On Rotten Tomatoes, the original 2014 “Ouija,” directed by Michael Bay, has a critical failure rating of 6%. In contrast, the 2016 prequel “Ouija: Origin of Evil” gets a whopping 82 percent fresh rating. While we can attribute much of this to “The Haunting of Hill House” showrunner Mike Flanagan’s involvement (he co-wrote and directed “Ouija: Origin of Evil”), a huge part of what makes “Origin of Evil” successful is that it stays its landing. The plot, which is based on a Hasbro game, leads us to the home of Alice Zander, a single mother and spiritual communicator. Alice is a con artist who uses theatrics and sleighs of hand to bring people closure. Alice and her daughters begin to encounter real spirits after discovering a Ouija board. The film gradually delves into the horrific past of Alice’s family home. To comprehend the ending of “Ouija: Origin of Evil,” you must first comprehend the story’s beginning.
The Opening Scene Ouija: Origins of Evil
In the opening sequence, the camera moves to the home of psychic medium Alice Zander. Mr. Browning and his daughter Jenny have travelled to Alice in the hopes of making contact with Mary Browning, the family’s deceased matriarch. Mary claims to have been revived in the afterlife and has forgiven her husband. She does not, however, agree to mortgage the house to celebrate Jenny’s marriage to Don. Instead, we get an old-school jump scare, with Lina eventually revealed to be the spectre behind the curtains. Lina slips out late at night to see a wealthy acquaintance, who introduces her to the Ouija board.
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— Ouija:Origin of Evil (@OuijaTheMovie) January 13, 2017
Lina suggests that Alice use the Ouija board to up the ante in the game, so Alice goes to a toy store to get one. Alice uses magnetic belts on her thighs to execute a fake session after receiving the board. Doris mysteriously reacts to Alice’s questions, giving the impression that she is possessed. Lina calls over her high school crush Mikey after Alice goes on a date with Father Tom to talk about the girls and the house. Mikey and Lina kiss, but on his way out, Mikey learns how it feels to be strangled to death from Doris. Doris, convinced of interacting with Roger (the deceased father), pulls a sum of cash from the basement walls, despite receiving a foreclosure notice. However, Alice quickly understands that the ghost that has Doris is not entirely benign.
Who Is Marcus in Ouija: Origin of Evil?
Doris reveals herself as Marcus in the first moment where she gets possessed. We discover Marcus is one of the spirits who has taken up residence in the house, and the spirit is using Doris as a vessel. Lina then notices Doris, who appears to be in a trance, penning a letter. Lina delivers the papers to Father Tom at the school in secret. Sister Hannah discovers the harsh truth about Ghoul Marcus through reading Doris’s letter in Polish. Ghoul Marcus was a Polish soldier imprisoned in a detention camp run by the Germans. He was released from prison and relocated to the United States. Ghoul Marcus ended up in a mental institution after living on the streets for a while. Ghoul Marcus’ past is intertwined with that of the German doctor known as the Devil’s Doctor due to his involvement with the occult.
The doctor returned to the United States after the war, establishing a base in the same house where the Zander family currently resides. Ghoul Marcus and several others were recaptured, and he continued his experimentation on them from the safety of the basement (where Doris had found the money earlier). The victims’ tongues were cut out, their vocal cords were severed, and their mouths were shut. As a result, while people socialised and mingled upstairs, the victims couldn’t even make a sound. The letter dramatically depicts Ghoul Marcus’ death and goes on to reflect on the horrible afterlife of the subterranean dwellers, as Father Tom tells Alice and Lina.
Doris and Alice, are they alive or dead?
The closing moments contain some unpleasant imagery, and you may have missed a scene or two if you had closed your eyes at that point. Alice employs Doris in the seances after recognising her ability as a vessel. Father Tom pays a visit in the hopes of speaking with his wife, Gloria. Doris gives an engrossing planchette performance, even speaking in a female voice at one point. However, while Doris can read his mind, she is unable to speak with ghosts beyond the house, as Father Tom realises. Father Tom consciously thinks of his mother’s middle name, Lynn, while Gloria’s middle name was Catherine. Doris misreads the bit because of Father Tom’s influence. Doris invites Mikey into the house after Father Tom has finished chatting with Alice and Lina. She drags Mike down to the basement and strangles and kills him. When the guests arrive downstairs, they find Mike suspended from the ceiling. Doris and Father Tom meet in the basement, and Father Tom returns possessed with the news that Doris has joined the walls.
Doris appears to have died in the cellar, while Father Tom murders Alice with a knife. He does, however, come to his senses just before performing the murder, but this is insufficient to save him. When Doris’ ghost reaches him, he falls down the stairs and dies quickly. Doris is using Lina as a vessel, and Alice is willing to help. Lina remains in the in-between realm in the following moments, seeing a vision of her deceased father, who plugged the doll’s mouth to silence the voices. Doris, on the other hand, is possessed and binds Alice with shackles. She insists that she wants to hear from them. Lina returns to the mortal realm in the meantime, shutting Doris’ mouth. Lina is met with resistance by the other ghosts who live in the mansion, as history repeats again. Lina appears to be possessed by the spirits as well, despite her success in her mission. Lina, who has white eyes, then stabs Alice with a knife, effectively murdering her.
What Happens to Lina? Is She Still Haunted?
Lina appears to wind up in a mental institution as a result of the sinister night. Lina, according to the doctor, has been there for two months. Lina is delirious, and the doctor gently reminds her of how she murdered her mother. Doris’ body has vanished. Lina cryptically responds that Alice wanted to know if the family was still together after Roger died, and that Alice had the answer in her afterlife. The Zanders were always encircled by the spirits in the basement in actuality. As a result, Lina knows what she’s talking about, but the doctor has no idea.
Lina then goes back to her room and makes a makeshift Ouija board out of blood. Lina speaks with Doris, who appears to be under some sort of possession. The doctor notices Lina in the room with Doris during his nocturnal visit. We get another jump scare as he returns to confirm what he saw, which is possibly the most terrifying in the entire film. Doris’ spirit crawls through the roof upside down, and we have a feeling the doctor’s story will not end happily. On a different topic, we’re convinced that Doris is still with Lina in spirit.
Is There a Post-Credits Sequence? Who Is the Stranger?
Lina concludes Ouija: Origin Of Evil in a psychiatric facility, where she creates her own Ouija by writing letters and symbols with her blood. Later, a doctor looks through a window at her, unaware that Doris’ malevolent ghost is silently running across the ceiling towards him. The prequel has numerous minor references to the original film, the most obvious of which is the post-credits sequence. Lina is revealed to be Paulina (Lin Shaye) from the original Ouija, who is still in the hospital and is informed by staff that someone claiming to be her niece has come to visit, which is actually Olivia Cooke’s character from the original film.
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— Ouija:Origin of Evil (@OuijaTheMovie) January 17, 2017
