Witchboard

Witchboard is a 1986 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Kevin Tenney in his directorial debut, and starring Tawny Kitaen, Stephen Nichols, and Todd Allen. The plot centers on college student Linda Brewster who becomes entranced into using her friend's Ouija board alone after it was left behind at her party. She is subsequently terrorized and eventually possessed by the spirit of malevolent serial killer Carlos Malfeitor, who committed a series of axe murders in the 1930s.

Tenney wrote the screenplay while a student at the University of Southern California, inspired after attending a party in which a friend brought a Ouija board for partygoers to use. The film focuses on the notion of "progressive entrapment," the process by which a malevolent entity or demon takes control of a human being, a theme that was also touched on in The Exorcist (1973) after Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) dabbles with a Ouija board. Filming took place in 1985 in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Francisco.

Cinema Group gave Witchboard a limited theatrical release in the United States on New Year's Eve 1986. Following favorable box-office returns, the release was expanded in the spring of 1987, and the film went on to gross $7.4 million in the United States. Although the critical response to the film was largely unfavorable, it has attracted a cult following since its release, and was subject to significant critical analysis by academic Carol J. Clover in her 1992 non-fiction book, Men, Women, and Chain Saws.

Two unrelated sequels, Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway and Witchboard III: The Possession, were released in 1993 and 1995, respectively. A remake directed by Chuck Russell was released in 2024.