There’s not a whole lot to say about this one just yet, but what there is to say makes it a doozy. Written and directed by Kevin S. Tenney, 1986’s cult classic fright film “Witchboard” starred music video vixen Tawny Kitaen and Stephen Nichols, a.k.a. “Patch” from Days of Our Lives. The horror hit went on to spawn two sequels and also inspired my eternal fascination with Ouija boards, which I still collect to this day.
Well guess what? Gala Films dropped a bit of an unexpected bombshell at San Diego Comic-Con’s Bold Voices of Contemporary Horror panel Friday evening by revealing that a surprise re-imagining of the film is coming soon! On top of this incredible news is the additional info that it will be a return to horror for director Chuck Russell, who made a splattery splash in the genre back in the ‘80s with his make of The Blob alongside the most popular A Nightmare on Elm Street sequel, Dream Warriors.
The new film follows “Emily (Madison Iseman) and her fiancé Christian (Aaron Dominguez), who discover a mysterious Wiccan artifact, a pendulum board, as they prepare to open a bistro in New Orleans’ French Quarter. A darkness descends over Emily as she becomes obsessed with the board’s power of divination and ability to summon spirits. Desperate to help his fiancée, Christian seeks the advice of occult expert Alexander Babiaste (Jamie Campbell Bower). But Babiaste has secrets of his own, including his connection to a modern-day coven of witches. A dangerous game begins as each swing of the pendulum puts Emily’s very soul at risk.”
More details are certain to come in the hopefully not too distant future. For now, fans can have their own look at the teaser trailer, which originally debuted during the SDCC presentation:
At least the movie only runs 70 minutes, though I suppose that extra 10 technically disqualifies it from being a literal amateur hour.