An Average Movie-Goer’s Review
No Spoilers! If you want spoilers – check out the Spoiler posts
I love horror movies and if I’m going to watch them anyway, why not write an entertaining/funny review from the point of view of an average movie-goer and not a professional critic?
Today we’re looking at Mike Flanagan’s first theatrical release, the 2014 psychological horror film, Oculus.
The story of two siblings, played by Karen Gillian and Brendan Thwaites, looking to take revenge on a mirror that haunted them 11 years prior. Told in flashbacks, the haunting from 11 years prior is told in parallel with their plan in the present.
Overall Review:
If not seeing anything in a mirror on Halloween is bad and seeing a full apparition of a demon is good, this movie is you breaking every single mirror in your home without hesitation.
Oculus does a great job at creating tension, setting up a scare, paying it off, then pulling the rug out from under you making you wonder if what just happened actually happened. This happens only a handful of times, but when it does happen, it works really well.
The movie is also well written attempting to cover all logical plot holes and provides a tight compact story. Like most Mike Flanagan projects, Oculus sacrifices the opportunity for more scares during the last half for character development but does it in such a way where suspense and tension is not sacrificed.
Highly recommend as a spooky time movie but as a warm-up instead of the main event.
Is Oculus Scary?
Looked behind me once and debated breaking a few mirrors in my home. This is definitely a good spooky time movie that will make you not want to look at a mirror at night. Mike Flannigan, as he has done in his The Haunting of Hill House series on Netflix and other projects is great at quickly creating tension and providing a scare without relying heavily on jump scares.
Not saying jump scares are bad but the scares that are caused from tension and suspense stay with you longer after the movie has ended.
Cast IMBD