Oculus (2013) Movie Review

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Oculus – ABC Film Challenge – Favourites – O – Oculus – Movie Review

Director: Mike Flanagan

Writer: Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard (Screenplay)

Writer: Jeff Seidman (Short Screenplay)

Cast

Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Brenton Thwaites (Gods of Egypt)
Katee Sackoff (Riddick)
Rory Cochrane (Right at Your Door)
Annalise Basso (Ouija Origin of Evil)

Plot: A woman tries to exonerate her brother, who was convicted of murder, by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon.

Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Oculus starts when adult Kaylie Russell (Gillan) sees her younger brother Tim (Thwaites) released from prison. She has been hunting down a mirror from their childhood, which had a major incident involving their parents Marie (Sackhoff) and Alan (Cochrane).

Kaylie has set up a paranormal experiment to prove Tim was innocent. She believes there was a supernatural presence in the incident and has done complete research on the history of the mirror. This sees the siblings try to remember their childhoods and what happened. Kaylie wants to dive into the supernatural, while Tim has been taught about more rational answers.

Verdict on Oculus

Oculus is a horror mystery that follows two siblings trying to understand what happened in their childhood. They saw a strange event that led to their parent’s death. However, one was given psychiatric help, while the other was left to try and get on with her own life.

This horror mystery does an excellent job of creating a discussion. It shows the siblings discussing the options around a mirror and their parents’ deaths. The idea one has devoted their life to searching for supernatural answers, while the other has spent his life learning about logical answers. It does a great job of offering up logical and supernatural options and how the outside world would see the situation.

When it comes to the horror moments, it follows Mike Flanagan’s typical ability to make the smallest scene have a major impact. He never relies on cheap jump scares and uses mystery to create suspense throughout the movie. The performances are great too, with Karen Gillan being the star of the show.

Final Thoughts – Oculus is an excellent horror movie, offering an interesting discussion on horror events.