Mike Flanagan finally apologized for killing the Ouija franchise

Ouija: Origin Of Evil is a far better sequel than the original Ouija, a movie based on a tabletop seance simulator, deserves. Heck, as Katie Rife wrote in her 2016 review, “it’s better than it needs to be.” Unsurprisingly, it was directed by Mike Flanagan, a horror filmmaker of some note and one of the few willing to admit when they did wrong. In this case, it has nothing to do with the quality of his films, but rather their commercial viability. After all, a movie doesn’t have to be good to make bank, and the superior Ouija sequel made less than the original. Now, Flanagan is finally showing some accountability for the flop. Promoting his new movie, the sentimental Stephen King adaptation The Life Of Chuck, at SXSW London, Flanagan spoke about murdering the Ouija franchise with Origin Of Evil. When asked about making a “fun and balls to the wall” horror movie that didn’t “emotionally cripple” viewers, Flanagan said Ouija: Origin Of Evil is a good example of a “balls to the wall” horror movie that “was really fun.” However, it “killed that franchise” because it “really underperformed compared to Ouija.”