American Ouija (2011) User Reviews

I'd rather wash the dishes.

[Christine_Plymouth_Fury1958 · 1/10 · 2 April 2012]

When I read the plot of this movie, I really wanted to see it, even if it didn't have any rating or review yet on this site. A writer in a reputed haunted place, that would eventually take her to the brink of insanity. Oh, yeah! After watching the first five minutes though... actually, even just hearing the first conversation, that sinking feeling will already start to form in the pit of your stomach. You know, that sensation that you feel when you realize that this will not end well for you.

There's a scene where she was standing inside a room, near the doorway, reading some papers when a ghost suddenly appeared. She gasped, dropped her papers, and calmly picked it up. Then her friend appeared in the doorway where the ghost supposedly was earlier, and she repeats the process. Meh, you'd think that if you see a ghost, you'd either scream your lungs out, throw anything you can get your hands on or your body freezes and your eyes pops out of their sockets, but you never take your eyes off the ******* ghost unless you're running, as fast as ****, away.

The acting felt like I was watching a bad high school play. The main protagonist especially, sounded like she was reading her lines. I've seen more convincing acting skills on practical jokers.

The run-down hotel was supposed to have been abandoned for some time, but when she found an Ouija board, it looked practically brand new. Even the phone she picked up didn't have a single speck of dust on it. My brother's room looks more dingy and haunted.

I like low-budget horrors, and I'm always pleased when they exceed my expectations, but this one only carried the worst badly executed horror clichés I've ever seen, so far. Some no-budget amateur short films on You Tube are a better watch than this film.

Honestly, I tried, but couldn't finish it.

Low

[brentanthonysnyder · 1/10 · 3 November 2017]

"19 Doors" is a so-called horror film that repeatedly mocks a young female character for being "limited" and/or "retarded."

And the abuse comes from the main female protagonist.

"I guess I don't have to tell you to clear your mind, do I?" she says to the girl while using a Ouija board.

That's the filmmakers' idea of comedy relief?

This was included in a 10-movie box-set that sold for $3.75. The price was still too high.

What is a limited girl?

[nogodnomasters · 1/10 · 29 August 2017]

Grace (Natalie Bail) is a screen writer who gets into her work. She is staying at the abandoned and haunted Lyndon Hotel in Pittsburgh for writing inspiration. There was a series of murders there, one in each of the 19 rooms, although we only get to see a few.

The acting wasn't there and the low budget aspect showed. The make-up was even bad. Looks like an 80's direct to VHS film.

Available on a 5-DVD disc.

It doesn't even deserve the one star I gave it.

[soulexpress · 1/10 · 24 August 2017]

Just because you *can* make a movie doesn't mean you should. Case in point: this so-called "horror" film, made in Pittsburgh on a budget of $25,000.

The storyline: a producer suggests that screenwriter Grace Mitchell (Natalie Bail), who's having a dry spell, get her creative juices flowing by temporarily moving to the Lyndora, an old hotel known for its rough, seedy past. The Lyndora closed its doors 50 years ago after a grisly series of murders happened there. Local lore, of course, claims the place is haunted. Soon after Grace moves in, disturbing and inexplicable events begin to happen. Or are they merely figments of Grace's increasingly fevered imagination? OK, so it's far from an original idea. (Do I even have to mention "The Shining?") Still, in the right hands, it could have made for a decent film. But "19 Rooms" doesn't come within cross-country-flight distance of that.

First there's the screenplay, rife with clichéd, stilted dialogue. Then there's the acting. The entire cast is wooden, but Natalie Bail in particular recites her lines with the aplomb of a fifth-grader delivering a book report. There's one scene in which Grace stands near a doorway, going over some papers, when a ghost suddenly appears. Grace reacts by gasping, dropping her papers, and calmly bending over to pick them up. I've never seen a ghost, but I'm thinking if I did, I'd probably let out a frightened scream and run like hell in the other direction. At the end of the film, when Grace has gone completely insane and commits a gory murder, she just kind of sits there, on top of the corpse, not bothering to scream or recoil in horror. I've heard of understated acting, but come on already!

There's another scene in which the ghost of a murdered little girl appears to Grace. Throughout it, the child actress clearly suppresses the urge to giggle. Then there's Father Pat, the drunken priest who hangs out in the barroom below the abandoned hotel. He comes across as the stereotype of a lecherous priest who can't stop buggering altar boys. It doesn't say much for Grace that she turns to that sweaty old creep for spiritual guidance. And Ina Block, who plays Psychic Helga (yes, that's the character's name), is jaw-droppingly awful.

Also worth noting: Though the Lyndora has been abandoned for 50 years, Grace finds an old Ouija board without a single speck of dust on it. The rotary-dial phone in her room is also shiny and clean.

Unless you have a relative or a close friend who appeared in "19 Doors," there is no reason to sit through this coat-hanger abortion of a film.

So, so bad.. (spoilers)

[SpringheeledKat · 1/10 · 17 June 2013]

I actually did sit through this whole film purely out of curiosity and sheer willpower. You see the premise of the storyline is quite good, a tad cliché but still good. However, the production of this film sucked. The look of the whole thing wasn't even TV movie standard, more 'I've got a camera so I can automatically make a film!

The acting was not good, the little girl ghost is quite clearly trying to stifle giggling and looks like her mum made her up for Halloween. There was nothing convincing about any of the other 'ghosts' in fact. The dialogue was awkward with surprisingly some under-acting from the main protagonist - Err lady you're out of your possessive state and have stabbed your daughter to death, could you do something, you know scream, recoil in horror? Pyschic Helga was terrible, but the name made me laugh and drunken, sweaty priest came across as the 'kind of man we tell children to avoid'if you get my drift.

All in all, I would only suggest you watch this movie for two reasons: 1) You happen to be a friend or family of someone attached to or involved with the film and have to out of loyalty. or; 2) You want to see how not to make a film.

I made an account just to write this review!

[thewonderfulsid · 10/10 · 10 July 2017]

So me and my husband decided to have a corny low budget terrible horror movie night and this was one of the movies in the walmart 3$ big box of horror and boy were we not disappointed! It was soooooo bad it was amazing!!!! I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants. The acting was the worst. The costumes and ghosts were terrible and the plot was absolutely confusing and random. All I can say to convince you to watch it (at least for the laughs) is in one scene she gets attacked by a tall grisly white hit

guy with a grey beard and a black hood and when telling the detective about her attacker she says "he was black" ..... I laughed so hard, I don't even think she knew what was going on during the movie much like we didn't. Worth every $

Greatest. Horror. Movie. Ever.

[strychninebreathmints · 10/10 · 10 July 2017]

"19 Doors" is the most profoundly terrifying horror movie I have ever seen. The story of a writer living in a haunted hotel for inspiration was so refreshingly original, just reading the plot summary sent chills down my spine.

Although it might not be noticeable, this film is a lower budget film than your larger Hollywood horror greats like "The Wicker Man" or "Lake Placid", but what the producers squeezed out of their lower budget was pure gold.

The special effects of the movie alone blew me away. The makeup was so tediously perfected that anytime a ghost appeared on screen, I jumped. The acting was more convincing than when I'm actually talking to another human being. And the scares were so horrifying, I had nightmares for weeks.

If this movie is not in your personal collection, it should be. Finding yourself a copy shouldn't be difficult, considering how absolutely amazing this movie is.