My History With the Film:
What The Film is About (Non-Spoiler):
Things I Liked About the Film:
-Director Mike Flanaghan is a master is wrapping mental illness, family dynamics, and hauntings into a story and Oculus is no different. In this film, we are constantly battling grief, the past, delusions, psychotic breaks, and trying to figure out who is doing what. The movie begins and never lets up with the intensity.
-At the story’s core its about two siblings grieving the death of thier parents and attempting to understand what happened. It’s difficult to tell early on if there truly is a haunted mirror or are these grown children just damaged from their past. That made for a very comptelling story.
-The timing of the scares is brilliant the use of reflective contacts in the dark was very creepy.
-The first time we see the mirror in action is one of my favorite horror scenes. Its simple and so incredibly effective.
-The casting was quite good with Karen Gillan (Kaylie) leading the way alongside Brenton Thwaites (Tim). Their parents are played by Katee Sackhoff (Marie) and Rory Chochrane (Alan).
-There are some very uncomfortable scenes to watch (light bulb, plate) but none of it goes to far. It makes you cringe and tense up, but it doesn’t make you want to turn the film off which is impressive.
Things I Didn’t Like About the Film:
-The ending is anti-climatic and arguably depressing. There was so much build up for so long and then the film just ends and we are left frustrated. That’s arguably this movies greatest flaw.
-The first ghost we encounter looks way too similar to Katee Sackhoff’s character Marie. It took a couple of takes for me to realize it wasn’t her. They should have used a ghost with different physical attributes for clarity reasons.
-I would have loved to see a little more time given to developing Rory Cochrane’s character Alan. We never really see any good father moments and so it was hard to feel connected or bad as he began to struggle.
Additional Notes:
Rating: