“Ouija” is the latest in a long line of “scary kids” movies like “Children of the Damned”, “The Ring”, and even “The Grudge”. So you have to admire filmmakers who can pretend that these movies never existed as hit films or as spawners of multiple ripoffs.The silly plot follows a young woman named Laine (Olivia Cooke from “Bates Motel”) whose friend has just committed suicide under mysterious circumstances. Later on she finds out that prior to her death, her friend was using a Ouija board alone, which is strictly against the rules when contacting the spirit world. Can you guess what happens next? There’s enough plot here for a half hour TV show, and yet director Stiles White plods along endless clichés that get sillier and sillier as we move along. Worse, he relies far too often on atmosphere to scare us. Does it work? Not really. By the end, “Ouija” goes wrong in every way. It’s not the worst horror movie you’ll see this year (Try “Devil’s Due” or maybe “The Quiet Ones“), but it’s still pretty bad.

Rating: 1.5/4