From:
manowarkills@NOSPAMnetscape.net
Witchboard (1986)
Wri & Dir: Kevin Tenney
Jim (Todd Allen) and Linda (Tawny Kitaen from those Whitesnake videos)
throw a party at their apartment and for some reason include the pompous Brandon (Stephen Nichols) on the guest list. He is a former friend of
Jim's and former flame to Linda. To liven up the party, and to show off, Brandon encourages Linda to join him in using a Ouija board to
communicate with the dead. That is, after Brandon recites a brief
history of the board and how to correctly pronounce the name. The two
are successful in contacting a spirit who claims to be David, a boy who
died at a young age. Drunken Jim annoyed at the attention Brandon is
paying to Linda hurls insults and wisecracks until David turns from
friendly ghost to angry ghost and abruptly cuts off communication.
The next day, still fascinated by what happened the previous night,
Linda returns to the Ouija board and reaches out to David once more.
Little does she know that it is not David but a malevolent spirit
pretending to be David she's contacted who is grooming her for possession.
WITCHBOARD has its imperfections. It is a low budget film after all. But
there is a lot to like here. Tenney's writing lifts the film above much
of the dreck released at the time. The film opens with Jim and Brandon
as rivals who dislike one another but as they spend more and more time
together in an effort to save Linda they bond with one another. I was
not expecting to see that level of character development. Tenney's
talents extend behind the camera as well. There are a number of nicely
done shots. Don't think Sam Raimi show-off level, but rather shots that
aid in the story telling.
Rose Marie (THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW) plays Jim and Linda's landlady.
Kathleen Wilhoite (PRIVATE SCHOOL) is a quirky medium brought in to
dispel the spirit.
WITCHBOARD is worth a watch. And yes, Kitaen does get naked.
Andrew
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)