A damaged Netflix disc on a Friday night in early October led me to alternative scares and the 2013 Mark Flanagan horror piece “Oculus.”
At a taut 90 minutes, my initial fears were the youthful cast and unheard of creator would lead to the standard terrible present day slasher fest, but surprisingly I was wrong.
“Oculus” focuses its premise on a haunted antique mirror that has been wreaking havoc and causing the mysterious deaths of whoever owns it for hundreds of years.
Tim Russell (Brenton Thwaites) is finally set to be discharged from a mental hospital, one he has resided in for the past 11 years after his experience with some horrific events at home when he was just 10 years old.
Tim has always been close with his older sister Kaylie (Karen Gillan) and she is eagerly waiting for him upon his discharge. Through flashbacks we see the pair 11 years ago as they move into a new house with their parents.
Father Alan (Rory Cochran of CSI Miami fame) is a telecommuting IT worker and mother Marie (Sci Fi star Katee Sackhoff) is a rabid collector of antiques – the catalyst for the mirror being purchased and brought into the home.
Blending elements of scary movie great “The Shining” and the grisly television series “American Horror Story,” “Oculus” possesses haunted house themed plot limited to a single room where the mirror resides. Plants die inexplicably in said room. The mirror reflects images of people and events that aren’t actually there.
“Oculus” is a horror movie, and makes no effort at being anything else – and the viewer is all the better for it. Sometimes you want deep thought, tear-jerking emotion, or a dazzling performance. Sometimes you just want a good fun scare, and on that level the movie succeeds.
Karen Gillan is great in the role of Kaylie. Beautiful and determined to prove that the mirror is otherworldly in its powers. One scene shows Kaylie dictating to a video camera the history of the terrible deaths that she believes to have been caused by the mirror, and the acting is stellar.
Brenton Thwaites is good as the Doubting Thomas little brother Tim, a perfect counterbalance to the tenacious Kaylie. “What’s more likely…that your misremembering events from 11 years ago or that the mirror eats dogs?” He sarcastically quips at his sister, when discussing the unexplained disappearance of the family dog when they were children – last heard barking in the room with the mirror.
Fans of CSI Miami will recognize Rory Cochrane, who played Tim Speedle in the first few seasons of the show. The character was voluntarily killed off because Cochrane wanted to focus on his real life family. Cochrane is a solid actor – terrific at the role of an everyman, and displays a hidden talent for going berserk as he does in “Oculus.”
Katee Sackhoff has made herself a steady career on Sci-Fi shows Battlestar Galactica and Bionic Woman. Sackhoff is great as the Russell family matriarch. Loving mother and dutiful wife. A woman plagued by her imperfections, and constantly reminded of an obese past by a scar across her belly.
One area that gets a bit confusing is the constant switching of storylines between the siblings as children in 2002 and the present day. Towards the end, the last handful of scenes are literal head scratchers as the story jumps back and forth as the family runs about the same house with the same haunts. The difference between present and past and blurry and as a result, a bit confusing.
As horror goes, “Oculus” is a winner. The premise of a haunted antique mirror is a good one. Creepy reflections, fast paced, and not over the top with gore, its a decent movie worth checking out.
by – Matt Christopher
