Ladies and gentlemen, we are at the beginning of a new era. An era where horror movies are no longer reserved for Halloween. That would suggest logic was used during marketing, and there is no place for logic or sense in horror movies. Which is where we are with one of the newest horror movies , Oculus.
The movie starts with Tim Russell, played by Brenton Thwaites, being released from a psychiatric hospital 10 years after being convicted of murdering his parents. He is met by his sister, Kaylie, played by Doctor Who favorite Karen Gillan, who is convinced of her brothers innocence and wants to prove that the mirror the family had was the cause of their parents murder. She convinces her brother to stay the night and document their attempts to destroy the mirror, which she got back through auctions.
Predictably, the mirror won’t break, and shows off different means to defend itself. It’s defense mostly includes warping the reality a character sees and hears, messing with both the siblings and the audience to try and figure out whats real and whats in their heads. Alone, that would make a very repeatitive and boring movie. But the film also cuts to flashbacks of 10 years earlier, showing what lead up to the night of the murders and the parents going crazy. The stories parallel each other perfectly, doing exactly what a movie telling multiple stories should do: show enough of one story to get the audience hooked, so that when it cuts back to the other story the audience can’t wait for the other one to come back, but in the mean time the audience gets hooked on the other story, and repeat through the whole movie. Cutting back and forth even plays a crucial role plot wise, as the older versions of the characters start to see the other, and even themselves, as their younger counterparts. It helps that both sets of actors are great, the kids also having a couple of movies under their belts.
The movie’s end is a bit of a cliche, but considering the rules established in the film it made sense. Although it would be nice to see more horror movies with a happy ending. Interestingly enough, the word ‘oculus’ is never mentioned in the actual movie, but instead is said through rhyme in a trailer for the movie. The rhyme isn’t even in the movie, which is a shame because it could have been this generations “1, 2, Freddy’s coming for you…”.
The movie is above average, with its own share of jump scares and fake outs, but the story is very interesting, and will keep you wanting to know just how this all ends. A must see for horror fans.
Final Rating: 8 out of 10 ( Peak through the looking glass and check this movie out)
