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.

At a house party in Fairfield, California, Brandon Sinclair uses his Ouija board with his ex-girlfriend Linda Brewster to contact the spirit of David, with whom he had communicated before.

After the spirit leaves, a suspicious Zarabeth returns home to research the occurrence, but her throat is slashed before she is thrown through a window and lands on a sundial, impaling her to death.

Jim and Brandon travel to the lake and use another board in an attempt to communicate with David, but soon learn that a different spirit, Carlos Malfeitor, has been terrorizing Linda all along.

[7] In writing the characters, he drew from his own background to make them "three-dimensional," and thought it would be interesting to see Jim's disestablished friendship with Brandon come back together.

[7] Tenney dropped out of his program at the University of Southern California, four units shy of earning his master's degree, to begin shooting the film.

[7] She had flown to New York prior to shooting so Tenney called up her agent about making a deal, and she flew back to arrive on set when filming began.

[8] Principal photography took place in the summer of 1985, at the Higgins-Verbeck-Hirsch Mansion in Windsor Square, Los Angeles, and Big Bear Valley in San Bernardino, California.

[7] The errors and omissions carrier did not approve of the filmmakers having already shot footage using one of their Ouija boards, requiring the production company to put up $50,000 bond to prevent any potential litigation.

[7] Other gags involved rocking Kitaen's trailer back and forth, flipping the outhouses upside down with actors inside, and locking the crew in rooms where they could not get out to set on time.

[7] Witchboard began its run with a 15-screen limited theatrical release on December 31, 1986, in several small U.S. cities, including Spokane, Washington;[11] Buffalo, New York; Anchorage, Alaska; Columbus, Ohio; and El Paso, Texas.

[1] Due to the favorable box-office returns in these smaller markets, the film's distributor, Cinema Group, expanded its theatrical release to 1,100 screens nationwide on March 13, 1987.

[12][13][14] John H. Richardson of the Los Angeles Daily News criticized the film's performances and writing, noting, "There's very little tension and almost no slice-and-dice.

"[16] Desmond Ryan of The Philadelphia Inquirer similarly panned the film, referring to it as "luridly fake" and "a timid "exorcise" in inanity.

"[17] The San Bernardino Sun's William Wolf praised Kathleen Wilhoite's performance in the film, noting that she "injects some personality into the role, however trashy it is.

"[20] The Montreal Gazette's Bruce Bailey awarded the film one-and-a-half stars and criticized it for its lack of originality, noting that it "boldly goes where everybody else has gone before.

"[22] The Miami News's Deborah Wilker echoed a similar sentiment, noting that, "midway through this nonsense, you give up hoping that Witchboard will emerge as one of those so-bad-it's-good horror flicks.

"[23] Malcolm Johnson of the Hartford Courant similarly criticized the film, writing that it "plumbs new depths of tedium and incompetence ... unfortunately, none of this is quite flamboyant enough to rise to the heights of camp.

"[24] Alternately, Candice Russell of the Sun-Sentinel favorably compared the film to Poltergeist (1982) and Rosemary's Baby (1968), praising it as an "intense, atmospheric chiller [that] breeds suspicion of things unseen and misunderstood...

"[25] Rick Bentley of The Town Talk also gave the film a favorable review, referring to it as "a cut above average" and "not afraid to make fun of itself.

"[26] Michael Wilmington's review of the film for the Los Angeles Times noted that it "is smarter, and better acted, than much of its bloody competition," but "not crazy or original enough to stand too far above them.

"[27] Reviewing the film following its British theatrical release, Tim Fernandez of The Southport Observer described it as "fairly routine stuff by horror standards, but certainly capable of conjuring up a shock or two if you've got a sufficiently vivid imagination.

[30] TV Guide awarded the film three out of five stars, writing, "First-time feature director-writer Kevin S. Tenney imbues his picture with a surprisingly slick sense of style and employs some clever camerawork when the narrative warrants it, refusing to bore the viewer with the endless evil-point-of-view shots favored by so many other horror directors.

"[31] AllMovie awarded the film two out of five stars, specifying, "Though it is not the most original or dynamic movie of its type, Witchboard succeeds on its own terms because it concentrates on craftsmanship.