Review of Oculus (2014) by Jason L — 27 Dec 2014

Oculus is a taut, tense film, owing much to the superior 1408. The focus is less on gore than it is on prolonged dread, and, in that sense, it definitely succeeds. Also, in a reversal from most horror films, the leads are better prepared than most horror film protagonists, having prepared measures, counter-measures and failsafes that, ostensibly, would ensure their survival.

The problem with the film is that it shows too much of its hand about midway through the film - and, in doing so, demonstrates the pitfalls of creating an ill-defined supernatural threat. There is a point at which it becomes evident that absolutely nothing that is seen may in fact be real. From a character's perspective, that would be horrifying. From a viewer's perspective, that ceases to be good horror. Suspense is linked to the stakes: heightened danger certainly ups the ante to the extent that we believe the protagonists still have a chance to make it. But once it is clear that an antagonist is essentially omnipotent, that the characters really live or die at its behest, there is nothing left to fear because there is nothing to hope for.