Ouija Japan has a unique concept, marrying a supernatural presence with a Battle Royale-type fight for survival. It’s a creative storyline but overall this film didn’t hold my interest for several reasons.

Karen (Ariel Sekiya) is an American who’s been living with her husband in Japan for six months. Slow to learn the language, and feeling like an outcast among her peers, she accepts an invitation to join a group of women on a weekend trip. Just as she’s feeling a bit more comfortable, Karen joins in a game of Kokkuri-san, a Japanese version of Ouija. Soon afterward, things take a drastic turn. The women unknowingly unleash a sinister local deity. At this point, Karen is forced into a fight for her life as there can only be one survivor.

It’s a great setup with a female-led cast and a shorter run time. These factors work in Ouija Japan’s favor but are outweighed by subpar acting and a lack of character development. Some of the better scenes are those that focus on character conversations and more intimate moments, but these are few and far between. The characters lacked the depth necessary for me to care about them and invest fully in the story.

While the run time is on the shorter end, Ouija Japan took its time to get to some action. This would’ve worked had the beginning scenes not seemed redundant. There were several scenes in which Karen is lamenting over her situation as an outcast, and they just weren’t as powerful as possible because of the repetition without variety or much backstory. I also struggled with too many concepts going on at once. Not only was there an Ouija board and supernatural presence, but there was also a phone app involved in the battle that just didn’t make much sense to me. I think the story would’ve been stronger had it focused on just one of these concepts.

Once the film speeds up, the fighting and killing scenes are a bit clunky, lacking the choreography and visual effects necessary for believability. I was hoping for a bit more horror, but there weren’t many moments that made me fearful or tense.

It’s my understanding Ouija Japan is the writer/director’s first feature film, so I’d like to see where future projects go, as there was potential for more. In this instance, it just didn’t come together into a piece that left me feeling excited as a viewer.

 

4 out of 10

 

Ouija Japan
RATING: NR
OUIJA JAPAN Official Trailer (2021) Japanese Horror Movies
Runtime: 1 Hr. 18 Mins.
Directed By:
Written By:

 

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