The Reel Review
After her discovery of an ancient pendulum board, a young woman helping her boyfriend open a new restaurant in New Orleans inadvertently summons its creator, a vengeful witch from late 1600s France, in this supernatural horror/thriller starring Madison Iseman and Aaron Dominguez.
Fans of the original 1986 film that starred Whitesnake music video vixen Tawny Kitaen will find this remake at least a little stronger in the acting department with some decent gore, more solid story exposition (including flashbacks to late 1600s France) and nods to the original – the shower scene in particular. Iseman (Annabelle Comes Home, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) gives great scream and a decent acting performance as does the distractingly beautiful Mel Jarnson as her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend who becomes her ally.
The rest of the acting, however, is on par with the original’s awfulness, with an unintentionally hilarious, capital A acting performance from Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), hokey and amateurish practical effects from director Chuck Russell (The Scorpion King, The Blob, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors) and a poorly paced, confusing story that would have benefited from leaning more into its campiness. You know you are in trouble when the pendulum board is way more interesting than the story around it.
REEL FACTS
• Pendulum boards are popular in the occult as a tool that users claim summon spirits, similar to Ouija boards.
• Tawny Kitaen, who gained fame in the Whitesnake music videos and starred in the original Witchboard film, died in 2021 at the age of 59 from heart disease caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse.
• Thai-Australian Mel Jarnson is best known for her performances in Mortal Combat, Harrow and Blacklight. She speaks English, French and Thai.
Video & Photo
