Review of Oculus (2014) by Jake F — 12 Sep 2014

Director Mike Flanagan and co-writer Jeff Howard expand on their original 30-minute short film about a lethal piece of furniture "Oculus: Chapter 3" to a feature-length film. While it's a cut above the usual paranormal thriller, its 105 minute runtime doesn't dramatically improve on its mysterious element and it falls short on dread and tension. While "Oculus" slowly develops an unsettling story that cleverly undermines an age-old horror-film cliché, it's never quite as scary or as memorable as one might have hoped.

After shooting his father and spending years in psychiatric care, Tim Russell (Brenton Thwaites), reunites with his sister Kaylie (Karen Gillan), who claims that an antique mirror in their father's study was what destroyed their family, as well as the families of many owners before them. Tim reluctantly agrees to help Kaylie document the mirror's effects, but all goes awry when it begins to play with their perceptions-intermingling past and present, memory and reality, and forcing them to witness again their parents' violent relationship, with devastating results.

What's unique about "Oculus" is its structure, which cuts back and forth between Tim and Kaylie in 2012 and their experiences 10 years earlier. Flanagan daringly cross cuts between flashbacks and the present, and even sometimes unities the two storylines in the same shot. Flanagan uses the back story to inform the audience of the details of how this started, while at the same time using it to terrorize Tim and Kaylie, who aren't quite sure if what they are seeing -- and doing -- is real or not.

Flanagan creates a number of eerie visual parallels between the past and present, but eventually the slow-burn suspense sequences and sudden shocks become increasingly repetitive. Throughout the film's slow build-up, Flanagan effectively incorporates some creepy images and the film convincingly earns its frights the old-fashioned way. However, the third act offers an escalation in action accompanied with a scene of shock that doesn't intensify or enhance its predictable, lackluster finale. To his credit, Flanagan takes a dubious premise further than most could. That being said, next time just smash the damn mirror.