Witchboard III: The Possession (1997)

Such a frustrating disappointment

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The Possession, the third film in the Witchboard series, might not be a particularly memorable film, but it is pretty entertaining stuff for the duration: there's a bit of gore, some 'Red Shoe Diaries' style soft-core sex, and some enjoyably hokey occult goings-on with a few ropey CGI effects thrown in for good measure.David Nerman plays Brian, an unemployed broker who befriends his seemingly likable landlord Francis (Cedric Smith) only to find out (too late) that the old man is, in reality, a demon.After trapping Brian's soul via a Ouija board, the demon assumes the poor guy's identity and attempts to impregnate his sexy wife Julie (Elizabeth Lambert). However, with a sudden change in Brian's personality, Julie begins to suspect something is wrong, and, when she finds the demon's Ouija board, she manages to contact her husband.Discovering the awful truth, Julie tracks down Francis's ex-wife: the only person who can help her defeat the evil creature that is masquerading as her man.Featuring a cool suicide scene (a leap from a balcony onto a conveniently placed spike), death by lepidoptera (that's a fancy word for butterflies, I believe), antler impalement, the always welcome shower murder, a nice rubbery demon at the end, and eye-candy courtesy of hottie Lambert, and sexy Donna Sarrasin, who plays her tasty friend Lisa, there's enough fun to be had to make this one worth a go.

I have not seen the first two Witchboard films, but I did enjoy this one. It's about a business man who is given a Ouija board as part of a will benefaction unbeknownst to him that it grants him ill-will as well as lucky venture tips. I thought the premise was interesting enough, and the sanguinary death scenes were inventive and thrilling (head wound punctures, death by butterfly pins, deer antlers, and the obligatory shower death scene). The negative points: It had it's tedious moments, 2. Too much of the story was downplayed by the interminable sex scenes. But other than than it was a fairly suspenseful horror flick that's worth checking out. The Devil's true manifestation F/X is baronial as well. It could of had more scary moments though.

By any means the original WITCHBOARD is a masterpiece or a "great!" horror movie, no, but at least it's a likeable and entertaining horror movie from the early 80's and probably the best about the Ouija board. "The Possession" on the other hand, is one of the worst horror movies I've seen and now I see why the Witchboard franchise stopped after this mess.SPOILERS Brian (David Nerman) is having a terrible time on his life; he lost his job , and had to sell his house and car in order to pay for debts and other financial matters. He's depressed and he can't do anything to solve his midlife crisis. His wife Julie (Locky Lambert) supports him on everything and still loves him even if he can't provide her with the kind of stuff she was used to. Now that's a good wife. Anyways, David is desperate to find a solution to his problems and takes advice from his old neighbor and plays the Ouija. His neighbor has a lot of money and properties and credits "a friend" for his wealthiness. David does the same thing and soon he's getting his financial problems solve, but in exchange his soul gets trapped in a mirror from his house and the Devil possesses his body. His neighbor, before dying of cancer gives David his ring as an amulet for good luck (not knowing that the ring contains evil forces). Soon after David and Julie return to their normal life, strange things happen to them and the people that surrounds them. David is obsessed with the idea of having a son but after he tries to cheat with Julie's best friend in front of her! Julie tells him she's not having a baby with him.Julie has a nightmare where she is pregnant and gets the feeling she's having the son of the Devil. David's soul (trapped in a mirror) makes contact with Julie and tells her that his body is possessed by the Devil who wants to get her pregnant in order to give birth to his son. Innocent people die and now Julie is the only person that can save David's soul and interrumpt the birth of the Devil's son. The ring David is wearing will play a key element in order to defeat the Devil.BEST THINGS ABOUT THE MOVIE. A hot sex scene where Locky Lambert turns on the audience and seems to be enjoying it. She was the best thing about this movie. She's beautiful, very sexy, and she's a decent actress. Her love scenes were great.THE BAD THINGS ABOUT IT. "Witchboard III: The Possession" is very boring, the events happen slowly and there isn't emotion or even a single attempt to scare the audience. The F/X are the cheapest you can get. Watch the final scene where the Devil appears and you'll laugh off your socks, it's the worst I've seen talking about the effects area. Also there's a scene where Julie spins in the air and you can say it's the worst f/x you've seen in a long time. Terrible visuals, awful score, and a direction that makes the movie look like a boring soap opera. The best thing about the whole movie is Locky Lambert's looks. So you can imagine how BAD the movie is when the best thing about it is it's pretty lead actress.Be warned this is a terrible horror movie and just shows that the genre was on decadence at the mid 90's. Watch it only if you are a truly die hard fan of cheap horror movies please, it has barely nothing to do with the original "Witchboard". Don't waste your time.2/10.

Do NOT listen to the other two reviews listed here, WITCHBOARD III is a quality horror film--entertaining, well-acted and with good low-budget cinematography, make-up and even some pretty good morphing FX thrown in for good measure. I do agree however that it isn't very scary and it's terribly underpopulated.My score: 6 out of 10.