Ouija

(2014) ★½

Sky Movies Premiere: PREMIERE Friday 21 August, 1pm and 11pm

Olivia Cooke persuades her friends to sit in on a spirit board session after Shelley Hennig’s sudden suicide. None of them had seen Long Time Dead, I guess. Nor countless other cautionary tales, most of them more convincing than this one. “Calm down,” someone tells Olivia, “it’s only a game.” And so it is, a supernatural snoozer (it warranted only a PG-13 rating in the US) based on Hasbro’s board game. There are a lot of rules but none governed, it seems, by sensible grown-ups, never mind the emergency services. A far better board game bet is the gleefully unhinged Jumanji (Sky MoviesShowcase, Friday at 6.15pm), which also marks the first anniversary of Robin Williams’ sad death. The music’s by James Horner, who died earlier this year. This FX-stuffed fantasy pulls a few emotional strings, too. The mayhem is ably staged by Joe Johnston, director of Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Here, he just scares them.

Certificate: 15

Duration: 89min

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