It is 9 October. There are 22 days until Halloween.

My cat is annoying. Present him with a closed door, and he cries and scratches at it until you open it for him. Then, as soon as he peeks into the room that was off limits and sees what’s there, he gets bored and wanders off.

Ouija boards are that way for people in horror movies. Show someone a witchboard and they just gotta use it to open the door between this world and the next and see what’s there. And what’s back there is usually bad news. Has there ever been a movie where something good has happened as a result of playing with a Ouija?

Hmmm…it did make Tawny Kitaen swear like a longshoreman and gave the world one of the greatest end credits themes ever – but that’s the exception that proves the rule.

In this week’s movie, 1985’s Deadly Messages (a.k.a. Ouija), the Ouija board doesn’t just open a portal to some supernatural realm. For Laura Daniels (played by Kathleen Beller), it opens up a door to her past. A door that she had no idea existed.

Deadly Messages is a great example of what makes the made-for-tv movie genre so fascinating and so much fun. The story flows at a quick pace. Every scene is there to move the plot forward. There ain’t no time for foolin’ around. If you dawdle on some artsy-fartsy shot, then people may switch over to Three’s Company!

The acting is excellent. Ms. Beller is a veteran of the made-for-tv movie, especially of the woman-in-peril-who-doesn’t-know-who’s-after-her variety. Dennis Franz does his put-upon, skeptical cop schtick. His lines are delivered with the flattest accent permissible by law.

It’s a good mystery overall, too. Because the plot is driving forward all the time, you never lose sight of what’s going on, which allows the filmmakers to get pretty far out with the story. There is a plot twist about halfway through that I can say I did not see coming and I don’t think I’ve seen it again in another film. It’s very smart and enjoyable, and is keeping with the tone of the rest of the picture.

I know Deadly Messages isn’t your standard Halloween movie, but it’s got a lot of chills and thrills that I think are a good warm-up for the rest of the month’s viewing.