Review of Oculus (2014) by Mark W — 15 Feb 2015

Oculus is one of the few horror films I've seen in a long while that has next to no jumpscares, and certainly none I thought were unnecessary. Apart from that, it's a genuinely intriguing story about the protagonists' past, the haunted mirror's past, and having the audience fill in the blanks themselves.

The few things that really bugged me were how the mirror apparitions sometimes took me out of the experience. They can be pretty campy at times. And the actual flashbacks converging with the modern storyline ends up getting lost in a mess of editing instead of anything really clever.

But Oculus is honestly scary. The acting, particularly of the child actors, is worth noting. Watching the family deteriorate at the behest of this ancient mirror is as fascinating as it is terrifying. The film is a terrific blend of a murderous suburban nightmare and the supernatural.