Fantasia International Film Festival 2024 – It’s been a minute since Chuck Russell directed a horror movie. Genre fans know him best for Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and the 1988 remake of The Blob. Since then, he’s directed mainstream Hollywood films, including The Mask and The Scorpion King. Russell’s return to horror is an inventive remaining of the 1980s franchise Witchboard. While the film is a bit uneven, it’s still a wildly entertaining two hours with some staples of Russell’s filmmaking, including great practical effects.

The film stars Madison Iseman (Annabell Comes Home) as Emily, who encounters a strange pendulum board that once belonged to a 17^th Century witch named Naga Soth (Antonia Desplat). Emily’s fiancé, Christian (Aaron Dominguez), worries that the board has a negative effect on his beloved, who’s also a recovering addict. Indeed, the board does possess a strange power over Emily. This eventually puts her in touch with Christian’s ex, Brooke (Mel Jarnson), and the mysterious and nefarious Alexander Baptiste (Jamie Campbell Bower).

There’s plenty to like about Witchboard, especially some of the practical effects within the film’s first half. In short, Emily truly encounters some nightmarish visions that would have fit right in in Dream Warriors. In one scene, bloated hands rise from a blood-filled bathtub and pull Emily under. She then sees the brutal fate that Naga and her fellow witches encountered. This film isn’t without its pretty grisly and harrowing scenes. In fact, I wish that Russell would have stuck with practical effects throughout the entire runtime. They look better than some of the effects that come later, especially in the film’s final act. It’s a jarring contrast.

Iseman does a fine job as the leading lady, especially as Emily evolves and shows some of Naga’s more deviant traits. Emily’s gradual changes at the hands of the board make for a gripping watch, while underscoring Iseman’s acting chops. Meanwhile, Bower already proved as Vecna/Henry Creel in the last season of Stranger Things that he can play a really sinister villain. As Alexander Baptiste, he commands every scene that he’s in. He’s one of the real highlights of the film. The dude plays diabolical so well.

The film’s other positive is its setting. Russell manages to capture the allure and deep history of New Orleans, the strange sort of magic that exists in places like the French Quarter, where Emily and Christian open a bistro. The location serves the film so, so well with all of NOLA’s witchy history. The film’s main fault comes in the final act. Though this movie never takes itself too seriously, some of the effects in the last act simply pale compared to the blood-curdling scenes that occur in the first half. There are also prolonged action sequences that feel off tonally, even though Russell has directed plenty of action movies.

Overall, Witchboard, though tonally flawed, casts an effective spell. This film is one entertaining ride through NOLA’s French quarter where sinister forces are afoot. I, for one, am sure glad that Russell directed another horror movie. This film is witchy fun.