dead cat to the house in which they are staying. The sheriff calls and asks some questions. Molly is freaked out. Harper tells Penny that the house where the garage sale took place is strange. An old lady lived there and she was found dead. Her two kids disappeared. Harper. Penny and Avery use the Ouija board to contact the dad. Molly calls her sister looking for help, but her sister doesn't want anything to do with her. The Ouija board goes crazy. The three girls see a figure of a girl. They talk to the sheriff about a girl who suddenly appeared. She is one of the two kids who disappeared at the old lady's house.

Penny starts messing around with the ouija board alone and the dad talks to her. He asks her to let him in. Something appears and attacks Penny. Later, she has changed. She is acting weird. The girl from the house dies. Penny seems to have powers and she gets her revenge on two mean girls at school. She puts a curse on them and they start to bleed. Penny and Harper are at the board again when Penny changes. Harper screams. It turns out that Molly has lied to her daughters about their father. He isn't dead. Molly has been on the run with her daughters. The dad has been looking for his children for a long time. Molly lied and told the sheriff that he abused her. The sheriff calls CPS. Avery spots Penny outside, staring into space. She is possessed by a witch called Esara. Molly loses her sanity and goes after the two girls with a knife. The sheriff and the dad come to the house and find the two girls but no Molly. She emerges from the darkness and tries to attack the sheriff, who shoots her dead. The film ends with the two girls moving in with their dad and his new wife. Penny is still possessed. She still uses the ouija board.

This film isn't very good. The acting is ropey and there just isn't enough in it to keep you entertained. Some of the characters are laughable, like the sheriff. The story isn't that bad, but there aren't many scares or a lot of tension. It could have been a lot better. I don't think that this is releated to the Ouija movies. I think that it just uses the name. It reminds me of all those Amityville sequels that have little or nothing to do with the original movie. I think that this could fit into that category. I will give it a 3/10.

Mark of the Devil Movie Review

Trailer here.

Mark of the Devil is a 1970 horror movie directed by Michael Armstrong and starring Herbert Lom, Udo Kier and Olivera Katarina.

The film begins with a witch burning. A man called Albino(Reggie Nalder) is a witch hunter who has taken it upon himself to accuse innocent women of witchcraft. He is told that a resepected witch hunter called Lord Cumberland(Lom) is coming to his village. He has an apprentice called Count Christian(Kier) who is in the village. An executioner, Wilkins(Herbert Fux)will be arriving also. Albino likes a local woman called Vanessa(Katarina). He harasses her but she spits at him. He tries to attack her and she ends up injuring him. He announces that she is a witch. She tells him that he is the devil. Count Christian sees what he is doing and he demands proof of what Albino is saying. There isn't any. Christian and Vanessa talk. Soldiers arrive to help Lord Cumberland.

Albino is jeaous of Christian and Vanessa. He wants her declared as a witch. Christian and Vanessa become close and they kiss. Lord Cumberland arrives in the village. Albino catches Vanessa and he whips her. She is brought in as a witch. The Count states that she is innocent. Cumberland doesn't agree. There is a lot of torture occuring in the village. People are being targeted. A baron is brought in and he is promised freedom if he signs over his estate to the church. Albino is leading his men into people's houses and getting them to do his bidding with the locals. Christian is beginning to lose his faith in Cumberland as he sees all the pain and suffering that he is inflicting on people. He realises that it is corrupt.

Vanessa is in custody and Christian can't get her out. Albino gets into trouble for his deeds and he ends up dead when Cumberland strangles him. Christian witnesses it and this makes him doubt Cumberland. Christian confronts him about it and asks him to spare a family but he won't. This pushes Christian to free Vanessa. He does so and goes back to free more prisoners, but gets caught himself. Vanessa gathers the locals and she tells them that they should get the witch hunters. Lord Cumberland tells his soldiers to kill everyone. The locals come and storm the castle. They free the prisoners. Christian is freed. Cumberland tries to escape. He gets into his coach and he drives off. Christian isn't so lucky. The locals catch him and kill him. Vanessa tries to stop them but she can't. She holds his dead body as the locals go home.

This film is kind of like Witchfinder General but it has more torture scenes and blood in it. The cast are good. The story is interesting and the ending is brutal. You know what you are getting here, but there is actually a story so it isn't just torture scenes. I liked it and I am giving it a 5/10.

The House on Straw Hill Movie Review

Trailer here.

The House on Straw Hill is a 1976 thriller directed by James Kenelm and starring Udo Kier, Linda Hayden and Fiona Richmond.

A woman called Linda(Hayden) is employed as a secretary by an author, Paul Martin(Kier). He is staying in Straw Hill. He has gruesome hallucinations. He is obsessed with locking the windows and doors. His girlfriend is called Suzanne(Richmond) and she leaves him. Paul sees himself bleeding. Linda arrives and is met by Paul at the station. Two locals are after Linda. They harrass her and Paul. He beats them up. Paul tells Linda about his routine. She has a picture of Paul and another man in her suitcase so she isn't all she seems. Linda goes outside exploring and runs into the two locals who rape her. They have a gun. She gets it and shoots both of them dead. Paul hears the gunshot. One of the locals isn't dead yet. He disappears from the field where he was shot.

The housekeeper gets killed.  Paul comes onto Linda but she rejects him. He calls Suzanne and asks her to come back. She arrives and Linda tries to seduce her. Paul catches them.  He ends up crashing his car into the river. Suzanne finds the dead housekeeper. She tries to call the police but someone unplugs the phone. She ends up dying next. Paul returns to the house and Linda is there. She wants to kill Paul as he stole a book from her husband and pretendeed that he wrote it. Her husband killed himself when he realised what Paul did to him. Linda is going to shoot him when she is stabbed by the local guy who was lingering int he field, half dead. He and Linda both die as Paul is left by himself.

This wasn't a great film. There wasn't much in the way of scares or thrills. It was interesting in some parts, but there wasn't enough to keep you entertained. The acting wasn't bad but to be honest, nothing much happens. I will give it a 4/10.