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 a college student who becomes entranced into using her friend's Ouija board alone after it was accidentally left behind at her party, resulting in her becoming terrorized by a malevolent spirit.

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 a character 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 December 31, 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. Although the critical response to the film was largely unfavorable, it has obtained 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 Chainsaws. Two unrelated sequels, Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway and Witchboard III: The Possession, were released in 1993 and 1995, respectively.