Straight Into the Fire

Witchboard doesn’t waste time. It shoves you into a nightmare. A circle of witches sways in a ritual dance, fire snapping at their heels. They chant like it’s been echoing for centuries. A man kneels, seconds from becoming a blood offering. Just when you’re sure the knife is coming down, the script flips. He’s yanked from the brink. The witches burn. The night goes volcanic. It’s occult spectacle with a VHS-soul lens, an opener that could sit between The Craft and a Nineties industrial music video.

The Russell Touch

At the helm is Chuck Russell. The same guy who weaponized The Blob, gave Freddy fresh claws in Elm Street 3, and unleashed Jim Carrey’s chaos in The Mask. He knows remakes. He knows sequels. And he knows how to hit you with something you don’t see coming.

Friends, Forests, and Bad Decisions

The film cools, or pretends to. We meet friends foraging in the woods for rare mushrooms and herbs. They’re prepping for the opening of their dream restaurant. One of them finds the Witchboard. She dusts it off, grins, and decides it’ll look perfect on the wall. Bad call.

Dinner Is Served (With Death)

Opening night comes. Tables set. Crowd buzzing. Then the death toll starts clicking like a metronome. What follows is a gauntlet of kills that would make Final Destination blush. Elaborate. Nasty. Weirdly beautiful.

Gore That Slaps

The gore doesn’t just land. It slaps. I actually shouted at my screen, the way you do when a magician pulls off a trick you can’t explain but you’re sure involved blood. Somewhere in the chaos, a cat prowls. Not a pixelated stand-in, but an actual flesh-and-fur demon. It steals the movie outright. If you thought the Pet Cemetery cat glared, this one makes you rethink leaving your bedroom door cracked.

FX Muscle and Twin Trouble

Russell keeps flexing. There’s a bedroom scene with the lead actress that channels The Exorcist’s bed-shaking madness. But it leans smaller, more intimate. The kind of dread that makes you swear the walls are breathing. Then come the Herbert twins, Renee and Elisha. A little sleight-of-hand turns them into triplets. Malice times three. Watching them stalk the film is like watching trouble multiply.

Spiraling Into Chaos

This movie delights in the spiral. The quick slip from control to chaos. One minute you’re sipping wine at a grand opening. The next, cutlery flies past your head. Somebody ticked off the dark arts. And it’s fun. The kind of supernatural carnage you want to stick around for just to see how bad it can get.

The Curtain Call

By the time Witchboard ends, you’re not sure if you’ve been hexed or just wrung out by a master showman. Either way, it’s a ride worth taking. Just don’t hang the damn board on your wall.

RELATED: Witchboard – Trailer

Witchboard hit theaters August 15, 2025. Bring popcorn. Maybe holy water.

Here’s the synopsis. From legendary director Chuck Russell (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, The Mask), Witchboard resurrects the ’80’s horror classic with a chilling new vision. In present-day New Orleans, a cursed artifact unleashes a vengeful witch, drawing a young couple into a deadly spiral of possession, temptation, and occult terror.

Grade – A

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