In this week’s podcast, Glenn and Daniel return to the assembly-line horror world of Blumhouse with a prequel to a thriller about a board game. Can a franchise horror film whose upper limit of scariness is at roughly the same level as Jumanji possibly exceed our middling expectations? With a skilled director and solid cast, the answer is…well, you’ll just have to see which way the planchette moves (37:16).

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating: 5 out of 10

Show notes:

• Music for this episode is the track “Time of the Season” by The Zombies, which appeared in the film’s trailer. But you already knew that. Come on.
• Check out the episode of NPR’s Planet Money podcast all about Jason Blum and Blumhouse Productions, filtered through the lens of a specific film and director – quite an interesting look at the process that has unfolded in Hollywood horror over the past few years, with everything from Paranormal Activity to The Purge to The Visit
• Also check out Glenn’s review of Flanagan’s 2014 film, Oculus, which also starred Annalise Basso. Flanagan actually has another 2016 Blumhouse horror film (Hush) available on Netflix as of this writing.
• The person who operated the soda fountain was the soda jerk. Look at this jerk:
  

Listen above, or download: Ouija: Origin of Evil (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)