REWIND REVIEW: Oculus

MOVIE
Oculus

CAST
Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites

RATING
R

RELEASE
April 11, 2014

DIRECTOR
Mike Flanagan

STUDIO
Relativity Media

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 44 minutes







STARS
***3/4








REVIEW:

Horror movies these days mostly rely on cheap jump scares and tons of gore as a means of providing "entertainment" to audiences, which is why I don't see that many of them.  I prefer mostly to see horror films that are as scary as they are intelligent in their execution, and "Oculus" is no exception here.  This film, being more of a psychological thriller than anything, tells the story of two siblings trying to overcome a possible supernatural being that lives inside an ancient mirror and had claimed the lives of many people over the past few centuries, including their parents.  What makes this film more interesting than other scary movies is that it plays with the heads of both the main protagonists and the audience watching it.

Is the mirror the cause of all of the insane antics going on in the house, or is it the minds of the characters playing with them?  At the end of the day, the movie never actually gives you a definitive answer to that question, adding to the eeriness of it all as a whole.  While the editing, particularly in the third act, is questionable, "Oculus" succeeds at being a chilling movie that showcases some great performances by the lead actors, as well as a showcase for writer/director Mike Flanagan.  This is the type of horror film that I believe should be shown by Psychology teachers.  Give Psych students a double feature of this and "Inception," and they will have one hell of a time thinking about them both.