Writer/director
Ryan McKinney told SCI FI Wire that his upcoming supernatural horror movie is
based on a real incident, in which residents of a Northern California town took
their obsession with the then-new Ouija board too far in 1920. But don't use the
term "Ouija board" to refer to the movie, McKinney said in an
interview on the film's set in Placerville, Calif. That's because filmmakers
couldn't come up with the money to buy the rights to use the trademark, which is
held by gamemaker Parker Brothers.
As a result, all references to "Ouija" have been taken out of the
movie, which was originally titled Ouija Board. At this point, the movie,
which stars Pam Grier, Megan Ward and Victor Browne, doesn't have a title,
though some people involved with the film think the movie may take its name from
the production company, Dark Portal.
The film, from Green Flash Pictures, is based on the people of El Cerrito,
Calif., and their experiences with the so-called "spirit board," which
some believe allows players to communicate with spirits. In March of 1920, the
local newspaper carried this headline: "Whole Town Ouija Mad." Seven
people were arrested after police said they went insane in what was called
"Ouijamania," including a 15-year-old girl who stripped naked and ran
outside after playing with the spirit board, McKinney said. The town eventually
banned Ouija boards.
Intrigued by the story, McKinney teamed up with the Sacramento-area Green Flash,
whose principals include Tony Chopelas and the husband-and-wife team of David
and Eve Justice. They wrote a script based on the real incidents. "I looked
into some of the stories of what happened, what was reported, and then took it a
level further to see what happened to the people who participated in it,"
McKinney said.
In the movie, a couple with a baby on the way moves into a house and finds a
spirit board in the attic. Against her husband's better judgment, the young wife
uses it, and all hell breaks loose. A dark portal opens to the world of spirits
who once lived in the house. The movie also stars Lou Diamond Phillips, Jacoby
Shaddix, Ellen Albertini-Dow and Christopher Holly. A local state assemblyman
and former state senator, Tim Leslie, makes a cameo appearance as a police
officer who helps investigate the phenomenon.
The as-yet-unnamed movie recently wrapped production and is eyeing a 2006
release.
No Ouija In Ouija Movie
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