Witchboard
Short description
A young couple, Jim and Linda, move into a Victorian house in the small town of Fairfield to start their life together, and mark the occasion with a party. When a friend brings out a Ouija board, the gathering contacts the spirit of a boy named David. Linda becomes increasingly absorbed by the board and begins using it on her own, drawing away from Jim as the entity she is reaching grows more hostile. A second presence, the malevolent Malfeitor, forces its way in and eventually takes possession of one of the group.
Kevin Tenney wrote and directed the film, his first feature, followed two years later by Night of the Demons. Todd Allen and Tawny Kitaen play Jim and Linda, with Stephen Nichols as Brandon Sinclair, Kathleen Wilhoite as Zarabeth, Burke Byrnes as Lt. Dewhurst and James W. Quinn as Lloyd. Gerald and Jeff Geoffray produced for Blue Rider Pictures and Paragon Arts International, and the production was credited to a crew of 78.
Made for about 2 million dollars and taking roughly 7 million at the worldwide box office, the film returned several times its cost. Audiences are divided on it: on IMDb it holds 5.7 out of 10 from around 9,400 votes, and on TMDB it stands at 5.7 out of 10 from 214 votes, a small sample that points to a modest following. A critics' rating of 5.3 out of 10 from 18 reviews sits close to those audience figures.
What's left behind the scenes
- Tawny Kitaen first played Linda in this film, and then, while the project was in post-production, she starred in a music video for a song by Whitesnake. Both the film and the video were released around the same time. The video brought Kitaen popularity, which to a certain extent contributed to the success of the film.
- The color of Linda's nail polish, played by Tawny Kitaen, changes from bright red to clear.
- When a friend of director and screenwriter Kevin Tenney had to drop out of university, he got a job at a company whose owner, Walter Jostyn, was interested in the world of cinema. He was told about the screenplay and agreed to finance the shooting. Tenney dropped out of university before graduating and began filming. Jostyn was brought on as executive producer.
- Director Kevin Tenney wrote the screenplay while studying at the University of Southern California.
- Filming the shower scene proved difficult, as Tawny Kitaen felt uncomfortable naked in front of the camera, and everyone except the director and one other member of the crew had to leave the set.
- Kenny Rhodes, who played Mike, kept the bandana his character wore after filming was completed.
- The house featured in the film is located in Los Angeles. It had previously appeared on screen in horror films by Daniel Mann, "Willard" (1971), and Anthony Hickox, "Waxwork" (1988). No filming has taken place at the house for a long time.
- The idea for the sunglasses belongs to James W. Quinn, the actor who played Lloyd.
- Stephen Nichols (who played Brandon) complained that the stunt double who stood in for him in close-up shots during the scene with the Ouija board had very small hands, resembling a woman's. Kevin Tenney jokingly replied that next time he would invite a kindergarten girl to be the double.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
