Witchboard Review – A New Orleans couple channels a dead French witch in a fun, dark thriller | film

CAmy Campbell Bower gave a breakout performance as the Big Bad in Season 4 of Stranger Things, and in this hilariously entertaining thriller, like the devil himself, he’s back to his old scene-stealing tricks. Again, he’s not the protagonist but a villainous character he first meets literally in the shadows, and he makes ominous statements in that posh boyish accent. When he was finally revealed, he was dipping his chin and looking up with those exotic blue eyes like a trending dancer catching the spotlight. If he keeps taking roles like this, he might be like Peter Cushing in the modern horror film, but with the hair of a runway queen, or the gothic equivalent of a young Ralph Fiennes in the Rent-a-Villains era. What’s not to like?

When creepy antiquarian Alexandre Baptiste isn’t around at Campbell Bower, Witchboard reverts to its cheap and dreary form, with B- and C-list actors playing goofy young men enchanted by a proto-Ouija board that summons the spirit of a 17th-century French witch (Antonia Desplat). Somehow, the council finds its way to today’s New Orleans, where main girl Emily (Madison Iseman) finds it in the woods while foraging for mushrooms with her chef boyfriend Christian (Aaron Dominguez). At the behest of Christian’s glamorous ex-girlfriend, Brooke (Mel Jarinson), who crashes their party, Emily tries out the painting, and soon has flashbacks to a life she never lived.

Although all of this is corny, the fact that the flashbacks are in French adds a slight touch of authenticity, as do the scenes in Christian’s kitchen, as he and his crew prepare to open their restaurant. (One of the production people did some research, or at least watched a few seasons of The Bear.) Far less convincing are the shots involving a malicious man attacking a drug dealer who turns into a blur of fake cat and visual effects. But the moment is so trite and ridiculous that it in itself makes this worth paying for.