Skip to main content

Oculus (2014), R, ★★★

Karen Gillam is spooked by something.
What do you see when you are looking in the mirror?

Yourself, I presume. But, look at yourself and think deeply. What do you see? You see your inner flaws, your inner insecurities, your weaknesses, etc. But, sometimes, on a very bright day, you see your inner ambitions and your strengths. However, to take a psychological premise and turn it into a scary movie is extremely difficult as horror plots tend to go on "automatic pilot" or just become flatline ridiculous. This independent psychological horror flick is a good one.

Now, I'm going to be very careful writing this review because two different plot lines interweave with one another with flashbacks: 11 years ago and in the present. In the past, computer developer Alan Russell (Rory Cochrane) movie into the house with his wife, Marie (Katee Sackhoff), and his two children, Tim and Kaylie (Garrett Ryan and Annalisse Basso). Alan purchases an antique mirror that makes both parents hallucinate in their homes. I cannot give away what happens to them while being hallucinated, but they are truly disturbing.

The rest of the movie in the past reveals some major spoilers. Eleven years later, Tim (Brenton Thwaites), has been discharged from a psychiatric hospital believing that there are no supernatural events in a tragic night eleven years ago. Kaylie (Karen Gillan) has spent researching the ups and downs of this antique mirror, like people being involved with their unexpected and tragic fates. She is employed in a position for an auction home and transports it to her family home and displays surveillance cameras in a secure room to witness whatever events is going on. Kaylie intends to document the powers and destroy the mirror whatever means necessary. But, will Tim and Kaylie go on the same path when they are parents induce hallucinations?

The mirror.
This is probably the most difficult review that I have to display on the blog because most of the movie, in my humble opinion, are spoilers. What can I say about this? I think this is a well-crafted horror movie with some great techniques to move the story along. The flashbacks going from past to present is basically a technical exercise to alternate the coincidences of what has happened with each of the characters. However, the experiences with the mirror provide some great thrills and scares that frightened me quite a bit.

All of the performances are good and they do not overdo it. The camera angles are placed in different location that make logical, but unusual sense. It is a fairly logical supernatural-horror flick that generates curiosity as to why the conclusion is what it is. What can we comprehend after the whole movie was over?

As that brings to my criticisms of the movie, I felt like there was too much style and too much curiosity towards the end that it becomes less scary and it generated unanswered questions. My guess is that there will be a sequel as the last scene definitely hints one. It also gets a bit too gruesome in this supernatural horror genre that the gore was a bit unnecessary. Mike Flanagan, the director, became a little too courageous to balance the gore and the positive thoughts towards the end that it spiraled out of control and the end was weak. But, it is a solid old-fashioned ghost story that one can see with some friends during Halloween. Just think twice before looking at the mirror and ask yourself: what do you see closely?

***

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2015 Documentaries

I have only seen 6 documentaries this year which also includes Amy and I Am Chris Farley . But, I have to be honest, this has not been a particularly strong year for documentaries except for onethat got me emotionally and mentally as what I examine for when they uncover the truth or some facts from the people involved in these documentaries. But, here are the four I have seen this year: Listen To Me Marlon, Unrated, 4 stars This is the most insightful documentary of the year as we only hear Marlon Brando narrating his life and experiences what he has gone through regarding his family, his private life and his film experiences regarding The Godfather , Apocalypse Now , Last Tango in Paris , etc. It is like Marlon Brando came out of his grave to give us another profoundly moving movie only we hear his voice and scenery and nothing else. The Look of Silence, R, 3.5 stars Joshua Oppenheimer's follow-up documentary is a light-hearted but still-disturbing film regarding a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Daddy's Home 2 (2017), PG-13, ★1/2

The first Daddy's Home was surprisingly a financial success as I thought it was not as bad as many people thought. I thought it was a solid cable watch because it had enough laughs for that sort of mixed recommendation. I was not craving for a sequel for this movie because again, comedy sequels have a very bad record, however, the only difference is that it is not too late since the first movie came out a few years ago. But, this sequel is a reminder as to why we do not need a sequel to a hit comedy because this is a pretty much forgettable comedy, especially a holiday comedy...which I hade a guilty pleasure for. This did not work for me. Brad and Dusty (Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg) have become friends after the events of the first film and they set up a co-dad system where their two children, Megan and Dylan, spending time at each father's home. Dusty has re-married to writer Karen (Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio) and he is step-dad to Adrianna, Karen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), R, 4 stars

The stockbrokers worshipping Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) like a god. Wall Street. The clients, the adrenaline, the stocks, the money, the power, and the decadence. The former three pertains to the man's job, but the latter three pertains what any stockbroker wants in order to have the freedom to do whatever they want with the client's money. As Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) would say, "The name of the game is: move the money from your client's pocket into your pocket." We basically spend three hours seeing all of these Wall-Street scumbags steal the clients' money into their own pockets and spend it on booze, drugs, women, and other insane things in more insane activities. I have witnessed here is a great movie that I would not watch repetitively. The movie starts with Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) blowing cocaine onto a hooker's butt and he and his brokers throwing a little person onto a board with a dollar sign in the center. It'...
Post a Comment
Read more