Witchboard
Encyclopedia
Witchboard is a 1986
American
horror film
written and directed by Kevin S. Tenney
, and starring Tawny Kitaen
and Stephen Nichols
. The film focuses on a female college student who is harassed and later possessed by an evil spirit after communicating with it through a friend's Ouija board
. The film was released limitedly in December 1986 in fifteen theaters, and received a wide release in March 1987.
board at a party and attempts to contact David, the spirit of a ten-year-old little boy with whom he has communicated numerous times. The spirit responds, but Jim, formerly Brandon's best friend and now nemesis, insults David, making David angry and provoking David to slash the tires of Brandon's car.
The next day, Linda, Jim's live-in girlfriend, sees Brandon's ouija board
(which Brandon left behind from the previous night) and tries to contact David. The spirit that appears is actually an evil being (Malfeitor) acting under the guise of David. This malicious spirit starts being nice and helpful—informing Linda where her lost diamond engagement ring is.
Meanwhile, at the construction site where Jim is working, Jim's friend Lloyd gets killed by the murderous spirit. Linda again contacts Malfeitor—whom she still believes to be David—and he lies—responding that he did not cause the "accident." Linda is starting to fall under Progressive Entrapment, in which the spirit changes and starts to terrorize the user, making the person weak and easy to possess.
Brandon and Jim do research on David, and accuse him of terrorizing Linda. They play the Ouija board and discover that another spirit is frightening Linda, the spirit then attacks and kills Brandon. Released from the hospital, Linda plays the board but gets no response; she then takes a shower, but gets attacked by Malfeitor. She initially escapes but soon is possessed by the evil entity. The next morning, Jim arrives back and sees the apartment trashed, with Linda appearing—wearing men's formal wear and holding an axe.
Just then, Dewhurst, the detective investigating the murders committed by Malfeitor (and suspecting Jim as the perpetrator), enters the apartment. He accuses Jim of hurting Linda, but finds out in rapid order that he is wrong, when the detective immediately gets smacked on the face by a rod—which renders him unconscious and causes him to drop his gun. Jim picks up the gun and shoots the board many times right before Linda pushes him out the window.
The next scene is at the church with the couple getting married. Mrs. Moses' granddaughter finds the board, shows it to her and says, "Wonder if it still works?" She then throws it into the box with the planchette
. Next, the camera zooms to the "yes" and the planchette moves to it and the credits roll with the theme "bump in the night."
, California with and estimated budget of $2,000,000.
on December 31, 1986 with the film bringing in $95,435 that weekend. The film had a full U.S. release on March 13, 1987 bringing in $2,582,408 that weekend. The film's final box office gross was $7,369,373.
The film was released on DVD
in the United States
by Anchor Bay Entertainment
in 2004. This version is currently out of print
.
, released in 1993, and Witchboard III: The Possession, which had no relationship at all released in 1995.
1986 in film
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
written and directed by Kevin S. Tenney
Kevin S. Tenney
Kevin S. Tenney is a film director and screenwriter, best known for directing cult horror films such as Witchboard and Night of the Demons.- Filmography :*Witchboard *Night of the Demons...
, and starring Tawny Kitaen
Tawny Kitaen
Julie "Tawny" Kitaen is an American actress and media personality. She became famous in the 1980s for appearing in several hard rock videos for the band Whitesnake, including the hit "Here I Go Again". Kitaen was married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1989–1991...
and Stephen Nichols
Stephen Nichols
Stephen Nichols is an American actor, most notable for his roles on American daytime soap operas. He played the part of Steve Johnson on NBCs Days of our Lives from 1985-1990; after that, he had a stint on ABC's General Hospital as Stefan Cassadine from 1996-2003...
. The film focuses on a female college student who is harassed and later possessed by an evil spirit after communicating with it through a friend's Ouija board
Ouija Board
Ouija Board is a Thoroughbred mare racehorse owned by Edward Stanley, 19th Earl of Derby and trained by Ed Dunlop. In a career spanning four seasons, she won 10 of her 22 races, 7 of them Group 1s, including the Epsom Oaks in 2004 and the Hong Kong Vase in 2005...
. The film was released limitedly in December 1986 in fifteen theaters, and received a wide release in March 1987.
Plot
Brandon Sinclair brings out his ouijaOuija
The Ouija board also known as a spirit/fire key board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0-9, the words "yes", "no", "hello" and "goodbye", and other symbols and words are sometimes also added to help personalize the board...
board at a party and attempts to contact David, the spirit of a ten-year-old little boy with whom he has communicated numerous times. The spirit responds, but Jim, formerly Brandon's best friend and now nemesis, insults David, making David angry and provoking David to slash the tires of Brandon's car.
The next day, Linda, Jim's live-in girlfriend, sees Brandon's ouija board
Ouija Board
Ouija Board is a Thoroughbred mare racehorse owned by Edward Stanley, 19th Earl of Derby and trained by Ed Dunlop. In a career spanning four seasons, she won 10 of her 22 races, 7 of them Group 1s, including the Epsom Oaks in 2004 and the Hong Kong Vase in 2005...
(which Brandon left behind from the previous night) and tries to contact David. The spirit that appears is actually an evil being (Malfeitor) acting under the guise of David. This malicious spirit starts being nice and helpful—informing Linda where her lost diamond engagement ring is.
Meanwhile, at the construction site where Jim is working, Jim's friend Lloyd gets killed by the murderous spirit. Linda again contacts Malfeitor—whom she still believes to be David—and he lies—responding that he did not cause the "accident." Linda is starting to fall under Progressive Entrapment, in which the spirit changes and starts to terrorize the user, making the person weak and easy to possess.
Brandon and Jim do research on David, and accuse him of terrorizing Linda. They play the Ouija board and discover that another spirit is frightening Linda, the spirit then attacks and kills Brandon. Released from the hospital, Linda plays the board but gets no response; she then takes a shower, but gets attacked by Malfeitor. She initially escapes but soon is possessed by the evil entity. The next morning, Jim arrives back and sees the apartment trashed, with Linda appearing—wearing men's formal wear and holding an axe.
Just then, Dewhurst, the detective investigating the murders committed by Malfeitor (and suspecting Jim as the perpetrator), enters the apartment. He accuses Jim of hurting Linda, but finds out in rapid order that he is wrong, when the detective immediately gets smacked on the face by a rod—which renders him unconscious and causes him to drop his gun. Jim picks up the gun and shoots the board many times right before Linda pushes him out the window.
The next scene is at the church with the couple getting married. Mrs. Moses' granddaughter finds the board, shows it to her and says, "Wonder if it still works?" She then throws it into the box with the planchette
Planchette
A planchette , from the French for "little plank", is a small, usually heart-shaped flat piece of wood that one moves around on a board to spell out messages or answer questions. Paranormal advocates believe that the planchette is moved by some extra-normal force. The motion is due to the...
. Next, the camera zooms to the "yes" and the planchette moves to it and the credits roll with the theme "bump in the night."
Cast
- Todd AllenTodd AllenTodd Allen is a comedian, writer and producer based out of Vancouver, British Columbia and Los Angeles, California.-Personal:...
Jim Morar - Tawny KitaenTawny KitaenJulie "Tawny" Kitaen is an American actress and media personality. She became famous in the 1980s for appearing in several hard rock videos for the band Whitesnake, including the hit "Here I Go Again". Kitaen was married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1989–1991...
Linda Brewster - Clare Bristol Anchorwoman
- Burke Byrnes Lt. Dewhurst
- Gloria Hayes Wanda
- J.P Luebsen Malfeitor
- Rose MarieRose MarieRose Marie is an American actress. As a child performer she had a successful singing career as Baby Rose Marie....
Mrs. Moses - Stephen NicholsStephen NicholsStephen Nichols is an American actor, most notable for his roles on American daytime soap operas. He played the part of Steve Johnson on NBCs Days of our Lives from 1985-1990; after that, he had a stint on ABC's General Hospital as Stefan Cassadine from 1996-2003...
Brandon Sinclair - James W. Quinn Lloyd
- Kenny Rhodes Mike
- Judy Tatum Dr. Gelineau
- Kathleen WilhoiteKathleen WilhoiteKathleen Wilhoite is an American film and television actress, as well as a singer-songwriter. She also voiced the title character in the animated series Pepper Ann...
Zarabeth
Production
Witchboard was filmed in Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National ForestSan Bernardino National Forest
San Bernardino National Forest is a federally-managed forest covering more than 800,000 acres . There are two main divisions which are the San Bernardino Mountains on the easternmost of the Transverse Range, and the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains on the northernmost of the Peninsular...
, California with and estimated budget of $2,000,000.
Release
Witchboard had a 15 screen limited releaseLimited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
on December 31, 1986 with the film bringing in $95,435 that weekend. The film had a full U.S. release on March 13, 1987 bringing in $2,582,408 that weekend. The film's final box office gross was $7,369,373.
The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a U.S. based home entertainment and production company and is a division of Starz Media, which is a unit of Starz, LLC. It was previously owned by IDT Entertainment until 2006 when IDT was purchased by Starz Media. Anchor Bay markets and sells feature films, series,...
in 2004. This version is currently out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
.
Sequels
The film has spawned two sequels, Witchboard 2: The Devil's DoorwayWitchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway
Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway is a 1993 American horror film directed by Kevin S. Tenney and starring Ami Dolenz. The film is the sequel to the 1986 film Witchboard.-Plot:...
, released in 1993, and Witchboard III: The Possession, which had no relationship at all released in 1995.