Review of Oculus (2014) by Nell A — 30 Nov 2014

Mike Flanagan's Oculus brings some thrills to the horror genre.

Spanning a little over 90 minutes, the film's first half and build up is a highlight. The time jumps with the storytelling, along with the film's concept, unleash a boatload of mystery and intrigue. With that said, the final act ends up muddled and unfulfilling, as if the ball was dropped midway through.

A few scare cliches are employed from time to time, but the scares are lean in the grand scheme of things. Instead the film feeds off of the creepy atmosphere and the R-rated violence.

Karen Gillan is quite the performer and is a strength of this picture. Katee Sackhoff gets a little creepy, which is what is asked of her. Brenton Thwaites ends up overshadowed by Gillan.

Thanks to its strong first half, Oculus is in the better end of the spectrum and becomes a recommendable horror thriller. Be careful with those light bulbs.