Review of Oculus (2014) by Thatsterlinkid — 11 Apr 2014

When most people hear the term "scary" these days, their mind instantly snaps to the thought of them being forced into shock by the ever-so expected jump scare. For those who are expecting such; meet Oculus, a movie which takes that expectation and chokes it into submission. Sure there are a couple jump scares implemented [none that caught me, sadly], but this is more of a psychological horror movie that requires you to use your brain to get the full effect. That's right: you're going to have to use your mind to enjoy this movie, and if you can't do that, you'd might as well see something else. Rio 2 also released today, if you needed a suggestion. Anyways...

Oculus will make you think, bend your thoughts, freak you out a bit, then make you think some more, which is definitely something I'd like to see more often within horror media. It'd be nice if more of it didn't just scare me with freaky monster designs, or jump scares, then make me think "I wonder if that thing will move" or **** it's been quiet for too long... There's a scare coming." the whole time. Wondering if what was happening during the entire film was real or fake really hit it off for me, and the ending, ooh~, that ending, was definitely one of the better ones I've seen from the genre in quite some time.

So is this movie actually scary? That depends on the kind of person you are. Is it "The scariest film since The Conjuring?" Hell no. That movie just about gave me a heart attack. However, Oculus is a great movie that does 'scary' in a way that feels more like how terrifying it is when you're about to finish a puzzle but can't find the last piece, than how terrifying it is when someone jumps at you from the shadows.