By Jacob Cameron

Witchboard is a remake of the 1986 film of the same name. It is a tale of how one should not mess with the occult as you never know what might be on the other side. In terms of this film, the other side is quite bland.

Witchboard was directed by Chuck Russell and starred Madison Iseman, Melanie Jarnson, and Aaron Dominguez. It tells the story of a woman named Emily, played by Iseman, who is trying to help her fiancé open their restaurant in New Orleans. One day while picking mushrooms, Emily encounters a spirit board that was stolen from a museum. The board is connected to a dangerous witch named Nega Soth who died in 17th century France. But, similar to the horcruxes from Harry Potter, the spirit of Nega Soth has corrupted the board and soon corrupts Emily.

Director Chuck Russell has had an eclectic career. Directing such films as Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and The Mask. Russell is capable of directing a great film. But this was not one of those films. It’s far from unwatchable, but it’s also not that memorable either. It’s competently made and that’s the biggest compliment that can be paid.

The actual spirit board is actually rather neat. The design of the board, combined with a pendulum made of a human finger, looked suitably unnerving. There is also a dream sequence that is very reminiscent of Russell’s work on Nighmare on Elm Stree 3. Additionally, the flashback sequences of seeing Nega Soth and her nemesis Bishop Grogan were interesting. These flashbacks were reminiscent of a criminally underseen film called Witchfinder General starring Vincent Price.

Everything other than those flashbacks was incredibly uninteresting. The restaurant opening could’ve been something interesting as those can be incredibly stressful. But the only drama to come out of that subplot is the fact that the menu hasn’t been finalized. There is also an angle where Nega Soth and Grogan’s descendants are destined to fight each other forever. But that only becomes important around the last 3rd of the film.

There’s also some silly stuff that just doesn’t make sense. Nega Soth has a cat that does her dirty work for her. This leads to a death that borders on the comical. Along with a death scene in a kitchen that looks like it belongs in a worse version of Final Destination. Not to mention the fact that the CGI is questionable at best.

At the end of the day, this was a severely disappointing and forgettable film. There are some moments and some good ideas throughout. But the good ideas are never fully realized to their full potential. If the movie were set in the 17th century, with the actual witch facing off with the actual bishop, that could’ve been very good. But alas, it is confined to being an interesting setup for a bland film.

2 stars