Witchboard

Witchboard is a 1986 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Kevin Tenney in his directorial debut, and starring Tawny Kitaen, Stephen Nichols, and Todd Allen. The plot centers on a college student who becomes entranced into using her friend's Ouija board alone after it was accidentally left behind at her party, resulting in her becoming terrorized by a malevolent spirit. Tenney wrote the screenplay while a student at the University of Southern California, inspired after attending a party in which a friend brought a Ouija board for partygoers to use. The film focuses on the notion of "progressive entrapment," the process by which a malevolent entity or demon takes control of a human being, a theme that was also touched on in The Exorcist (1973) after a character dabbles with a Ouija board. Filming took place in 1985 in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Francisco. Cinema Group gave Witchboard a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 31, 1986. Following favorable box-office returns, the release was expanded in the spring of 1987, and the film went on to gross $7.4 million. Although the critical response to the film was largely unfavorable, it has obtained a cult following since its release, and was subject to significant critical analysis by academic Carol J. Clover in her 1992 non-fiction book, Men, Women, and Chainsaws. Two unrelated sequels, Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway and Witchboard III: The Possession, were released in 1993 and 1995 respectively. Plot At a house party in Fairfield, California, Brandon Sinclair uses his Ouija board with his ex-girlfriend Linda Brewster to contact the spirit of David, with whom he had communicated before. Her boyfriend, Jim Morar, insults David, which provokes him to slash the tires of Brandon's car. The next day, Linda uses Brandon's board that was left behind to contact David, who informs her where her lost engagement ring is. At the construction site where Jim works, his friend Lloyd is killed by fallen drywall. When Jim is questioned by Lieutenant Dewhurst at Lloyd's funeral, Linda contacts David about the accident, but he says that he did not cause it.