The house in the film was also used in Waxwork (1988) and Willard (1971). This Los Angeles home has since been "retired" as a filming location.
Tawny Kitaen made this movie first and then made the Whitesnake music video while this film was in post-production. Both were released around the same time, so the music video not only made her famous, it helped drive sales for Witchboard (1986).
Principal photography was shot as Ouija in 1985 at the Higgins-Verbeck-Hirsch Mansion in Windsor Square, Los Angeles and Big Bear Valley in San Bernardino, California. When the filmmakers had discovered that Parker Brothers didn't own the title, their attorney told them that they couldn't use the title, say "Ouija" or use a Parker Brothers board in the film. The Errors and Omissions carrier didn't approve of the filmmakers having already shot with the board, and they had to put up a $50 thousand bond to prevent any potential litigation. Though there was no lawsuit, Walter Josten stated that this should've been cleared before they started filming. They received the insurance to change the title to Witchboard and were allowed to pay the bond, as well as to integrate the early board footage with the new board footage as shown when Jim and Brandon are at Big Bear. However, the filmmakers were divided about the title change, with many preferring Ouija while other felt that Witchboard was a "cooler" title.
Director Kevin Tenney wrote the script while a student at the University of Southern California. Inspired to write a horror film based on a Ouija board, he began to research the concept of "progressive entrapment," an element that figures briefly in The Exorcist (1973), in which an individual becomes progressively "entrapped" by a spirit. He stated in interviews that despite it being a horror film, he sought to create a character-driven film. As some elements of the script were based on incidents he had heard of while researching the experiences close friends and others had with Ouija boards, he believed the viewers would "resonate" from this being based in facts, despite it being fictitious. Though Tenney never believed in the board himself, he admitted the board was "creepy."