First off, I love Henrique Couto. I first saw him on Popcorn Fodder and he just seems like such a nice guy. He is very knowledgeable when it comes to movies and pretty entertaining. That being said, I saw very little of that in this movie. It was pretty slow, the way Autism was depicted was just silly, and I think 75% of the budget was candles. It had a story with a beginning, middle, and end, so there's that? I appreciate the work that went into this and I'm sure a lot of the movie's problems could have been fixed with a larger budget, but for me this one was on par 'Sledgehammer' without the so bad it's good factor. I would like to see what Henrique could do with a decent budget and I admire him for doing what he loves.
11 Reviews
Disappointing, not scary wannabe horror.
johannes2000-127 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Maybe the loving relation between the psychological unstable sister and the caring brother lifts this movie a tiny bit above the measure of "watchable", but that really is about all. It is supposed to be a horror movie and what we get is anything but horror, not even any scares or even a decent thrill or sinister atmosphere. It's all dull and tedious, the three ghosts or demons that emerge from the ouija-board are plain silly (a gothic punk-girl, a guy that knows how to cook and something that looks like a Japanese Lolita-like Kawaii-girl) and most of the movie-time is spent with these ghosts talking endlessly to the disturbed sister to make her a bit more self-assured, as some sort of therapists from hell.
Sylvia (the disturbed sister) gets totally brainwashed by the ghosts up until the end, where she totally out-off the blue seems to have regained her sanity and rejects the ghosts and then we have to endure an obligatory ultimate twist, in this case one that is in sync with all the former silliness.
The over-the-top acting of Joni Durian as Sylvia, with her childish whining, tantrums and outbursts of exaltation doesn't really help this movie, on the contrary, it's mainly irritating and unconvincing (why should some-one with phobias and autism behave like a regressed child?). The actually very decent acting of John Bradley Hambrick as the exasperated brother unfortunately cannot live-up to all this, he really had deserved better.
Sylvia (the disturbed sister) gets totally brainwashed by the ghosts up until the end, where she totally out-off the blue seems to have regained her sanity and rejects the ghosts and then we have to endure an obligatory ultimate twist, in this case one that is in sync with all the former silliness.
The over-the-top acting of Joni Durian as Sylvia, with her childish whining, tantrums and outbursts of exaltation doesn't really help this movie, on the contrary, it's mainly irritating and unconvincing (why should some-one with phobias and autism behave like a regressed child?). The actually very decent acting of John Bradley Hambrick as the exasperated brother unfortunately cannot live-up to all this, he really had deserved better.
Just Don't Watch & say you did
kittiedanger26 November 2020
Seriously???
africe15 March 2020
This film was terrible. Acting was awful. This is the worst depiction of an individual with autism that I've ever seen (and that includes "the good doctor"). She may be mentally challenged but not autistic. I'm 8 minutes in and can't take any more
poor acting, deserves zero stars
jcroak-181746 December 2020
So Bad...
Saucygurl7212 March 2020
Ouija Room puts the "horror" in horrible.
reb20142 April 2020
I saw this movie pop up up on demand while searching for some new horror to watch.
It had a rating of 4.7 at the time, so while I knew it wasn't gonna be Shakespeare, I thought it might be passable to watch.
Those "1" ratings for this movie are 100% accurate! Where that "7" rating came from is beyond me. I always give allowances to low budget indie movies, but this was just awful.
And the ending?
Avoid this room at all costs.
It had a rating of 4.7 at the time, so while I knew it wasn't gonna be Shakespeare, I thought it might be passable to watch.
Those "1" ratings for this movie are 100% accurate! Where that "7" rating came from is beyond me. I always give allowances to low budget indie movies, but this was just awful.
And the ending?
Avoid this room at all costs.
Words Can't Justify How Awful This Movie Is
soulcrisis2810 June 2020
As the title states, don't waste your time. It's not worth listing the flaws because it would be easier and quicker to list the positives...which there are none. Any negative thing you've ever read in a review applies to this movie. Nuff' said.
Nifty supernatural horror item
Woodyanders7 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Autistic agoraphobe Sylvia (a fine and moving performance by Joni Durian) summons up spirits with an ouija board that turn out to be less than friendly.
Director Henrique Couto relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, takes time to develop the characters, ground the fantastic premise in a believable everyday reality, and ably crafts a spooky mood. The solid acting from the capable cast helps a lot: John Bradley Hambrick as Sylvia's loyal, but long-suffering brother Sammy, Erin P. Ryan as the sweet Rebecca, and Adam Scott Clevenger as kindly shrink Theodore. Moreover, Sylvie's deep-seated need for friendship and connection makes her sympathetic while the spirits are a lot of colorful fun. Worth a watch.
Director Henrique Couto relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, takes time to develop the characters, ground the fantastic premise in a believable everyday reality, and ably crafts a spooky mood. The solid acting from the capable cast helps a lot: John Bradley Hambrick as Sylvia's loyal, but long-suffering brother Sammy, Erin P. Ryan as the sweet Rebecca, and Adam Scott Clevenger as kindly shrink Theodore. Moreover, Sylvie's deep-seated need for friendship and connection makes her sympathetic while the spirits are a lot of colorful fun. Worth a watch.
I like TV and snails
nogodnomasters7 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Sylvia (Joni Durian) is agoraphobic and has a short attention span. She is cared for by her brother (John Bradley Hambrick) Sammy who buys her board games which includes an Ouija Board. Sylvia played it by herself and conjures some low budget spirits that get her in trouble.
This is another Ouija Board film where no one knows how to properly use an Ouija Board. Why are filmmakers so pathetically stupid about the simple use of an Ouija Board? Joni Durian was perky crazy in a fun way. The film basically doesn't go anywhere fun, i.e. the climax wasn't worth the wait.
Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.
This is another Ouija Board film where no one knows how to properly use an Ouija Board. Why are filmmakers so pathetically stupid about the simple use of an Ouija Board? Joni Durian was perky crazy in a fun way. The film basically doesn't go anywhere fun, i.e. the climax wasn't worth the wait.
Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.
Solid and watchable indie effort
kannibalcorpsegrinder28 March 2020
Trapped inside her house, an agoraphobic young woman and her brother try to follow through on concentration exercises with a set of games including an ouija board, and after playing with it she comes to find several imaginary friends that start playing a deadly game with her that put them in jeopardy.
Overall, this was a pretty solid indie effort. The majority of the fun with this one comes from the endearing setup at play that focuses on the main characters' plight and struggle. With her lovable goofball energy that manages to mix child-like innocence, a willingness to help herself but simply frustrated at the situation and stuck at home, it's incredibly sympathetic to get to know her during this stage where the introduction to the lifestyle she has being stuck with board games and terrible home-cooked meals. The fact that the ouija board comes into play through random happenstance and the slowly-dissolving mental state she goes under after playing it goes to spark a change in behavior towards the second half that's fun to watch. That change in behavior after contacting the spirits through the ouija board manages to spring forth the real fun of this one as the varying personalities of the spirits begin to influence her. from the little girl that helps fuel her playful innocent side, the doo-wop father that helps her focus through cooking and the rebellious teenager that tends to bring about her take-charge attitude with how she starts taking out those that are trying to prevent her from interacting with the ghosts. This is all expected and quite obvious with how it plays out but that doesn't stop the fun of how her deteriorating mental state gets dropped from the rational to psychotic as she tries to fight their influence once the dark game they want to play with her starts to take shape. These here are what hold this one up for the most part. This one does have a few minor problems. The fact that this one spends so much time going through the motions of her mental state that this one can feel like it's a bit slow-going at the beginning. Seeing the same thing over-and-over in regards to her flighty and scatterbrained child-like mindset through jumping to different interests or interests around the house hammers home the point rather quickly, and while this is all perfectly in tune with getting to know her and sympathize with there's the issue of it taking a little too long to get going into the horror-based elements with these scenes taking up nearly two-thirds of the running time before it starts to become more genre-related. The other minor flaw here is the rather underwhelming finale that seems to be quite confusing. The fact that they seem to have everything in place only to have the turn-around occurs with a sudden change of heart that comes out of nowhere and doesn't have any real build-up offered as for why she changes. Rather than slowly realized that they've been fooling her which would've been a more rational response, she seemingly and without any motivation from previous events decides to turn it into a more uplifting finale with the events that occur here which feels quite sudden and unnatural. As well as the telltale signs of the low-budget here that some might have an issue with but isn't detrimental all that much anyway, these here are what hold this one back overall.
Rated Unrated/R: Language and Violence.
Overall, this was a pretty solid indie effort. The majority of the fun with this one comes from the endearing setup at play that focuses on the main characters' plight and struggle. With her lovable goofball energy that manages to mix child-like innocence, a willingness to help herself but simply frustrated at the situation and stuck at home, it's incredibly sympathetic to get to know her during this stage where the introduction to the lifestyle she has being stuck with board games and terrible home-cooked meals. The fact that the ouija board comes into play through random happenstance and the slowly-dissolving mental state she goes under after playing it goes to spark a change in behavior towards the second half that's fun to watch. That change in behavior after contacting the spirits through the ouija board manages to spring forth the real fun of this one as the varying personalities of the spirits begin to influence her. from the little girl that helps fuel her playful innocent side, the doo-wop father that helps her focus through cooking and the rebellious teenager that tends to bring about her take-charge attitude with how she starts taking out those that are trying to prevent her from interacting with the ghosts. This is all expected and quite obvious with how it plays out but that doesn't stop the fun of how her deteriorating mental state gets dropped from the rational to psychotic as she tries to fight their influence once the dark game they want to play with her starts to take shape. These here are what hold this one up for the most part. This one does have a few minor problems. The fact that this one spends so much time going through the motions of her mental state that this one can feel like it's a bit slow-going at the beginning. Seeing the same thing over-and-over in regards to her flighty and scatterbrained child-like mindset through jumping to different interests or interests around the house hammers home the point rather quickly, and while this is all perfectly in tune with getting to know her and sympathize with there's the issue of it taking a little too long to get going into the horror-based elements with these scenes taking up nearly two-thirds of the running time before it starts to become more genre-related. The other minor flaw here is the rather underwhelming finale that seems to be quite confusing. The fact that they seem to have everything in place only to have the turn-around occurs with a sudden change of heart that comes out of nowhere and doesn't have any real build-up offered as for why she changes. Rather than slowly realized that they've been fooling her which would've been a more rational response, she seemingly and without any motivation from previous events decides to turn it into a more uplifting finale with the events that occur here which feels quite sudden and unnatural. As well as the telltale signs of the low-budget here that some might have an issue with but isn't detrimental all that much anyway, these here are what hold this one back overall.
Rated Unrated/R: Language and Violence.
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