If you’re a fan of ’80s horror movies, and more specifically, a fan of movies that gleefully celebrated their nightmare-inducing practical effects, then chances are you’re a fan of the director. Chuck Russell. She followed this with her feature film debut, in 1987, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriorswith the remake of The stain (1988), and both films remain favorites among horror fans even four decades later. He then ascended to the big leagues with The mask (1994) and Draft (1996) and then fell back almost as quickly with some thrillers seen by even fewer people. But now, in the year 2024, Russell has finally returned to the genre that gave him life, and he’s throwing himself back into that remake with a new take on another ’80s horror favorite. Welcome to Chuck Russell’s Witch board…even if it’s not as successful a homecoming as you’d hoped.
Emily (Madison Iseman) and her fiancé Christian (Aaron Dominguez) are foraging for mushrooms in the woods outside New Orleans, but instead of some delicious fungi for their restaurant’s impending opening, they find an old witch board (think a pre-Ouija board). An opening flashback set in 17th-century France means viewers already know the trouble it brings, but for the young couple in love it’s simply window dressing for their culinary passion project. It’s not long before the board’s sole occupant, a long-dead witch named Naga Soth (Antonia Desplat) is possessing Emily and orchestrating murderous mayhem on Bourbon Street.
From Russell Witch board It’s not a legacy sequel of any kind, meaning there’s no direct narrative connection to the ’80s film, but its script still has some mostly minor nods. The basic idea remains, but this time we’re subjected to some unnecessary flashbacks that drag down the film’s momentum and pad out an already excessive length for the material at just under two hours. As much as I’d love to see Russell back in the horror chair (and it’s clear an actual director directed this one instead of a hack), boy does it need some trimming. The film absolutely drags between kills, a problem exacerbated by the fact that there are very few of them until we get to the big finale.
They give us a sneak peek of something more energetic and fun with the first modern slaughter in the restaurant’s kitchen. It’s not exactly a Final destination-It’s a setup worth seeing, but it comes close because several elements come into play and form a chain reaction that ends with the character of this film, “DJ Qualls” (Charlie Tahan) with his severed hand. It’s a fun moment, preceded by Naga’s sinister reflections on various metal surfaces, but Russell plays it off the top of his head, preferring to make his straightforward plot a little thicker with the arrival of a rich monster named Alexander Babtiste played by a voracious Jamie Campbell Bower —Seriously, the man is “hungry” and eats well in each of his scenes, leaving the rest of the actors behind. Between this and Horizon: An American Saga2024 is proving that his long-term career path as a scene-stealing villain is already secured.
However, as entertainingly evil as Babtiste is, his story seems like a misinformed tangent in Witch board. Unnecessary complications make her role somewhat confusing, and as mentioned above, take away from further opportunities for witchy shenanigans. The kills we do get use a combination of practical effects and underwhelming CG, but there’s not enough of them for a two-hour investment. The story of the board, Naga, and Babtiste are the most uninteresting elements at play, but Russell insists on making them a priority for a B-movie that should know better. We do get a few minor smiles and a handful of laughs, both intentional and not, but viewers wanting more ’80s-inspired shenanigans are left cold until the end of the third act, which comes before the end of the film’s fourth act.
Witch board It’s an acceptable film, a little better if Russell made some sensible cuts before its final release, but it can’t touch the original or come close to the high points of his own 80s classics. That’s fine, not everything has to be the best, and does it open the door further for Russell’s horror renaissance to continue? Well, that’s the kind of magic we can all get behind.
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