This year has been dubbed “The Year of Modern Horror”, and Ouija: Origin of Evil, the well-received sequel to the lowly rated Ouija, can contribute to the box office successes of the horror genre in 2016. Directed by Mike Flanagan, who also directed the Netflix smash hit, Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil earned a respectable $14,065,500 to net a profit on the $6,000,000 spent to shoot the movie.

The film takes place in the second half of the 20th century, a time period that is now common in most modern horror movies.

Abrahan Mena, 12, seems to love this new era of horror films, as it is a fresh of breath air from the swarm of found footage films of recent times.

“I think there’s something about having these movies set in the 60s and 70s that makes them more interesting,” Mena said. “It might be the different culture of that time but usually the movies set in those times do pretty well in theaters.”

Opening weekend attendee, Brayden Hayes, 12, thoroughly enjoyed the movie, despite not being a huge horror fan.

“It was actually really really good,” Hayes said. “I like sci-fi movies the most, but my friends really wanted to see this and they invited me. I felt chills in my feet like five times.”

The biggest complaint about the horror scene of today is that many directors often resort to gory, disturbing scenes to capture the audience’s attention. The problem with this is that while it does grab the viewer’s attention, it is oftentimes a result of disgust instead of amazement.

John Guido, 12, believes that resorting to excessive amounts of gore is the cop out to trying to put some sort of story elements into the movie.

“I don’t like the Saw movies after the first one because it’s basically like a competition to see how much violence the director can get on screen without getting hit with an NC-17 rating,” Guido said. “But the new Ouija did pretty good at not doing that. They had an interesting story so I think that’s why everyone is saying it’s really good.”

Overall, Ouija: Origin of Evil has been boasting strong reviews for the genre that it is in. With a rating of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, it easily outshines its predecessor, Ouija, which garnered a lowly 7%. With such positive reviews, and movies like Hush under his belt, it is possible that Mike Flanagan may become the next juggernaut of horror.