Review: Witchboard (1986)
By William Pattison
For Horror Bob’s Blog…
This time I’m finally reviewing the Kevin S Tenney classic
about possession from the use of a Ouija Board.
I saw this film in the theatre the day it came out and it had
become a favorite film I would rent during the wonderful days of video rentals.
This film was my first experience of the work of filmmaker
Kevin Tenney and is one of four films that I have had to replace over the years
because I wore out the VHS and DVD.
I live this film. With this film and Tenney’s second feature
film Witch Trap were done in a unique style that I nicknamed The Tenney style.
I don’t know if it was because it was the
fact that this film as well as Witch Trap were done on shoestring budgets that
these two Tenney films have that unique feel and style. All I know is when I was
younger I had a reverence for Tenney’s work and held him in the league of
masters with John Carpenter. Sadly, after Tenney’s film Pinochio’s Revenge for
some reason Tenney’s style radically changed and sadly
it lost its luster
for me.
Tawny Kitaen plays Linda, who is the unfortunate victim of
the evil spirit that is connected to the Ouija Board. Todd Allen plays Linda’s
rough edged boyfriend Jom. Also,o finish the main characters off is Stephen
Nicols(aka Patch from Days of Our Lives) asBrandon, Linda’sb friend, professor
a, and paranormal researcher.
But then we also got two extraordinary performances that
really make this film. First we got . P Luebson as the evil spirit Malfedor.
Kuebson’s performance is amazing because themm the actor, besides a photo in a
book, only appears for two seconds in the film, yet still makes a huge
impression on the audience. Another performance that makes Witch board unique is the over the top and memorable
performance by actress Kathleen Wilhoute as the medium Zarabeth. This
performance actually changed the view of psychics and mediums in film and
opened the door for door performances as psychics by Cindy Lauper in the film
Psych as well as that of actress Arleen Sorken’s (The voice of Harley Quin in
Batman the Animated series) character Calliope Jones in The Days of Our Lives.
All in all this film is a classic that never gets old. I
rate this film as AWESOMETACULAR!!!
Keep on Creepin’, Horror Bob’s Blog…
