Witchboard 2: Devil’s Doorway (1993) (Blu-ray Review)
Directed By: Kevin Tenney
Starring: Ami Dolenz, Christopher Michael Moore, Laraine Newman
Rated: R/Region A/1:78/1080p/Number of Discs 1
Where to get it: Olive Films
A beautiful young woman unlocks a passageway to pure evil in the spine-tingling supernatural sequel to the popular hit, Witchboard. When Paige Benedict (Ami Dolenz, Ticks, She’s Out of Control) moves into her new artist’s loft, the only thing on her mind is her art and her slightly loopy landlady Elaine (Laraine Newman, Saturday Night Live). But when she finds an old Ouija board buried in her closet, she discovers that this new apartment isn’t hers at all. Through the board, Paige in contacted by the spirit of a former tenant who claims she was murdered there. Against the advice of her ex-boyfriend Mitch (Timothy Gibbs, The Kindred), Paige is drawn deeper into the mystery as she finds her dreams overtaken with vivid, erotic and brutal visions of unspeakable horror. And when other tenants in the building begin falling prey to violent, mysterious deaths, Paige realizes that only she can seal the door to the terrifying nightmare she has unwittingly unleashed and the price may be her soul. Stylishly directed by horror veteran Kevin S. Tenney (Night of the Demons).
I’m a fan of Kevin S. Tenney overall and I was a fan of the original Witchboard film. This movie doesn’t have much at all to do with that film other than the use of a Ouija board. So it is a clean slate here and maybe I’d have liked it just a tad bit more had they done more to connect it with the original other than just have the original director, Kevin Tenney, back. Now our leading lady is a strong choice. She is very attractive and she does a fin job in this role to her credit. I’m just not sure I’d say we have much surrounding her to help things out, outside of a few cool death sequences that help fill this thing out and in truth make it what it is. Our leading lady has two male counter parts, one is a pushy jerk cop and the other is a werido that always seems a bit too nerdy to ever stand a real chance with the lead. The supporting characters here aren’t at all the strong point of this movie. Then again, what horror films from the early 90s had the benefit of that to begin with? We should probably just be happy we have what we have for a leading lady and take the cool effects and be happy, yet at times things still seem a tad bit too off in spots.
While most the film seems like some sort of supernatural detective movie, things do tend to amp up a bit in the 3rd act. That is when things get all sorts of crazy and it may be enough win the majority of horror fans over, but I think it still lacks in a few key areas to get it over the hump for me. We have bells and whistles, but it seems to be a hallow film, especially if we just compare it to the original. The transfer here is solid. If you can spot the makeup job of folks, then you know you have done something right with th transfer. That ends us up with a slightly below average film with an above average HD look. Kevin Tenney’s best work isn’t to be found here, but you won’t be too let down because the transfer is good and the movie does have some fun scenes in it despite its self. Come for the transfer, the leading lady, and the cool death scenes and sequences, but be warned that other elements of the film are lacking pretty widely.
- Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Kevin S. Tenney and Actors Julie Michaels and John Gatin
- Deleted Scenes
- Behind the Scenes Featurette
- Home Video Trailers
- TV Spots
