Witchboard is a re-imagining of the 1986 cult classic. Transporting the setting from California to New Orleans, the new film follows a group of friends who have just opened a new restaurant in the French Quarter. When Emily (Madison Iseman, Annabelle Comes Home) finds an ancient pendulum board, she becomes obsessed with it, awakening a centuries old evil.
It sounds like a straightforward story, and it is for the most part. Once the board is introduced, strange things start happening and people begin dying. There is also a mean cat, a bird flying around while on fire, and a creepy man who has three equally creepy triplets working for him. Basic horror stuff.
Unfortunately, director Chuck Russell (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors) takes some odd detours. Witchboard flashes back to the past in a sort of dual narrative. The flashbacks tell the story of a woman accused of witchcraft who is shunned by the rest of the villagers. Again, typical for this type of story.
The issue is these scenes from the past inelegantly cut into the film. This takes audiences out of the current story and makes it more difficult to get invested in what is happening. Dreams and nightmares have long had a place in horror, but it feels unnecessary here. The opening scene along with some exposition later in the movie (which we get, anyway) would have made things flow better.
Since it does play into the story, some may be able to move past this decision. What is a little harder to accept is how Witchboard works in body swapping and time travel. Quite simply, it just does not make sense. There are times when a film can get away without holding the audience’s hand and letting them figure things out for themselves. This is not one of them. It is mindboggling and takes away from the story at hand. (Russell and screenwriting partner Greg Mckay must have felt the same way as they completely ignore this plot point until it needs to be brought up for the climax.)
The end result is a movie that simultaneously like nothing has happened but also very long. It is not bad, per se. It just does way more than is necessary for the story it is trying to tell. There are some good kills and New Orleans is always a great setting for a horror story. Witchboard is fine for putting on in the background, but any deeper investment will be disappointing.
Witchboard arrives in theaters August 15.
